Teachers Union ‘Turns Up Heat’ for Raise

Carrying red, white and black signs demanding a pay hike, respect and an end to bureaucratic turmoil, hundreds of teachers with the Los Angeles Unified School District peacefully protested Wednesday before and after school at 11 campuses and regional offices.

In the first of a series of efforts to increase support before the union contract expires June 30, members of United Teachers-Los Angeles distributed informational fliers to parents and carried signs that read: “Teachers & Kids: The District’s Missing Priority.”

“We are turning up the heat,” said John Perez, a UTLA vice president. “It’s starting today, and it isn’t going to stop any time soon.”

Union officials want an immediate 6% pay raise for the organization’s estimated 41,000 members, who include teachers, nurses, psychologists, librarians and counselors. They say teachers deserve a salary increase because of improvements on standardized tests and because of the district’s healthy budget, among other reasons.

In a letter to UTLA President Day Higuchi last month, school board President Genethia Hayes expressed support for teachers but said she is “unable to honor the request, as it would require a complete budget study and ultimately a realignment of a budget that has already been voted upon and approved.”

Although details of the union’s proposed contract are not yet firm, including whether the contract would cover a year or several years, UTLA officials said they plan to seek a 15% pay raise next year.

Union officials said they will also ask for class-size reductions and mentoring programs for new teachers, half of whom leave within five years.

Compared with teachers in 47 unified school districts in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles Unified’s beginning teachers, who earn about $32,500 annually, are ranked 20th in salary, according to UTLA estimates.

“Competitive salaries is the best way to attract and retain teachers,” Perez said. “Otherwise, teachers will leave.”

Before classes started Wednesday morning at Chatsworth High, horns honked and parents waved in support of the 250 San Fernando Valley teachers marching in front of the school.

Teacher after teacher complained of outdated textbooks, lax security, large classrooms and paying hundreds of dollars for school supplies out of their own pockets.

Because of overcrowding, many teachers must travel from classroom to classroom, lugging their supplies in shopping bags and suitcases and correcting papers during conference periods in crammed faculty lounges.

Teachers “get scared away every day,” said Jana DiMaggio, a veteran English teacher at Chatsworth High School, who said she lacks updated textbooks. “The kids say to me, ‘This is a cheap school.’ ”

Teachers denounced the turmoil between Supt. Ruben Zacarias and school board members, as well as the money spent on projects such as the Belmont Learning Complex. The environmentally plagued project, being built west of downtown, is the nation’s costliest high school but may never be completed because of potentially explosive methane and toxic substances at the site.

“It’s a big frustration, because it’s clear that the classroom is not the school district’s priority,” said Gregg Solkovits, a 17-year teacher at Monroe High School in North Hills and a UTLA chairman. “The kids should be the priority.”