Anaheim Schools

Who is the best authority on the way things are in the Anaheim Union High School District?

Should we believe a beleaguered teacher who is in the classroom every day facing more and more students and getting less and less (real income) compensation? Edwina Walsh (Letters, Sept. 24) complains that the superintendent and school board are snubbing parents and teachers with their policies and use of district funds.

Or should we believe one of the district’s high-paid bureaucrats who seldom, if ever, sees any students but gets paid more than teachers for shuffling papers in his private, air-conditioned district office (just down the hall from the superintendent’s suite)? Jim Cox (Letters, Oct. 1) implies that things are OK in the district as he twists a 44% parent satisfaction rating to a 73% satisfaction level with his handy calculator.

The fact is that this district has been dealing with “budget problems” in recent years by axing teaching positions. No administrative positions have been cut. The superintendent has been offering measly salary increases (e.g. 1%) to district employees while persuading the school board to raise her salary to over $80,000.

Last May, 84% of the teachers in this district participated in a one-day strike. They did it to send a message to the superintendent and school board to give a higher priority to teachers and classrooms. The response so far has been to get even rather than to get the message.

LEONARD LAHTINEN

Anaheim