Teachers in Compton End Strike

After a tense round of negotiations that went into the early hours of the morning, the strike by Compton schoolteachers ended Tuesday with the teachers claiming victory and the district’s administrator predicting deep fiscal cuts in the coming year to make the agreement work.

The negotiators emerged from their bargaining session at 4:15 a.m. with a tentative contract that would give the teachers a 4% salary increase and no caps on insurance benefits.

The teachers in the troubled 28,000-student district, which was taken over by the state three years ago because of its poor test scores and fiscal woes, have not had a salary increase in five years.

“Our strike was successful,” said Harold Stone, president of the Compton Education Assn., the teachers’ union. “Teachers did not want to strike. We care about our students and want to be in the classroom with our students, but we were forced to take a drastic action to call attention to the deplorable conditions our students must endure in Compton and to the sacrifices teachers have made in order to save money to make improvements and repairs.”

Two years ago, the teachers agreed to a 3% pay cut in order to free up funds to make improvements in the schools. But they contend that little has been done since then while the number of administrators has increased dramatically.

Dhyan Lal, the latest school administrator appointed by the state to oversee the district, said he would be forced “to make some deep cuts in the next year. The district is fiscally and educationally bankrupt.”

The teachers, who have been working without a contract for more than a year, went on strike Monday morning after negotiations broke down Friday. A tentative agreement had been reached between the teachers union and school administrators, but it was rejected by the state Department of Education, which has ultimate say over what is being offered to the teachers.

The state asked that there be a cap on medical benefits paid to teachers, which caused the talks to break down. The union decided over the weekend to go out on strike and blamed the state for having to do so. The teachers have opposed the state takeover, contending that it is impossible to run the district from Sacramento.

The two-year contract also provides for an immediate 4% bonus for the current school year and a clause stating that there will be no reprisal for the strike.

About 90% of the 1,080 teachers in the 33-school system stayed out of the classroom Monday. District spokeswoman Christine Sanchez said that almost all the teachers returned to their classrooms Tuesday after word spread of the early morning agreement. The ratification vote will take place over the next three days.