School Pact in Orange Ruled Legal

Teacher protests notwithstanding, the Orange Unified School District acted legally when it imposed a two-year salary and benefits pact on its instructors this year, a state labor board decided.

Frustrated by long-stalled negotiations and difficulty recruiting new teachers, the Orange school board took unilateral action March 14 to impose a contract that included an 8% raise over two years and dropped a demand that teachers sell away their rights to lifetime medical coverage.

Incensed by the board’s one-sided action and what they saw as a whittling of health benefits, the Orange teachers union responded by filing an unfair labor practices charge with the Public Employment Relations Board. Officials with the 1,500-member Orange Unified Education Assn. also said the raise was too skimpy, given that the district’s teachers are paid well below the county median.

Kristin L. Rosi, a regional attorney for the labor board, dismissed the union’s charge in a letter dated May 5. Three previous complaints filed by the union also have been dismissed.

Anger over the imposed contract, and the bitter labor strife, led to a one-day teacher walkout last month.

Orange Supt. Barbara Van Otterloo hailed the board’s decision, saying school trustees don’t need to backtrack and renegotiate contracts for this school year and the previous one.

“This opens the door for all of us to return to the bargaining table and work toward reaching an agreement for the 2000-01 contract,” Van Otterloo said in a prepared statement Tuesday.

Union President John Rossmann said he is not surprised by the labor board’s decision, which will probably be appealed through the courts. The labor board “is only the first resort,” he said, “and it’s a politically appointed body.”

The labor board’s decision comes as the union and the school district appear to be creeping closer to agreement on a contract for the 2000-01 school year. The two sides have not set a date to reopen talks.

The union has agreed to the district’s proposed salary schedule for the coming year, which would raise the salary for an emergency credentialed teacher from $32,975 to $33,222. The salary plan is weighted toward more senior teachers, whose wages lag the most. The most-veteran teachers would see salaries rise to $61,878 from $56,560.

However, the union is seeking some significant extras. It would like to receive any money left over from this year’s school district budget for teacher salaries. It also seeks about half the discretionary funds the district may receive from the state budget surplus.

Additionally, the union is seeking more money for teachers who sell out their lifetime medical-benefits packages--as much as $30,000, as opposed to the district’s maximum of $20,000.