A Mediator Enters a Mess : Let’s hope Speaker Brown can revive dead-in-the-water teacher/school board talks

Los Angeles could escape a paralyzing teachers strike next month if Assembly Speaker Willie Brown succeeds at mediating the nasty dispute between United Teachers-Los Angeles and the huge and beleaguered Los Angeles Unified School District.

Brown is certainly a valid choice to try to break the logjam that threatens to disrupt the schools and further erode whatever confidence is left in public education. He is more than a little familiar with budget woes, labor disputes and politics. He also enjoys respect from all sides. Brown met last week with school board President Leticia Quezada and Supt. Sid Thompson. Then he met with Helen Bernstein, who heads UTLA. So all are talking to him: That, in itself, is a measure of progress. Perhaps this wily veteran negotiator and horse-trader will even be able to get district leaders and union leaders in the same room!

The goal, of course, is to strike a deal that avoids a strike, which would disrupt learning for schoolchildren and inflict more financial pain on teachers. Sure, the teachers have every right to be unhappy. They have been asked to give up 12% of their salaries. That loss would drive a hole into any household budget. But as parents have often told their children: You can’t get blood from a turnip. The fact is that teachers can’t get more money from a district that has a huge gap in its budget, especially when that district can’t get more money from a state hemorrhaging red ink.

How can the state help? Can Brown give a good indication of what Sacramento will be able to do, given the state’s continuing budget problems and the on-going political wrangling? The state will certainly have to bail out the schools if the district goes bankrupt. A lengthy strike that denies the district the state funds, which are based on attendance, won’t help the district’s tenuous financial situation.

Perhaps the public would be willing to come up with more money. A ballot measure earmarking new tax monies for teacher compensation and educational reform should be put to a vote. The teachers’ cause is a popular one.

But might some of those pro-teacher votes be lost because of union tactics? UTLA has sent letters to retired teachers, who normally could be expected to fill in during a strike. The union is urging those teachers to sign up as substitutes and then refuse to come when called, in an effort to cause even greater confusion in the district. That kind of tactic could hurt support for teachers. So let’s hope Speaker Brown’s involvement can break the ice--and cool the emotions.