Local News in Brief : Orange : School Trustees Reject Teacher ‘Non-Proposal’

Orange Unified School District board members Thursday night rejected a “conceptual” proposal from the teachers’ union for increased wages and fringe benefits, but board president Russell Barrios said the board would still consider a formal offer from teachers.

Mark Rona, president of the Orange Unified Education Assn., which represents 1,100 teachers in the sprawling 37-school district, said the union’s latest proposal represented a significant compromise by teachers in the 14-month dispute.

The union bargaining team Thursday proposed a 3% wage increase and 8.5% fringe benefit increase for the 1987-88 school year. Earlier this month, teachers had demanded a 3.15% pay increase this year, as well as improved fringe benefits. Teachers in the district earn an average of $33,307 a year, with beginning teachers paid $21,686 and the most senior instructor making $40,628.

Both Supt. John Ikerd and board president Barrios called the teachers’ latest offer “a non-proposal” because it was not framed as a formal offer from the union.

Teachers’ representatives are scheduled to meet Monday to consider their next step, which may include seeking to recall school board members, Rona said. Both teachers and board members are awaiting an official fact-finding report from a state mediator, which may be available Monday.

Unhappy teachers conducted a one-day strike April 12, and about 250 teachers called in sick April 22, an action not sanctioned by the teachers union.