Orange School District, Teachers Break the Ice

For the first time since last month’s one-day strike, teachers and the Orange Unified School District are talking again about a salary and benefits pact, both sides said Friday, offering a glimmer of hope that a long, contentious standoff may be ending.

“I think we are on the verge of ending years and years of disputes, but the ball is in the school board’s lap,” said John Rossmann, president of the Orange Unified Education Assn., which represents 1,500 teachers, counselors and media specialists.

The school district said in a press release that its contract offer was a break in deadlocked talks. Likewise, the union’s release was titled “Agreement near to settle OUSD conflict.”

The district this week offered a proposal for the 2000-01 school year that would increase wages for teachers, who are paid less than the county median, with the raises weighted toward veterans, whose pay has lagged the most.

The union countered with a proposal to accept what the district had offered with “added contingency language,” which would increase wages by using any remaining money earmarked for salaries from the 1999-00 budget. The union also seeks a portion of any money the state refunds to the school district, as well as more money for teachers who give up their lifetime medical benefits package.

The district’s lawyer, James A. Bowles, was guarded about the union’s counteroffer, which will be presented to the school board in closed session Tuesday. He said he wanted more time to read the fine print.

“We haven’t had an opportunity to review all the language in the proposal and then review the financial aspects of it,” Bowles said. “I am certainly happy they have made a proposal and that they want to return to the bargaining table. I think it’s a little early to declare an end to the negotiations.”

Rocky for years, contract talks fell apart March 14 when district trustees unilaterally imposed a contract with an 8% raise spread over last year and this year. Union officials condemned the one-sided action and said the raise amounted to almost nothing, given the increasing cost of living.

That precipitated the one-day walkout April 27, when between 60% and 70% of Orange’s teachers missed work and picketed outside the district’s 42 schools. Teachers had vowed not to discuss the coming school year until the imposed contract was revoked; the school district pledged to discuss only the coming year.

The two sides have spoken only informally, the union’s Rossmann said.

The district’s proposal for 2000-01 would raise the range of teachers’ salaries. A teacher with an emergency credential would go from $32,975 to $33,222. The most veteran teachers’ salaries would increase to $61,878 from $56,560. The raise would cost the district about $2.8 million more in wages.Salaries for faculty veterans would go up more if enough teachers took a voluntary buyout of lifetime medical benefits.

The district also offered buyouts worth up to $20,000 for teachers who give up their lifetime medical coverage.

The union’s counterproposal accepts the proposed salary scale and does not contest the imposed raise.