ORANGE

The division between Orange Unified teachers and the school board continued to widen Tuesday after the board unanimously rejected a teachers’ contract proposal that trustees said could bankrupt the district in less than a year.

According to a district cost breakdown of the proposal, the district would have to pay $21.6 million over the next two years, which would put the district $9 million in the red.

The proposal included a 2% raise retroactive to the 1998-99 school year and up to a 28% raise for the 1999-2000 school year with $10,000-a-year bonuses for teachers who worked 18 years or more.

The district and the teachers union have been battling over a contract for two years. Teachers are upset because they are being paid below the county median.