WILSONA DISTRICT, TEACHERS UNION SET FOR MEDIATED TALKS.Byline: KAREN MAESHIRO Staff Writer LAKE LOS ANGELES Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. -- Negotiators from the Wilsona School District and the teachers union are scheduled to meet with a state mediator on Tuesday to try to settle an impasse im·passe n. 1. A road or passage having no exit; a cul-de-sac. 2. A situation that is so difficult that no progress can be made; a deadlock or a stalemate: reached an impasse in the negotiations. in contract talks. The impasse was declared in October over the issue of salaries, with the district offering 2 percent over two years and the union asking for a 7 percent hike for the same period. ``I think our focus is on being able to attract and retain quality teachers. Our district is an outlying out·ly·ing adj. Relatively distant or remote from a center or middle: outlying regions. outlying Adjective far away from the main area Adj. 1. district. It's not where you could drive around the corner and work here,'' said Jodi Paris, lead negotiator for the Wilsona Teachers Association. ``If we don't maintain competitive salaries, it won't be worth it for people to drive all the way out here.'' District officials said the 2 percent pay raise offer for the years 2005-06 and the current school year is all the district can afford. Superintendent Ned McNabb said that a comparison of teacher salaries in the Antelope Valley This article is about the Los Angeles County region. For the census-designated place in Wyoming, see Antelope Valley-Crestview, Wyoming. The Antelope Valley shows that Wilsona teachers are the highest paid. ``That's basically about as much as we can afford, and it's comparable,'' McNabb said. ``We did a district-by-district comparison, and we showed as total staff, they were the highest paid teachers in the valley.'' The average teacher salary at Wilsona is $61,000, and the salary of the highest paid teacher, including all benefits, comes to $115,500, McNabb said. McNabb also noted Wilsona teachers have no cap on their benefits, and the benefits cost per teacher is $15,000. ``It's a matter of the high cost of benefits and the impact on salaries,'' McNabb said. Paris disputed the district's salary survey, saying it did not agree with the comparison the union did with the help of the California Teachers Association The California Teachers Association (CTA), initially established in 1863 as the California Educational Society, is by far the largest teachers' union in the state of California. It is considered by many to be the most powerful union in California. . ``When (McNabb) did it, he did it before the last two years of settlements. Other districts in the valley have since had 7 (percent) to 11 percent in raises,'' Paris said. CTA An abbreviation for cum testamento annexo, Latin for "with the will annexed." budget analysts have scoured scour 1 v. scoured, scour·ing, scours v.tr. 1. a. To clean, polish, or wash by scrubbing vigorously: scour a dirty oven. b. district budget documents and have found places from which money could be shifted to fund bigger pay increases. ``We found places that we believe the district could reallocate Verb 1. reallocate - allocate, distribute, or apportion anew; "Congressional seats are reapportioned on the basis of census data" reapportion allocate, apportion - distribute according to a plan or set apart for a special purpose; "I am allocating a loaf of funds in order to make teachers a priority,'' Paris said. ``Their response was they didn't agree with our figures.'' As far as not having a benefits cap, Paris countered that there are other districts that provide fully-paid benefits. There are 107 teachers in the district. karen.maeshiro@dailynews.com (661) 267-5744 |
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