Orange Teachers Stage Protest

For the third time this year, Orange Unified teachers, parents and students picketed the school district’s headquarters Thursday in what they called a dress rehearsal for a districtwide strike.

About 600 protesters lined Katella Avenue, waving signs and chanting, “Two, four, six, eight, make the board negotiate.” Car horns blared as motorists showed their support.

“This is the worst it’s ever been,” school psychologist Bob Bingham said of the district’s March 14 decision to impose a teachers contract that includes an 8% raise for the 1999-2000 school year.

“We used to be able to have rational discussions even if we didn’t agree,” said Bingham, an Orange Unified employee for 30 years.

The teachers union says it will strike April 26 and 27 to protest the contract, which they say fails to bring teacher salaries up to the county median. The district’s last strike was in 1988.

“I can’t afford to be here anymore,” said Leslie Williams, who teaches at Panorama Elementary School in North Tustin. “The atmosphere in the district is destroying education.”

District officials say Orange Unified would go bankrupt if it had to pay more in salaries, but officials of the Orange Unified Education Assn. contend that the district could find more money for wages and benefits if it wanted to.

Judy Frutig, district spokeswoman, said Thursday night: “This is a school district that wants to pay our teachers as generously as we can. If we had the revenue, we would offer our teachers and other certificated employees a compensation package that would place them at the top of the county.”

Tension between the union and district officials has spawned a number of protests. Two districtwide sickouts were staged in January and March, and more than 100 Orange High School students protested district policy last month. Frustrated teachers have also picketed at recruitment fairs and on their own campuses.

At a school board meeting Thursday, district officials presented a contract proposal for the 2000-2001 school year that would give a 4% raise and an additional $1,000 a year to teachers who have a doctoral degree or National Teacher Certification.