HUNTINGTON BEACH : Pay, Health Benefits Stall Teachers’ Pact

With more than 200 teachers marching and chanting outside, representatives from the Ocean View School District and its teachers union made little headway Thursday in resolving their contract dispute.

After more than seven hours of negotiations with state mediator Tom McCarthy and an exchange of proposals, the two sides remain “$1 million apart,” said Gayle Wayne, assistant to the district superintendent. Carol Halbach, president of the Ocean View Teachers Assn., said she was “very disappointed” with the lack of progress.

Teachers from the district’s 17 Huntington Beach schools, which serve 8,400 students, picketed for 90 minutes in front of the district offices, carrying signs and chanting, “We want a contract.”

McCarthy directed both sides to continue to exchange proposals next week, and if no settlement in the 10-week dispute is reached by next Friday, he will authorize a fact-finding effort, the next step in the process.

The major issues at stake include teachers’ salaries and health benefits, and how money from the state lottery and Proposition 98 will be spent. The union’s latest proposal calls for a 9.3% pay raise and full health benefits.

The district countered with an offer that did not address salaries and included an increased contribution to health coverage.

The district paid for health care for its employees until this school year, when the cost of its Blue Shield plan soared 50%--a cost that was passed on to the teachers.