Teachers Call Board’s 7% Offer Unacceptable

In a salvo designed to crank up the pressure on the Los Angeles school board for a full 10% restoration of salary cuts, the teachers union president on Wednesday sharply criticized the board’s offer to give back 7%, calling it “a guaranteed strike.”

Within hours of reviewing the school district’s offer, officials of United Teachers-Los Angeles went into private negotiations with school officials. Publicly, union leaders were sticking to their demand for a full restoration of the salary cut imposed last year.

“The way the offer stands now, it’s not going to fly. I would recommend a strike,” said union president Helen Bernstein.

“It’s an absolute insult, a slap in my face,” said Lila Dawson-Weber, a member of the UTLA board of directors and a teacher at Fulton Middle School in Van Nuys. “Teachers are going to do some hard thinking about a strike. . . . We are asking for a restoration of what is ours.”

Board of Education President Mark Slavkin, in announcing the $162.4-million contract proposal on Wednesday, called it “our best offer, our best shot.” Supt. Sid Thompson said he and the board “wrung out the budget” to come up with the offer to reinstate 7% of the 10% reduction in pay.

The Board of Education approved the offer on a unanimous vote Wednesday morning after lengthy discussions in closed sessions over several days. The current base pay of a teacher with 25 years experience would increase by $3,361 a year under the proposal.

Los Angeles Unified School District officials said that in order to remain solvent under strict state laws, the board offer guarantees that only 4% of the restoration will continue into the 1995-96 school year. The remaining 3% cannot be promised beyond the coming school year because it is financed with money that is only available this year.

Slavkin said the board intends to look for ways to provide a full restoration of salary cuts in the next year, but cannot make that assurance now. Employees have suffered cuts for two years as a result of deep district fiscal woes that have slashed nearly $1.2 billion from the budget.

“We have gone the full mile--to the limit of our financial resources--in addressing the needs of teachers and other employees,” Slavkin said. “We wish it could be more and we would have liked to make more of the restoration ongoing and permanent. Financial and legal restraints do not allow us to.”

The district’s offer includes the use of $42 million in surplus funds from the employee health benefits account. The school board wants all employee groups to agree to use the money for salaries--a move that was soundly rejected by teachers in their counteroffer and could fuel divisiveness among employee groups.

Already, leaders of one union representing clerical workers have said the money should be held as security to pay for potential future rises in the cost of their health benefit package.

District officials said the board fashioned the $162.4-million offer by using surpluses in various accounts set aside for other uses, such as custodial services, utilities and the operation of the district’s children’s centers. A $27-million chunk of money is from a state refund on integration expenses.

Another $16.6 million comes from lower-than-expected claims in the district’s self-insurance funds. Budget chief Henry Jones said use of those funds for salaries is somewhat risky because claims could unexpectedly rise.

“This is not a conservative offer,” Thompson said. “We have stretched it.”

The union intends to put an offer to a vote of its members soon after most schools reopen Sept. 12.

School board member Warren Furutani said the rapid-fire exchange of positions by the board and union Wednesday “establishes a floor and ceiling” for future talks. “Our offer is one place,” he said. “If they counter with 10%, then we know the ballpark range in which to talk.”

Attempting to make the deal more palatable, Thompson reminded teachers that they will be working five more days next school year, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Department of Education to make up the weeklong cancellation of classes after the Jan. 17 earthquake. This translates to an additional 2.5% in pay.

Currently, the base pay for a 25-year veteran is $48,349, ranking the Los Angeles district next to lowest among the county’s 47 unified school districts. According to district figures, the 7% pay restoration would boost a veteran teacher to $51,710 and 18th place. If the additional five days are added, that instructor would earn $53,003, and rank seventh in the county earnings list.