UTLA- ADDING INSULT TO INJURY... IF ONLY YOU HAD THE RIGHT TO VOTE TO STOP THEM
As of this writing, I have communicated with 15 "rubber room" teachers who tell me that they have not received ballots nor any of the other teachers they know in their same predicament.
Those presently in power at UTLA have been playing along with LAUSD for years in the removal of tenured teachers with high seniority without even basic notions of due process of law. They are presently trying to fix the run-off election by failing to supply ballots to the hundreds of excellent teachers that this crew at UTLA has consciously failed to defend, even though they had no problem taking their $57.34 a month all these years.
It is not lost on the corrupt administration at LAUSD that it has a $400 million plus budget deficit hole to fill and for every good teacher with a great deal of seniority they get rid of at the top of the salary scale or near it, it is like getting rid of two or more at the bottom of the salary scale.
While Teachers have come to expect nothing but this kind of dishonesty and dirty dealing from the District, it is unacceptable to have their own union sail them down the river. This run-off election might just be your last chance to get control back of your union and a real champion against LAUSD self-dealing and overt corruption - so vot.
Approximately 13.75% voted in the first round. This is a perfect result for LAUSD, if you don't plan on having a union in 3 years...or less.
(This post keeps getting more and more surreal as the day goes on in terms as to what LAUSD and UTLA can do without due process of law or maintaining even basic civil rights having to do with the property rights involved in employment.
I just received the following email from Tara Thomas at UTLA)
"Thank
you, I received your email. You didn't receive a ballot this time
around because the eligibility is based upon paying Union dues as of
February 4th
payroll. Our records indicate that you have not paid union dues since
December 2010. You are on Inactive status at this time.
In Unity,
Tara R Thomas
UTLA Business Office
fax 213-368-6231
So
it seems that all LAUSD would have to do to eliminate UTLA as a union
is to put us all on unpaid administrative leave in complete derogation
of the LAUSD/UTLA Collective Bargaining Agreement and applicable law,
because by so doing, teachers - according to Tara Thomas of UTLA - would
lose their right to vote at UTLA in any attempt to confront LAUSD
corruption in the illegal dismissal of teachers or UTLA complicit in
these illegal actions.
So
what happened to the legal presumption of being innocent until shown
guilty by a preponderance of the evidence with the burden of so proving
on the alleging party???
Please consider voting for:
Warren Fletcher for UTLA President: He has won countless battles in his 30 years of advocacy. Warren will return UTLA to its core priorities: fighting for your pay, your benefits, protecting your retirement, and protecting your job. Warren will hire a professional negotiator and have our members on the negotiating team.
Ana Valencia for UTLA/NEA Vice President: We can depend on and trust Ana, a bridge-builder who looks out for our interests. And has been instrumental in defeating anti-teacher Schwarzenegger propositions, and has helped pass numerous pro-education bills. She was instrumental in delaying implementation of the early start calendar.
Linda Guthrie for UTLA/AFT Vice President: Linda will fight tirelessly for you and your rights. Four UTLA presidents have sent Linda to the Negotiations table! Not one, not two, not three -- but four! Linda is firmly committed to public education. Please know that Linda will stand up to anyone who doesn't fairly represent our members interests.
Juan Ramirez for Elementary Vice President. Juan is a hard-working, proven organizer who wants UTLA to return to its core values, believing we should regularly reach out to every school site to focus on the issues members care about: testing, pacing plans, class size, school safety, benefits, and wages.
Scott Johnson for UTLA Treasurer: An eleven-year chapter chair at Union Elementary, Scott been instrumental in his schools API improvement of 347 points. At the House of Representatives, Scott was the catalyst for ensuring that Officers no longer may sign any "Memorandums of Understanding" without coming to UTLA members first.
