Award-Winning Newspaper of United Teachers Los Angeles • www.utla.net Volume XLIV, Number 8, April 20, 2015 Member organizing drives historic agreement Deal, which follows health benefits victory, includes 10% salary increase and first-time contract language in key areas. Capping months of escalating areas (detailed summary and text start AUGUST: First School Site Visit Blitz MAJOR ACTION TIMELINE member actions, from rallies and on page 17): picketing to faculty meeting boycotts, SEPTEMBER: First Big Red Tuesday UTLA reached a contract agreement Salaries: The 10% ongoing salary in- with LAUSD on April 17. UTLA’s ag- crease will be phased in over the next gressive organizing gave us strength eight months with: at the bargaining table, and the result- • an immediate 6% increase (4% retro- ing agreement includes a 10% salary active to July 1, 2014, and 2% retroactive increase as well as first-time, ground- to January 1, 2015). breaking contract language on class • 2% increase, effective July 1, 2015. size, counselor-student ratios, and • 2% increase, effective January 1, other priorities of the Schools L.A. 2016. Students Deserve campaign. Retroactive checks for the July 2014 NOVEMBER: Regional Rallies The agreement comes on the heels of and January 2015 increases will be pro- a major victory in health care the same cessed upon ratification by our members week, after the School Board approved and the LAUSD School Board. There will FEBRUARY: School Site Picketing a new agreement that would cover be an automatic reopener for additional & Sticker Up for Health Care current benefits for another two years, salary bargaining in 2016-2017. with the option for a third-year exten- sion. At a time of rising health care costs, Class sizes: The tentative agree- LAUSD employees continue to be one ment establishes, for the first time in of the few groups the contract, statewide with definitive lifetime benefits class-size and no monthly Read the tentative agreement caps (with FEBRUARY: Stand at Grand Rally premium pay- A summary and the full text of the the ability to ments. grieve vio- “The tentative tentative agreement begin on page lations) and agreements are 17 and are online at utla.net. The includes not just victories health benefits agreement is on contrac- MARCH & APRIL: Faculty in the content page 9. UTLA members will be vot- tual class- Meeting Boycotts that they en- ing on the agreements at school size aver- compass,” UTLA ages across President Alex sites in early May. all grade Caputo-Pearl levels, along said. “They are with $13 victories for organizing and demonstrate million to go toward targeted class-size powerfully that we are headed in the reduction in grades 8-9. There is new right direction in continuing to form language that ensures that LAUSD can an organizing union and continuing to no longer unilaterally change class sizes build the Schools L.A. Students Deserve without UTLA having an opportunity APRIL: Silent Gauntlet During Mediation campaign.” to meet with the District and organize The contract agreement covers three against such moves. Read more details years, from July 1, 2014, to June 30, on the impact of the new class-size lan- APRIL: Class Size and Student 2017, with reopeners on evaluation and guage in the summary on page 17. Services Bus Tour class size in 2015-16 and reopeners on salary, class size, and three additional Staffing ratios:$13 million will go articles each for UTLA and LAUSD in toward increasing secondary school 2016-17. counseling services to attain the newly The tentative agreement, which established 500-to-1 student-to-counsel- will be voted on by members in May or ratio—the first time counselor-student in tandem with the health benefits ratios have been spelled out in the con- agreement, includes improvements to tract. In addition, there will be a new teaching and learning in these critical (continued on page 4) Kayser • Schmerelson • Vladovic Three educators for LAUSD School Board See page 7 for more on May 19 election United Teacher • for the latest news: www.utla.net April 20, 2015 United Teacher President’s perspective PRESIDENT Alex Caputo-Pearl NEA AFFILIATE VP Cecily Myart-Cruz AFT AFFILIATE VP Betty Forrester Celebrate the agreements that you’ve won and ELEMENTARY VP Juan Ramirez SECONDARY VP Colleen Schwab TREASURER Arlene Inouye let’s move on to the next battles SECRETARY Daniel Barnhart By Alex Caputo-Pearl are the lifeblood of organizing. Discuss with an immediate 6% increase (4% retro- EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Good UTLA President the tentative agreements, encourage each active to July 1, 2014, and 2% retroactive to other to vote, get more people involved, January 1, 2015). There are automatic re- BOARD OF DIRECTORS My daughter plays softball at the same help everyone understand that these votes opener negotiations on salary in 2016-2017, fields where Mayra Gomez’s daughter consolidate 10 months of organizing and which we must start preparing for now. NORTH AREA: Interim: Kirk Thomas, Chair (Eagle Rock ES), Rebecca