February 2019 Issue of the United Teacher
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Award-Winning Newspaper of United Teachers Los Angeles • www.utla.net Volume XLVII, Number 4, February 8, 2019 WHENWHEN WEWE FIGHT,FIGHT, WEWE WINWIN RainRain oror Shine,Shine, WeWe WalkedWalked thethe Line!Line! INSIDE • Scenes from our strike: Pages 4-8 PULLOUT POSTER • Agreement delivers wins: Page 4 PAGE 12 United Teacher • for the latest news: www.utla.net February 8, 2019 United Teacher President’s perspective PRESIDENT Alex Caputo-Pearl NEA AFFILIATE VP Cecily Myart-Cruz AFT AFFILIATE VP Juan Ramirez Together, we made history ELEMENTARY VP Gloria Martinez SECONDARY VP Daniel Barnhart TREASURER Alex Orozco By Alex Caputo-Pearl SECRETARY Arlene Inouye UTLA President EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Good Our strike won an overwhelming for the campaign. victory on the issues. We launched the 1. Win on key BOARD OF DIRECTORS teacher strike movement in California and contract demands. NORTH AREA: Karla Griego, Chair (Buchanan ES), Mark accelerated the teacher strike movement 2. Win on key po- Ramos (Contreras LC), Rebecca Solomon (RFK UCLA Comm. School), Julie Van Winkle (LOOC Liason) nationally. We made history. litical and common But what remains etched in our brains good demands SOUTH AREA: Maria Miranda, Chair (Miramonte ES), Aydé Bravo (Maywood ES), L. Cynthia Matthews and hearts most indelibly is the together- outside the contract. (McKinley ES), Karen Ticer-León (Tweedy ES) ness, love, pride, and creative spark we 3. Build the EAST AREA: Adrian Tamayo, Chair (Lorena ES), felt on the picket lines and in the rallies. movement for Ingrid Gunnell (Salary Point Advisor), Yolanda Tamayo (Lorena ES), Gillian Russom (Roosevelt HS) The co-workers at Los Angeles Elemen- public education. tary who got to know each other so much We achieved all WEST AREA: Erika Jones, Chair (CTA Director), Georgia Flowers Lee (Saturn ES), Noah Lippe-Klein better on the line that they decided to step of our goals. (Dorsey HS), Larry Shoham (Hamilton HS) up and broaden their chapter leadership Over my 22 CENTRAL AREA: Stacie Webster, Chair (West Vernon ES), at the school as a permanent move. The years of teaching Kelly Flores (Hawkins HS), Tomás Flores (West Vernon ES), Claudia Rodriquez (49th Street) chapter leaders at Augustus Hawkins and community High School who said that, when it organizing, and VALLEY EAST AREA: Scott Mandel, Chair (Pacoima Magnet), Victoria Casas (Beachy ES), Mel House rained the week after the strike, their col- four and a half (Elementary P.E.), Hector Perez-Roman (Arleta HS) leagues missed striking together (“picket years of being VALLEY WEST AREA: Bruce Newborn, Chair (Hale line withdrawal”). The parents at Lillian UTLA president, Charter), Melodie Bitter (Lorne ES), Wendi Davis (Henry MS), Javier Romo (Mulholland MS) Street Elementary who brought pozole to I have been a part the line for a collective feast. The entire of, and closely HARBOR AREA: Steve Seal, Chair (Eshelman ES), Karen Macias (Del Amo ES), Jennifer McAfee school community at Arleta High School observed, many (Dodson MS), Elgin Scott (Taper ES) and Romer Middle School dancing in the unions’ contract Our collective power gave us the strength to win the strike. ADULT & OCCUP ED: Matthew Kogan (Evans CAS) rain and contributing to the social media campaigns and BILINGUAL EDUCATION: Cheryl L. Ortega (Sub Unit) dance contests. The members at Nevin many community campaigns to change professionals, ROC/ROP teachers, adult EARLY CHILDHOOD ED: Teri Harnik, Cleveland EEC Elementary who made “Thank You” cards policies. I have never seen a victory with education, substitute educators, ethnic HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: for parents, stating, “Thank you for sup- the depth and breadth of what we won studies, and expanded chapter chair rights Mallorie Evans (Educational Audiologist) porting our schools during this historic together in our strike. regarding budgets, speaking at district SPECIAL ED: Lucía Arias (Sub Unit) strike. Together, we will build a better and For months between July and Novem- meetings, and more. Read details on page 4. SUBSTITUTES: Benny Madera more equal world for our students and our ber 2018, we blanketed the city with the In addition to the privatization, school PACE CHAIR: Marco Flores community. UTLA Strong!” The members “United, We Act Now” flyer, outlining funding, and Community School victo- UTLA RETIRED: John Perez at Stagg Elementary and so many sites who seven of our key demands. We won on ries above, there were additional victories said the strike was a tremendous boost all of them. on political and common good demands AFFILIATIONS Pay: outside the contract, including expanding American Federation of Teachers in morale. The members at Carpenter El- A 6% retroactive increase without National Education Association ementary who collectively created a social contingencies and without conditions that green space on school campuses, expand- media phenom with carpool karaoke. undermine healthcare. ing the number of schools where school STATE & NATIONAL OFFICERS Every one of you on the picket line Class size: Elimination of Section 1.5 of safety