Lawe v. El Monte School District

FORD, P. J.

This is a proceeding in mandamus to compel

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the school district to advance the petitioner one step on the salary schedule for each of several years and to pay petitioner additional compensation for his services rendered in such years in accordance with such advancement. The court denied the petition for a peremptory writ of mandate and the petitioner has appealed from the judgment.

The facts are not in dispute. The petitioner is a permanent certified teacher and holds a junior high school credential for life which authorizes him to teach all subjects in grades seven through nine. He was first employed in the El Monte School District in the 1958-59 school year and thereafter served continually in that district until the school year 1962-63. For the 1961-62 school year he was paid a salary as designated for step 4 in column Y of the teachers’ salary schedule of the school district for that year. He was granted a leave of absence by the school district for the 1962-63 school year to permit him to teach in an American Dependents Education Group School in Germany for the United States Department of Defense. He returned to the school district for the 1963-64 school year and resumed his teaching duties in that and the ' succeeding years.

Prior to his leave of absence the petitioner taught seventh and eighth grade classes in the El Monte School District. During the 1962-63 school year he taught the eighth grade class in the American Dependents School in Germany. After he returned to the school.district upon the expiration of his leave of absence he was given seventh and eighth grade teaching assignments in each school year.

For each school year the school district published a teachers’ salary schedule which provided for an annual one step advance in salary to and including step 13. The school district did not advance the petitioner one step in the salary schedule for the school year 1962-63 and thus did not give him credit for his teaching services in Germany during his leave of absence. For the school year 1963-64 he was paid a salary based on a one step increase over his salary for the school year preceding the period of his leave of absence. For each succeeding year the increase in salary was based on the next step in the salary schedule for that year.