Compton School Czar to Lay Off Teachers, Cut Administrators’ Pay

A state-appointed administrator has decided to lay off about 40 teachers and cut administrators’ salaries by 7% to keep the Compton Unified School District afloat financially.

“Very painful changes have to take place and the pain has to get started,” interim Administrator Stan Oswalt said Thursday.

Oswalt said he must also cut the pay of teachers and other employees by as much as 7%. Negotiations are under way with unions representing these employees. The fate of about 200 teachers working on year-to-year contracts is also uncertain, he said.

Other areas of possible cuts include laying off or reducing the hours of teachers’ aides and cutting their health benefits. Class size could rise, but not beyond legal limits, Oswalt said.

The cuts are necessary because of the district’s ongoing financial problems and because a $10.5-million emergency state loan will fall about $7 million short of balancing the books, officials said.

The impact could be far-reaching in a district that struggles with some of the worst student achievement in the state and serves a needy student population that must overcome language barriers, poverty and family dissolution.

Oswalt said he will announce his recommended cuts in the district’s $91.2-million budget at next week’s school board meeting. Under terms of the bailout loan, Oswalt has czar-like authority to run the school system of 28,000 students without review by either the elected school board or senior staff.

In one area, bilingual education, Oswalt said he intends to increase expenses. Annual stipends paid to bilingual teachers will be raised from $1,000 to $2,750, he said. Other bilingual staff members are also likely to receive incentive bonuses, he said.

Critics have repeatedly charged that the school system does too little to help its many students who speak limited English.

State officials said academics would be a major focus for Oswalt.

A recent report by the Los Angeles County Office of Education faulted virtually every aspect of district instructional programs.

Oswalt said Thursday that he will give principals more authority and more responsibility for improving their schools. Principals will be asked to develop plans to improve their schools, he said, and could be removed if they don’t meet their objectives by specified deadlines.

Oswalt said he plans to reduce the number of administrators, returning some to the classroom and dismissing others, although he did not say how many. All administrative assignments for the next school year are under review.

Union leaders said they will insist on nothing less if they are to go along with lower pay and fewer jobs.

“If he does what he needs to do in cutting administration, I will be pleased,” said teachers union President Margie Garrett. “No one wants to take a cut in salary, but no one is going to say absolutely no to salary cuts if Dr. Oswalt does do what he needs to in the administrative area.”

Other union leaders were less optimistic. Ahrien Johnson, an attendance clerk and president of the union for non-teaching employees, is among about 40 employees who will lose a month’s pay because of June budget cuts.

“The people who have the least to do with the district’s problems are being affected the most,” he said.

Johnson said the cuts, which will take effect shortly before the start of the new school year, are likely to cause chaos.

But Oswalt said the cuts are necessary.

“I’ve got to cut teachers and I’ve got to cut (other employees) and at the same I’ve got to increase the quality of instructional programs,” he said. “It really doesn’t make a lot of sense but that’s where I am today. The proverb is: Caught between a rock and a hard place.”

Someone other than Oswalt will have to follow through with the plan. Oswalt, 69, accepted the post of state administrator this month only on an interim basis. A long-term administrator, who will remain for as much as eight years, will probably not be selected for several weeks.

Oswalt headed the Rowland Unified School District for 24 years. Since his retirement, he has worked on a short-term basis to help several school districts overcome financial difficulties.

Compton school board President Kelvin Filer praised Oswalt’s intentions and his willingness to work with district officials, but said he does not look forward to what Oswalt must do.