Board OKs 6% Teacher Raise and Merit Pay Plan

Setting the stage for long, tough negotiations, the Los Angeles Board of Education on Tuesday approved a labor contract offer of a 6% raise for teachers, with merit pay for instructors who improve their students’ performance on the annual Stanford 9 test.

The proposal, which for the first time would link teachers’ pay to students’ test scores, was approved 6 to 1. It offers far less than the 21% raise sought by the teachers union, and asks teachers to give up extra pay for bilingual credentials and the power to decide which classes they want to teach--a right gained in exchange for agreeing to take a 10% pay cut in the 1990s.

The current three-year contracts with all 10 district bargaining units expire June 30, one day before interim Supt. Ramon C. Cortines is scheduled to be replaced by a permanent superintendent who has not yet been named.

“This does not bode well for a summer of love in Los Angeles,” said board member David Tokofsky, who voted for the original proposal.

Board President Genethia Hayes was more optimistic.

“There were six board members who believed we had to start the bargaining process,” Hayes said. “That process does not have to be hostile.”

But the president of United Teachers-Los Angeles, Day Higuchi, whose membership adamantly opposes merit pay, was blunt: “This is a board majority’s declaration of war.”

“By the time this is over, good people are going to get chewed up in the machinery,” he said. “Everyone hopes teachers get a fair deal. But if they’re not willing to do that, what choice have we got? We don’t want to strike, but we will.”

The union wants a 6% raise retroactive to last July 1 and a 15% raise to take effect this July 1. It also seeks increased health benefits, a cut in the number of steps to top salaries and equal benefits for retirees.

A 21% raise would increase the pay of a five-year credentialed teacher from $38,668 to $46,788, which would be at the top of the countywide pay scale.

To improve working conditions, the union is also asking for a cap on class size in all grades and subjects, a uniform discipline code, and the right to file grievances over school safety and cleanliness.

The teachers’ incentive plan would provide unspecified rewards for individuals or groups of teachers whose students show outstanding, sustained or improved performance.

In the past, terms negotiated with teachers have become the standard for the district’s nine other bargaining units.