VENTURA : Teachers Asked to Drop Key Demand

Unless teachers give up a key demand, the Ventura Unified School District will be forced into “very difficult financial straits,” a top official said Thursday.

The district, which is in contract negotiations, has proposed that teachers take over the obligation to pay $2 million yearly for retired teachers’ medical benefits.

But in a straw vote last week, the teachers, who have been working without a contract since last June, voted 3 to 1 against the proposal.

“We’ve reached the point where something has to be done,” said district Supt.Cesare Caldarelli at a press briefing Thursday. “Either they absorb it or we’ll be in very difficult financial straits.”

A straw poll of the district’s more than 600 teachers last week showed that about 75% opposed the tentative three-year contract. Union officials later asked to reopen negotiations.

Though details of the contract have not been made public, it is believed that the straw vote rejection stemmed in part from teachers’ unwillingness to shoulder the cost of retiree benefits.

District officials said Thursday that teachers must absorb those costs or the district could face bankruptcy. According to district officials, the cost of retiree benefits, estimated at $2 million for 1989-90, could double or triple within the next 10 years as more employees retire and the cost of health care rises.

The tentative agreement reached by district and union negotiators--but tentatively rejecting by the 600 teachers--”achieved the best possible approach” for the entire district, Caldarelli said.