A week after their union overwhelmingly ratified a new contract, a small group of teachers in the Santa Ana Unified School District is agitating for another vote.
About 50 teachers gathered in front of Santa Ana High School on Thursday afternoon to say union leaders unfairly pressured teachers to accept the new contract.
With more than three-quarters of the district's 3,000 teachers casting ballots, 80% accepted the contract that calls for teachers to take a 4% salary cut but extends health benefits to domestic partners.
But Emil Barham, a Santa Ana High math teacher, said union leaders had inaccurately painted a doomsday scenario when they told teachers that state officials would take over the district unless the teachers approved the contract. He also faulted union officials for not waiting to negotiate until after the March 2 election, when voters approved Proposition 57 -- a multibillion-dollar bailout package that eased school districts' budget problems.
