Compton Teachers to Strike After Talks Fail

Compton schoolteachers will go on strike today after negotiators failed to reach an agreement last week in contract talks, union officials announced Sunday.

District officials could not be reached for information on how the strike might affect the district, whose school year is still in progress.

The main disputes are over health insurance coverage and the length of the proposed new contract, said Harold A. Stone, president of the 1,100-member Compton Education Assn., the union representing teachers.

Stone said the strike also is a statement against the district’s loss of local control, which occurred in 1993 when state officials took over the insolvent 33-school, 28,000-student system that was plagued by low test scores. “It’s a matter of responsibility and dignity,” Stone said. “The issue is the state’s paternalistic attitude.”

School board member Toi Jackson said that she will support the strike and that school officials probably were unaware of the strike plans. Jackson, union leaders and school board member Basil Kimbrew announced the strike at a Sunday news conference.

According to union President Stone, 93% of union members voted last week to allow leaders to “initiate whatever action necessary” in the teachers’ interest. Stone said the decision to strike was made after talks broke down Friday.

School district officials had offered teachers, who have not had a raise in five years, a 4% pay raise for the next school year and a 4% bonus for the current year. Additionally, the district has proposed cutting the maximum annual health care benefit, Stone said. And, he said, the union wanted a three-year contract, whereas district representatives had proposed a four-year agreement.

Labor issues have troubled the district throughout the school year. In February, nearly two-thirds of Compton teachers called in sick before a contract negotiation, but schools remained open.

The last teachers’ contract expired in June 1995.

Median pay for Compton teachers is $36,000, less than neighboring districts, Stone said.

One-third of the district’s teachers hold “emergency credentials,” temporary certificates granted before a teacher has passed required training.

In 1993, state lawmakers voted to take over the district, strip the school board of its authority and appoint an administrator to oversee the system, after loaning the district $20 million.