Teachers call in sick over pay dispute

Dozens of teachers in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District stayed home on Friday, apparently in protest over their salaries, as the district ran short of substitutes and had to stretch its personnel to cover classrooms.

The mass absence, which some in the district termed a “sick-out,” came as the teachers union continued to negotiate with administrators over pay. A report in January showed that Newport-Mesa provides the lowest teacher salaries of any unified district in Orange County, and teachers have since picketed at the district headquarters and elsewhere.

On Friday, at least 50 called in sick — although it was unclear how many of them did so over salaries. Union President Jim Rogers knew some teachers planned to be absent Friday but said his group had not ordered them to call in sick, since that would violate union rules.

“We are still under contract, and because we’re under contract, we cannot organize any kind of job action that would interfere with the workday, so we were not responsible for organizing any kind of large numbers of people calling in sick, and we would not condone it,” Rogers said.

Chuck Hinman, the assistant superintendent of secondary education, said he had heard rumors about the sick-out before Friday but couldn’t say for sure why teachers had stayed home. He added, though, that the Newport-Mesa district ran out of substitutes by 9 a.m. and had to enlist counselors and administrators to cover a number of classes.

Hinman declined to comment on whether teachers were being fair to students by sitting out the day.

“I would always want to believe that all educators will always do what’s in the best interest of children,” he said.

The sick-out appeared to be limited to the district’s secondary schools, as no elementary campus reported teachers absent. Newport Harbor High School led all schools with 29 teachers absent, while Corona del Mar High School reported 14 sick calls and Costa Mesa High School seven. Others, including Estancia High School and TeWinkle Middle School, had only a few teachers absent, which is routine.

Newport Harbor teacher Tony Zeddies, the union representative for his school, was among those taking Friday off. He said he regretted missing a day of classes but felt the sacrifice was worth it.

“While I think in the short run some parents might be concerned, I really believe if they know everything that’s going on, they would be supportive about this,” Zeddies said. “They want their children to have the best education possible.”

Some students voiced a similar opinion. Becca Kamran, a junior at Corona del Mar High, said four of her six classes had substitutes on Friday and that some of them were borderline chaotic, but she added that she supported the teachers in their salary campaign.

“I like the teachers I have now, so I’d rather have them stay, but I’d rather they also got what they want,” Becca, 16, said.

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