Orange Teacher Salary Talks Hit Snag

Teacher salary negotiations between the Orange Unified School District and the union representing teachers fell apart this week, following a pattern that has been repeated several times over the last few years.

The latest stumbling block was hit after the district offered a final salary proposal for the upcoming school year that would mean substantial raises for some veteran teachers and slight raises for beginning teachers.

The offer also could have raised the costs of existing health benefits by several hundred dollars a year for some working and retired teachers.

During the last eight months of negotiations over salaries for the upcoming school year, there have been pickets, protests, numerous deadlocks and a one-day teacher strike.

This time, union negotiators said they welcomed the proposed salary increases, but rejected what they said was an “illegal” provision that would raise some health care costs for retirees.

John Rossman, president of the Orange Unified Education Assn., said the union won’t bring the district’s offer to teachers for a vote.

“We can’t take a proposal that contains illegal provisions to the teachers. How can we do that?” Rossman said. “We can’t ask our members to break the law.”

But school board President Linda Davis expressed doubts about whether Rossman wanted to reach an agreement. An end to the rancorous contract negotiations might stall a union-backed recall campaign against Davis and board members Martin Jacobson and Maureen Aschoff, she said.

“If we have an agreement, that might jeopardize their recall efforts,” Davis said. “I am hoping they will allow the teachers to vote on this [proposal].”

One teacher said Davis might have a point.

“I’m certainly not a friend of the school board’s, but I think that might be true,” said Jack Burke, a 34-year teacher at El Modena High School. “I think a lot of the teachers feel like they’re caught between the school board and the union leadership.”

Burke said he wanted a chance to vote on the contract, and that many of his colleagues at El Modena felt the same.

The recall effort was launched two weeks ago.

District attorney Jim Bowles denied that the district offered an illegal proposal.

“As far back as I can find collective bargaining agreements in this district, the union has never declined to bargain with retiree benefits,” Bowles said. The district could impose its offer on teachers if an agreement isn’t reached.