Solomon (RFK UCLA Comm. plays—Mayra is the UTLA co-chair at that they show us the pathway to more • For the first time, a TK-3 class-size School), Julie Van Winkle (Logan Span School) Grand View Elementary, and she has been victories in the future. average established contractually at 24, SOUTH AREA: Ingrid Villeda, Chair (93rd Street ES), doing great organizing at her school. Mayra Second, driving toward as high a par- in writing. This is very unusual across the Ayde Bravo (Maywood ES), Ayesha Brooks (Markham MS), Maria Miranda (Miramonte ES) thanked me on Sunday for the work we’ve ticipation rate and as high a “yes” vote state and allows us to move forward with EAST AREA: Gillian Russom, Chair (ESP Academy), done to attain the health benefits and col- as possible demonstrates more power to assurance on that number, rather than at Ingrid Gunnell (Lane ES), Gloria Martinez (Rowan ES), lective bargaining tentative agreements. I LAUSD and to those who would privatize the whim of the District. Adrian Tamayo (Lorena ES) responded with a fundamental truth I’ve public education. Voting in these ways • Contractual class-size averages across WEST AREA: Erika Jones Crawford, Chair (Angeles Mesa), Noah Lippe-Klein (Dorsey HS), Rodney Lusain gotten used to saying: These tentative shows that we are organized, we are all grade levels. (Los Angeles HS), Jennifer Villaryo (Grand View ES) agreement victories have come out of a united, we affirm the direction of UTLA • For the first time, definitive class-size CENTRAL AREA: José Lara, Chair (Santee EC), tremendous team effort, and it is leaders becoming an organizing union, and we caps have been established in the contract. Kelly Flores (Maya Angelou), Paul Ngwoke (Bethune MS), Zulma Tobar (Harmony ES) like her at work sites who have been the are ready for the next battles. A cap does not mean that classes should be backbone, and will continue to be at that level. In fact, it means the op- VALLEY EAST AREA: Scott Mandel, Chair (Pacoima Magnet), Victoria (Martha) Casas (Beachy ES), the backbone, to what we achieve posite of that—it means that very few Alex (David) Orozco (Madison MS) in the future. classes can be at that cap level, because VALLEY WEST AREA: Bruce Newborn, Chair, The UTLA membership collec- schools need to maintain the averages Melodie Bitter (Lorne ES), Wendi Davis (Henry MS), Javier Romo (Mulholland MS) tively—you, working with your that are in the contract and are substan- HARBOR AREA: Aaron Bruhnke, Chair (San Pedro chapter chairs, co-chairs, and vice tially lower than the caps. For example, HS), Elgin Scott (Avalon Gardens ES), Steve Seal chairs—has been the main protago- while a few hundred TK-3 classes this (Eshelman ES), Mary Tello (De La Torre Jr. ES) nist in this struggle. Everyone who school year (2014-2015) have contained ADULT & OCCUP ED: Ernest Kettenring (Roosevelt CAS) walked for George McKenna in from 25 to 27 students, the District has BILINGUAL EDUCATION: Cheryl L. Ortega (Sub Unit) August, who wore red on that first done well at keeping the average at HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: Linda Gordon Big Red Tuesday in September, who schools to 24 students per class. With came to a school site blitz meeting, the cap of 27 in TK-3 now in the con- SPECIAL ED: Darrell Jones (Byrd MS) Alex Caputo-Pearl rallies with educators, parents, and community who stickered up for class size and SUBSTITUTES: Fredrick Bertz members at Alta Loma Elementary, the first stop on UTLA’s community tract, we can expect the same—some caseloads in October, who made classes that exceed 24 so that schools PACE CHAIR: Marco Flores bus tour on April 14 highlighting class-size and student services issues. phone calls for Tom Torlakson in The tour ended at LAUSD, where parents addressed the School Board. can have the flexibility, for example, to UTLA RETIRED: John Perez October, who came to the regional avoid split-grade-level classes, but no rallies in November, who got involved in The tentative agreements: classes higher than 27, the vast majority of AFFILIATIONS the School Board races in December and a brief summary classes at 24, and the ability to grieve if the American Federation of Teachers January, who stepped up to be a chapter In a national context where attacking cap of 27 is exceeded. National Education Association parent action liaison (CPAL) or chapter public sector workers’ health benefits is • For the first time, a student-to-coun- STATE & NATIONAL OFFICERS political coordinator (CPC), who stickered the norm, winning an extension of full selor ratio of 500 to 1 in middle and high NEA DIRECTOR: Sue Cirillo up for health care with all of the other funding for our health benefits for the schools, with $13 million in additional CFT PRESIDENT: Joshua Pechthalt unions in February, who picketed and next two years—with an option to extend funding to go to counseling services to CTA PRESIDENT: Dean Vogel CTA DIRECTOR: David Goldberg leafleted in front of their school in Febru- for a third year—is a huge collaborative meet that new ratio.