School Board Plans Hearing on Code Barring Teacher Pay Cuts

The Los Angeles school board has scheduled a special public hearing at 10 a.m. Monday on its request for a waiver of a state education code that bars it from imposing deep cuts in teachers’ pay this year.

The hearing must precede the school district’s formal request to the State Board of Education for immediate relief from a provision that prohibits districts from changing teachers’ salaries after the July 1 start of the school year.

The Los Angeles teachers union has cited that provision in a crucial court case to be decided next week on the legality of the pay cuts. The school board ordered a 9% salary reduction this year and continued a 3% cut from last year, giving teachers a cumulative 12% cut.

On Friday, the State Board of Education announced that it was prepared to consider the waiver request at an emergency meeting on Tuesday, one day before the district and the union are to meet in Superior Court to hear a judge’s ruling on whether the pay cuts should be imposed.

Greg Geeting, executive director of the State Board of Education, said the board will decide whether an emergency situation exists in the Los Angeles school district to justify a waiver.

The district imposed pay cuts for all its full-time employees to help cover a $400-million budget gap this year. Two weeks ago a judge ordered the district to issue $20 million in supplemental checks to restore the cuts made in teachers’ paychecks this month. The district says it will be driven into insolvency if it is forced to issue supplemental checks next month.