Hundreds Picket Outside Orange School District Office

Hundreds of teachers, parents and students lined the sidewalks in front of the Orange Unified School District office before Thursday night’s board meeting to protest the controversial adoption of a new teachers contract.

Drivers honked in support of protesters holding up signs stating, “Settle Our Contract Now!” and “Great Teachers Are Leaving.”

“It’s more than the money,” said Linda Vista Elementary School teacher Lynn Boyce, who carried a sign demanding the recall of school board members. “It’s the lack of respect that’s shown at every turn.”

The school board unanimously voted March 14 to impose a new salary and benefits plan on the teachers union, the Orange Unified Education Assn., in an effort to end months of unsuccessful contract talks.

The new contract, approved without the union’s consent, gives an 8% raise to teachers this school year and eliminates a requirement that forced veteran teachers to sell out their lifetime medical benefits.

The union contends that the raise will not bring teacher salaries up to the median county salary and that the district gave up on negotiations too soon. Trustees said the contract talks were hopelessly deadlocked and were hindering hiring efforts.

Teachers have been periodically protesting in front of district headquarters for several weeks now. About a dozen teachers protested at the district office Wednesday during a teacher recruitment fair.

“It’s not that we don’t want Orange to have good teachers. We just want them to know that there is no future in Orange with this school board,” Norma Shipman, a teacher at Palmyra Elementary School, said Thursday.

District spokeswoman Judy Frutig said she was surprised by the protest, adding that the district had made the teachers a good-faith offer.

“We reached out to them by removing the request for the buyout, which they said was the obstacle,” Frutig said.

“We reached out to them with an 8% pay raise, and they are still unhappy.”

But Eric Hardin, a 17-year-old senior at Canyon High School, fears that the district’s offer, which the union found unacceptable, will chase away some of the best teachers.

“We’re here to help our teachers get benefits. They are great teachers, and we don’t want to lose them,” said Hardin.