alternatives to so-called random CFT PRESIDENT: Joshua Pechthalt CTA PRESIDENT: Eric Heins embraced your ability to be an agent the class-size article, leading to the first searches would be used, and creating an CTA DIRECTOR: Erika Jones of change in the world. So many of you enforceable class-size caps in decades, immigrant defense fund. CFT VICE PRESIDENTS: Arlene Inouye, John Perez, Juan Ramirez embraced your leadership—motivating along with the first systematic reduction On our third goal of using our contract NEA PRESIDENT: Lily Eskelsen Garcia your co-workers, organizing elements of in class sizes in decades over the course campaign and our strike to build the move- AFT PRESIDENT: Randi Weingarten AFT VICE PRESIDENT: Alex Caputo-Pearl your picket line or the work supporting of three years. ment for public education, we scored an NEA DIRECTOR: Mel House your picket line and rally attendance. Staffing and school safety: Increased unambiguous victory. Tens of thousands of You are incredible. staffing, including a nurse in every school parents picketed and marched with us. We UTLA COMMUNICATIONS It is so important that we nurture these every day, a teacher librarian in every sec- fundamentally shifted the media narrative EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Alex Caputo-Pearl COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Anna Bakalis relationships that developed during the ondary school, and a first-time enforceable about public schools in LA and around COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALISTS: Kim Turner, strike. It was our collective power, our student-to-counselor ratio. the country. The new narrative: We must Carolina Barreiro, Tammy Lyn Gann togetherness across over 34,000 educators Testing: A 50% reduction in standard- invest in our schools, not privatize them; in ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: Laura Aldana and tens of thousands of parents, and our ized testing. the richest state in the richest country in the Privatization: world, it is clearly possible to do this; and, EDITORIAL INFORMATION strengthened relationships to each other A School Board resolu- that gave us the power to win the strike. tion calling on Sacramento to implement a educators will strike for our students. We UNITED TEACHER 3303 Wilshire Blvd., 10th Fl., LA, CA 90010 It is also what will give us the power to moratorium on new charter schools, a first- have helped inspire teacher movements Email: [email protected] win the next steps in the struggle for edu- time article in our contract giving public and possible strikes in Oakland, Denver, UTLA main line: 213-487-5560 cational justice. So, take time to remember district schools more rights in charter co- Virginia, Texas, Maryland, and more. ADVERTISING Senders Communications Group the picket lines and be intentional about locations, and a commitment to remove Brian Bullen: 818-884-8966, ext. 1108 building those relationships even stronger. unused bungalows. Lessons from our strike We’ll need those relationships, that dis- School funding: An endorsement by the We learned many lessons from our UNITED TEACHER accepts paid advertisements from outside companies and organizations, including UTLA sponsors cipline, that pride, and that energy for our district and Mayor Eric Garcetti for the strike, and we did our learning on a public and vendors with no relationship with UTLA. Only approved next steps: Schools and Communities First statewide stage, so that the US labor movement, vendors can use the UTLA logo in their ads. The content of an advertisement is the responsibility of the advertiser • Educate ourselves and parents about measure in November 2020 that would teacher unions everywhere, and move- alone, and UTLA cannot be held responsible for its accuracy, the new contract and implement it ag- bring $11 billion to schools and social ments everywhere can learn with us. veracity, or reliability. Appearance of an advertisement should gressively. services, and an unlocking of LA County Strikes work: We live in a period of not be viewed as an endorsement or recommendation by United Teachers Los Angeles. • Elect Jackie Goldberg to LAUSD monies for mental health services. history in which the right wing is at- School Board District 5. Community Schools: Investment in 30 tempting to take away the right to strike, United Teacher (ISSN # 0745-4163) is published eight • Support the possible Oakland school communities to transform into and liberals are often too scared to utter times a year (monthly except for November, January, teacher strike. Community Schools, as a model for great the word “strike” for fear that it will be June, and July) by United Teachers Los Angeles, 3303 • Pressure the state for a charter cap and education, and as a proactive alternative too “disruptive.” With a massive, ef- Wilshire Blvd., 10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90010. additional funding for schools. to charter schools. fective, strategic, and well-organized Subscriptions: $20.00 per year. (Price included in dues/agency fee of UTLA bargaining unit members.) There were contractual wins beyond strike, we have helped put striking back Periodicals postage paid at Los Angeles, California.