San Diego District Shows Strains From Teachers Strike

As the teachers strike went into its second day Friday, the problems of running 160 schools without their regular teachers became apparent when word surfaced that an ex-convict once accused of rape was serving as a substitute teacher.

The 44-year-old man, who was trained as a teacher of the handicapped, spent Thursday and Friday in charge of a classroom with hearing impaired students at a high school in San Diego before his record was discovered and he was ousted, sources said.

The man was once a teacher in Santa Ana but pleaded guilty in 1981 to assault with a deadly weapon and attempted kidnapping after being accused of raping a woman at knifepoint, according to Orange County court records.

He was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison and served a term at the state prison in San Luis Obispo. As an ex-convict, he is not eligible to become a teacher in California.

Tina Dyer, the school district’s general counsel, said that state law precludes her from discussing personnel matters, but she confirmed that there had been someone inadvertently hired with a criminal background. She said he had lied on his application.

As the strike continues, she said, newly hired substitutes are being subjected to criminal background checks, a normal procedure for regular teacher applicants.

Bill Crane, president of the San Diego Teachers Assn., said the incident shows that despite the assurances of school Supt. Bertha Pendleton, the school district is not running smoothly with substitutes and other stand-ins.

“She says everything is great,” Crane said, “but this kind of thing is exactly what we’re concerned with. They’re not doing health exams, background checks or anything on people being hired to go into those classrooms.”

Just how the man got hired as a substitute is unclear because he had been fired as a substitute late last year at an elementary school in San Diego when his past surfaced.

Scrambling to fill as many classrooms as possible, the district is offering $150 a day for credentialed teachers and $100 for persons without teaching credentials.

The school board has vowed not to return to the bargaining table until the teachers return to their classrooms. The teachers want a 15% raise over 3 years; the board has offered 11%.

About a quarter of the 6,500 teachers crossed the picket lines, the same as the first day. Absenteeism among the 130,000 students grew to 29%, compared to 24% on the first day, and 8% to 10% on a normal day.

Elementary schools appeared to be adapting well. But at high schools, students were becoming restive with watching movies. So many movies were being shown at one school that students dubbed the place “Blockbuster High.”

San Diego teachers average $40,500 a year, which is below many other big city districts, but almost exactly the average for all districts statewide. In Los Angeles, the average is $44,000.