Selflessness in Los Angeles

Not only did 13,000 striking Los Angeles teachers vote to end their month-long walkout last week, they also rejected a 5% wage increase. They want the school board to use their raise (which would have cost $18 million) to cut class size and restore remedial-reading programs.

The strike, which kept more than half of the city's 25,000 teachers off the job and one-third of its 650,000 students out of class, was called despite an earlier board offer of a 5% wage hike. The striking teachers insisted that the students must profit too. But the school board is reluctant to make the swap without hearing from those who stayed on the job and thus did not vote on the raise. The teachers' selflessness, though, may have impressed Californians, who will vote June 2 on a statewide referendum calling for a minimum boost of $350 million in state aid to public schools. And if it is approved, the teachers may get some of that money themselves.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.