Inglewood Teachers Vote on Strike Plan

Teachers in the Inglewood Unified School District voted Wednesday on whether to strike if contract talks do not move more quickly, but the results were sealed until later this week, union officials said.

Meanwhile, the stalled contract talks received a boost this week when the district and teachers union agreed to mediate the issue of teachers’ salaries.

The district has offered a retroactive 2.7% salary increase for 1988-89 and 2.5% for 1989-90. The Inglewood Teachers Assn., however, maintains that teachers are due 14% and 10% raises for those two years.

If the mediation fails, the two parties have agreed to undergo fact-finding before a three-person panel, which would issue a written recommendation on salary increases.

Agreement among teachers on a walkout could bring a strike to Inglewood schools after the fact-finding results come in, said union President Cheryl Bell.