HUNTINGTON BEACH : Teachers Contract Dispute Escalates

The 4-month-old Huntington Beach City School District teachers contract dispute sharply escalated this week as the latest round of mediation talks abruptly halted, prompting a state mediator to call for a fact-finding study to break the stalemate.

Mediator Tom McCarthy’s declaration, which came after a third mediation session broke off after barely an hour of talks, marks the second time in five days that a Huntington Beach elementary/middle school district teachers dispute led to a fact-finding session, an action signaling that mediation efforts have failed. Last week, McCarthy ordered a fact-finding report in the Ocean View School District teachers’ feud.

Huntington Beach City School District and teachers association officials blamed one another for the stalled talks, charging that each has refused to compromise since a mediation session last month that both sides called fruitful.

District and teachers union negotiators said the two sides are relatively close to a settlement on a one-year contract, but the district is pushing for a two-year pact, while the union is urging that the term be limited to one year.

Based on latest proposals, the teachers union is calling for an 8.3% pay raise for the current school year and the district is offering a 7% increase. District officials argue that the union’s demand, including a salary adjustment that would standardize the amount of all raises on the pay scale, would amount to nearly 10% over two years, which the district calls unreasonable.

The association’s main concern is that under the district’s two-year offer, teachers would have to foot the bill for the amount of future health-benefit premium hikes. The district has proposed to increase teachers pay more next year but has agreed to pay only 1% more toward health coverage.

“What the district is saying is that they are not willing to make a long-term commitment to teachers concerning health benefits,” said Sharon Boudreau, president of the Huntington Beach Teachers Assn. Economists “forecast for next year that health benefit costs will be unusually unpredictable. And the district wants us to take on that unknown. . . . We’re willing to share the risk, but we’re not going to bear the burden all ourselves.”

Ron Brown, the district’s chief negotiator, said the district cannot afford to pay more toward future health coverage because teachers’ raises would cut too deeply into its reserves. He also argued that the district’s proposal would be among the most “generous” salary packages among Orange County school districts.