Teachers vote, L.A. braces for strike

Haya El Nasser;Jonathan T. Lovitt

10/21/1992

USA Today

FINAL

Page 03A

LOS ANGELES - About 26,000 teachers in the USA's second-largest school

district began casting their votes Tuesday on whether to take a 12% pay cut - or

strike, crippling a district already faced with a record $400 million deficit.

``The anxiety is enormous,'' says Sandra Goldman, 46, who teaches high school

with her husband, Milt, and voted to strike. ``But if we take this offer, it will

really hit us hard.''

Says math teacher Norm Bergman, 60: ``The strike vote is a matter of principle.''

Teachers have just gotten back the 3% reduction in salary they took last year.

Many say they're not willing to take deeper cuts.

Leaders of the United Teachers-Los Angeles, which represents 34,000 teachers

and support service personnel, hope a strike authorization will give them

leverage as negotiations continue.

``No other school district in the state is doing this to its teachers,'' says the

union's Catherine Carey. ``If they strike, they'll shut the system.''

They did that in 1989 - for nine days - and won impressive 8% annual raises for

three years. Now, they would settle for a freeze or a smaller cut.

``I think we were too successful in 1989,'' Carey says. ``They have taken this

financial crisis and used it to bust the union.''

For the Goldmans, who are supporting two children in college, swallowing the

cut means slashing both their paychecks. That's enough for them to gamble on a

strike, even if it leaves them without a paycheck for a while.

And that's why many are clenching their teeth and voting for a strike that could

start in early November - less than two months before Christmas.

``We have to reject the whole concept of financing education by extorting

teachers,'' says junior high school teacher Bill Taxerman, 54. ``With a strike, it's

always a crapshoot. But you don't go out there to lose. My position is no cuts.''

The prospect of a strike is tough on students and parents.

``It's not our fault,'' says Hamilton High freshman Latonya Turner. ``There's

nothing us kids can do about it, and it worries me what I'll do if they strike.''

Especially worried: Parents chilled by the thought of sending their children

across picket lines into undersupervised classrooms.

``Sometimes strikes can become quite violent,'' says Ollie Walton, who has a

13-year-old stepdaughter. ``The main thing is keeping her safe, yet at the same

time not interrupt her education. I don't know what I'm going to do.''

The district says all employees are being asked to take pay cuts - the higher the

salary, the deeper the cuts.

``It's not a situation where we're dickering. There is no extra money lying

around,'' says assistant superintendent Gordon Wohlers. ``Our hope is that there

will not be a strike.''

Says teacher Alan Kaplan: ``We're going to bleed. We may as well bleed now. I

won't have the resources to strike next year.''

How teachers' pay compares

How public school teachers' salaries in Los Angeles compare with those in other

U.S. cities:

Los Angeles $44,000 San Francisco $42,700 New York $40,000 Miami $38,000

Chicago $37,000 Houston %28,000

CUTLINE:TOUGH CHOICE: `The strike vote is a matter of principle,' says

Hamilton High math teacher Norm Bergman. About 26,000 teachers began

voting Tuesday on whether to take a 12% pay cut or strike.

GRAPHIC;b/w,Julie Stacey, USA TODAY ,Source:American Federation of

Teachers(Bar graph);PHOTO;b/w,Kevork Djansezian,AP