Teachers Cite Respect as a Reason to Strike : Education: With the results of the vote on a walkout to be announced, many instructors say money is not the only issue.

With the results of a strike vote to be announced today, many teachers say that they are prepared to walk out not just over money but to win professional respect at a time when they feel their careers are under siege.

Union and school district officials alike predicted Wednesday that a majority of teachers, enraged by an unfavorable turn of events over two emotionally charged months, will reject their latest contract offer and vote to strike on Feb. 22.

Since authorizing their union in October to call a strike, teachers who voted again this week said they were decidedly more committed to the walkout. In interviews, dozens of teachers at schools throughout the city said a strike is not simply over money--they acknowledge that pay cuts are inevitable because of budget problems.

Teachers, nurses, and counselors--veterans and new hires alike--said they are prepared to walk the picket line as part of what they view as a personal crusade to restore their dignity, to win respect for their profession, which they believe is being pilloried by school district officials.

“This isn’t all about money. I know we’re going to lose some,” said Susan Doscher, 27, a teacher at Figueroa Street Elementary School in South Los Angeles. “It’s all about respect, the future of teachers in this district.”

At the heart of the dispute is intense anger over a cumulative 12% pay cut the district imposed on Oct. 2 to help bridge an unprecedented $400-million budget shortfall. The contract that teachers voted on this week includes the pay cuts but no firm guarantee that salaries will not be cut again next year, a key union demand.

Labor strife between union and district officials continued Wednesday.

Union President Helen Bernstein lashed out over a pair of letters that were exchanged last Friday between district officials and Los Angeles County Schools Supt. Stuart E. Gothold, who is charged under state law with reviewing contract agreements that affect his district’s finances.

In a draft letter faxed to district officials Friday over controversial contract agreements with six other unions, Gothold first urged board members to “strongly reconsider the inclusion” of so-called mutual protection agreements guaranteeing that teachers will not get a better contract deal than non-teaching employees.

After discussion with district officials, a revised letter was issued that softened the tone with Gothold urging board members to only “carefully consider the effects of the agreement.” The board approved the contracts with the guarantee on Monday.

Bernstein said the revisions in the letter show that the county office is in collusion with the district. “In my opinion the district is literally writing letters for the county. That’s scary.”

Gothold said he routinely faxes drafts of official letters for comment and revised the draft to more accurately reflect his authority under state law to “advise and comment” on financial issues. “I can understand Helen’s position, but I work with those who are entrusted to manage the district.”

In other developments, Gov. Pete Wilson and an alliance of the six other unions filed letters with a state labor relations agency opposing a teachers union request to halt the pay cuts.

Rank-and-file teachers said they are feeling battered by two months of the union and district battling in court and at the negotiating table.

Many teachers say the pay cuts have become a flash-point for the ill feelings developed over years of what they see as poor management and budget cuts that have left them with too many children to teach and too few resources to help them do it.

“I feel so dehumanized by everything,” said one elementary school teacher. “My class size is unmanageable, I have literally no paper for kids and now I have to worry about whether I can meet my monthly obligations at home. It’s unthinkable that this could happen to our profession.”

When teachers talked about the value of their profession this week, they spoke of molding the city’s future workers and leaders, having a positive effect on the lives of children, being role models for poor and minority youths. For many, the deterioration of public education and the attack they feel on their careers is to see the future of their communities erode.

“I will go on strike to make a point to parents, to the community about what teachers are really about,” said Timi McGill of Figueroa Street School. “No one got into teaching because you could get rich. You did it because you care, but we do have to have enough money to live on as well.”

Other longtime teachers said the battle over their contract only demonstrates how their professional standing has slipped.

“I’ve been a teacher for 25 years and have seen the rise and fall of the profession in terms of respect in compensation and in terms of the value of teachers as the prime employees of the district, “ said Lenore Rukasin, 50, of Bassett Street Elementary School in Van Nuys, who said she will strike because “the only way the school board will hear us is if we speak in one collective voice.”

School board members, however, believe that striking will only bring more division to the district and backfire on the teachers’ quest to defend their profession.

“To say that they are going to use the ultimate weapon, a strike, to ultimately create respect is a mistaken strategy,” said school board member Mark Slavkin. “It’s like they are saying I’m going to beat you up until you respect me.”