300 Cerritos Students Walk Out in Support of Teachers

About 300 students walked out of a Cerritos high school Monday to support striking teachers in the ABC Unified School District.

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The students, a minority of the 1,850 at Richard Gahr High School, skipped classes to picket the district’s administrative offices at 8:30 a.m. Later, many joined a lunchtime rally for the teachers at a nearby park.

Students said they organized the demonstration because they were upset with the quality of the lessons taught by substitutes hired to replace 421 striking teachers. Instead of teaching, some substitutes asked them to play games, read or watch videotapes, including the Disney film “Aladdin,” the students said.

Nearly half of the district’s 973 teachers began walking the picket line Friday after contract negotiations broke down between the ABC Federation of Teachers and the district. The district includes schools in Cerritos, Artesia, Hawaiian Gardens and parts of surrounding communities.

“We have a bone to pick with the district. They’re messing with our education,” said Carrie Facey, 17, a senior and student leader. “Why should we stay in school when the teaching that is supposed to be happening isn’t happening?”

Deputy Supt. Ira Toibin said he could not confirm if students were watching movies or playing games in class. He said substitutes are supposed to teach from lesson plans.

“Our expectations are that real lessons will be taught,” Toibin said. “If we find ‘Aladdin’ being shown, that will stop and (substitutes) will actually teach the curriculum.”

Students who participated in the one-day walkout will be treated as if they were cutting class, he said. They may have to make up work or spend time in detention, and repeated absences may mean stiffer discipline.

Principals talked to students at other schools to discourage them from staging walkouts, Toibin said.

Administrators said that 3,312 of the district’s 21,000 students failed to appear in class during the second day of the strike. That is about three times the number absent on a typical school day.

Although several teachers said they were dismayed to see students skip school, they welcomed the support on the picket line.

“They belong in the classroom,” Gahr English teacher Mike Escalante said. “But we teach our kids to stand up for what you believe in and do something about it. And now they’re doing it in real life.”

The teachers union had agreed to a tentative contract that included a 1.5% pay cut. But the union wanted to reopen negotiations after the district learned it had about $1.8 million more than estimated. Officials said the money was a surplus on paper only because the funds were committed elsewhere.

Teachers voted last week to strike. The next day, the board voted to implement the tentative contract anyway.

Teachers may soon get support from other school workers who are without contracts.

The union that represents custodians, bus drivers and food service workers is scheduled to decide today whether to stage a one-day sympathy walkout.

Members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees have been working without a contract since June, 1992.