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- NATION, Page 41American NotesSTRIKESPassing the Top Hat
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- When teachers strike in most communities, parents have
- little recourse. Not so in Beverly Hills (per capita income:
- $33,839). Last week parents ended a two-week walkout by passing
- the top hat. In a mere 48 hours, they chipped in $500,000 to
- help bridge the gap between the teachers' demand for a two-year
- 18% pay hike and the school board's 11% offer. Beverly Hills
- teachers, long the highest paid in the state (average salary:
- $42,659), had been seething since Los Angeles teachers overtook
- them by winning a 24% pay increase last May. They grudgingly
- accepted a settlement of 12% to 15%. The parents' donations will
- be distributed as a one-time bonus, followed by a permanent
- raise if an increase in property taxes passes next year. Some
- school officials had qualms about the buyout. Said school board
- President Dana Tomarken: "I am concerned about the message it
- sends to other, less fortunate communities."
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