UNION TO SEEK INJUNCTION TEACHERS AIM TO KEEP SMALL CLASSES, PUSH CONTRACT TALKS.

Byline: Marci Wormser Staff Writer

PALMDALE - Palmdale teachers union leaders will seek a court injunction to block the Palmdale School District from increasing class sizes in kindergarten through third grade.

Palmdale Elementary Teachers Association president Ken May said the teachers' three-year contract caps K-3 class sizes at a maximum of 20 pupils. The contract expired June 30, but May said its provisions are still valid because negotiations on a new pact stalled three weeks ago.

``The contract is definitely still enforced,'' May said Thursday. ``We are bound by the old contract.''

``We've worked so hard to get smaller class sizes,'' he added. ``We can't let them take it away. ... It's against the language of the contract.''

A divided school board voted Tuesday night to drop year-round school and to increase class sizes, aimed at paring $6.1 million from the district's budget to make up for severe state cuts in education spending.

The traditional schedule with a long summer vacation is better educationally for pupils than the present year-round ``three-track'' schedule that has three groups of students attending at different times, and taking a number of shorter breaks, administrators say. But they say the traditional school schedule requires them to increase class sizes to fit pupils onto existing campuses.

The new schedule, which will have 180 days of class compared to the current 163, is to take effect in August.

May said teachers want the board vote nullified, which he said would force district officials back into contract negotiations. Negotiations stalled in early February over the teachers' request for more pay and seniority rights. An impasse was declared, meaning a state mediator will be called in to try to reach a settlement.

May expects the request for the injunction to be filed in Superior Court by the end of next week.

The union will also file a grievance with the school district under the teachers' contract, and will file an unfair labor practice complaint with the state Public Employment Relations Board, May said.

Palmdale District spokesman Isaac Barcelona said attorneys advised administrators that increasing class sizes is not a contract violation.

``If Mr. May and the teachers union think that their issue is more important than what the community needs and wants, then they will have to proceed in whatever manner they deem appropriate,'' Barcelona said. ``If they obtain an injunction against the Palmdale School District ... we will still have to come up with $6 million in budget cuts. That represents hundreds of jobs.''

However, May said, ``in no way are we attempting to cause the district a problem with starting up next year. We want to force them to negotiate with what's right. Our only attempt is to negotiate.''

Teachers' morale is low, and they feel they get no respect from district officials, he said.

Increasing class sizes could translate to a possible layoff of up to 160 teachers. In addition, returning to a traditional calendar would cost speech and language specialists 18 percent of their pay.

``We aren't selfishly motivated,'' May said. ``We know the one thing that helps in the classroom is smaller sizes.''