Protest Staged Over Pay Hike for Teachers

Nonteaching employees in the Inglewood Unified School District held a lunchtime rally Tuesday to protest a school board decision to give teachers a raise that is nearly twice the amount approved for support staff.

More than 25 employees participated in the demonstration, the second protest in the last week, to express their anger over the district’s plan to give teachers a 6% raise while increasing salaries of nonteaching workers by only 3%. Union officials said they will continue to hold rallies until the dispute is resolved.

“This district, for whatever reason, gave teachers more money,” said Christopher Graeber, a spokesman for Local 2345 of the California Professional Employees Classified Union. “We’ve suffered through the bad times and we deserve and expect an equal raise.”

School board officials contend that they have given the teachers more money because Inglewood instructors have long been among the lowest paid in the county and that the 650 nonteaching employees are closer to being on par with support staff in other districts.

Board President Gloria Gray said she recognized the important work that the nonteaching employees performed in the district and would take that into consideration during the negotiations. She said the district has been conservative with its pay increases because it narrowly escaped insolvency last fall after a $4.7-million budget shortfall in the 1995-96 school year.

The union has called for a mediator in its dispute with the school district and is expected to go back to the bargaining table within the week.