David Lyell for UTLA Secretary: The sole UTLA representative for the 352-mile, 48 day March for California's Future. He did march that far! David regularly speaks at board meetings, publishes in the USC Annenberg School of Journalism, and believes in returning UTLA to its core values of defending members interests. www.davidlyell.blogspot.com
NATIONAL EDUCATION REFORMERS
Jo Scott Coe Riverside, California
Jo.Scott-Coe@rcc.edu
www.joscottcoe.com
Excellent Video Interview about Professor Coe
http://vodpod.com/watch/4959969-jo-scott-coe-teacher-at-point-blank
Assistant Professor of English at Riverside Community College and former high school English teacher. She is the author of Teacher at Point Blank
and has been a teacher of English and literature in California since
1991. Her writing on intersections of gender, violence, and education
has appeared in the Los Angeles Times as well as literary venues
including Hotel Amerika, Fourth Genre, River Teeth, Ninth Letter,
Memoir(and), Bitter Oleander, and Green Mountains Review. Her essay,
"Recovering Teacher," won the NCTE 2009 Donald Murray Prize, and other
selections of her work have received a Pushcart Special Mention as well
as Notable listings in Best American Essays 2009 and 2010. As an
independent researcher, Jo authored and published the most extensive
study to-date of Adams v. LAUSD, a nearly 10-year legal case of
student-on-teacher sexual harassment, in (Re)Interpretations: The Shapes
of Justice in Women's Experience (Cambridge Scholars Press). Jo values
the aesthetic, political, and socially transformative powers of literary
narrative--especially to dispel unhealthy silences and witness cultural
blindspots. She works currently as an assistant professor of English at
Riverside Community College in SoCal, and her book, Teacher at Point
Blank (Aunt Lute 2010), has been selected as a Great Read for Fall 2010
by Ms. Magazine. Punk rock? Yes. Hockey games? Yes. Coffee? Always
black. Find Jo on the web at joscottcoe.com and on Twitter @joscottcoe.
Betsy Combier New York, New York
betsy.combier@gmail.com
Betsy Combier's blog http://www.parentadvocates.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=article&articleID=488
is
a jewel that chronicles the corruption in NYC's Dept of Educations
(DOE) . She has accomplished a wonderful piece of journalism, and
created one of the rare places where corrupt educational governance is
chronicled and revealed
Professor Samuel Culbert Los Angeles, California
<nobull2u@gmail.com>
is
a professor at the UCLA Andersen School of Business who also teaches in
the Education Department's Principals' Leadership Institute. Check out
the following 3 minutes on ABC News
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/video/conversation-performance-review-11126992
Stuart Goldurs Los Angeles, Califonia
StuartComputers@gmail.com.
http://www.examiner.com/public-education-in-los-angeles/stuart-goldurs
My name is ......and I am lost In the LAUSD system...
LAUSD, this is not teaching, this is not educating
Breaking News: LAUSD to break up the bureaucracy
"Race to Nowhere" must be seen by everyone in LAUSD
Has been a teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District for 30
years. He is greatly aware of the district waste, large bureaucracy, and
other major issues of the time. He started his blog with the sole
purpose of informing the world about the truths of education in LAUSD.
E-mail him at: StuartComputers@gmail.com.
LAUSD has selected a new Superintendent of Schools
Karen Horwitz Chicago, Illinois
Teacher
Activist forced out of teaching on trumped up charges. Started NAPTA to
expose the reality of teacher harassment and terrorization maintain
corruption and mediocrity
teacherKH@aol.com
EndTeacherAbuse.org
NAPTA- National Association for Prevention of Teacher Abuse
Graduated
with honors in 1963 from Oak Park River Forest High School in Oak Park,
Illinois, and with honors from the University of Illinois, Champaign
where she earned a B.A. in Elementary Education in 1966. She taught
elementary school for four years in Berwyn and Hillside, Illinois as
well as Phoenix, Arizona, before starting a family. She felt a calling
to teach elementary students so that she could share her strength in
preparing children to succeed as students and as citizens, goals that
she believes require talented teachers to be realized. When teaching
jobs were scarce during the 1970's, she worked in business as a sales
representative and as a marketing director for an educational film
company. However, teaching always was her first love. She eagerly
returned to elementary teaching in her forties after earning an M. Ed in
Reading at National Louis University in Evanston, Illinois in 1992. She
has raised three children and has grandchildren who inspire her to do
the work of exposing the truth about Education; she believes that they,
as well as all children, deserve better - much better.
David Lyell Marina del Rey, California
He grew up in Palo Alto, California, the youngest of four children to
two college professors. David attended public schools before graduating
from UC Santa Barbara with a B.A. in English, and The American Film
Institute with an M.F.A. in Screenwriting. He likes to work, and has had
a variety of jobs along the way. He has done things as varied as
ghost-writing a screenplay to washed dishes, working as a food server,
dish washer, helper in a warehouse where farm equipment was being
liquidated, free-lance reporter and photographer, undercover diner in
high-end restaurants, candy vendor at sporting events, proofreader,
typist, data entry clerk, and Substitute Teacher. He has 13-years
teaching experience with LAUSD and has also worked as an educator in The
Palo Alto Unified School District. David is very active in UTLA (United
Teachers Los Angeles). In 2010, as part of the March for California's
Future, he was one of six core activists to make the 352-mile journey
from Bakersfield to Sacramento to protest the lack of funding for
education, and essential public services. With California having the 8th
largest economy in the world, he believes it is pathetic that we are
46th in the nation in per pupil spending and would like to see more
spent for teachers and other educational support professionals. He
believes this might be better accomplished if corporations pay their
fair share in taxes. David's blog can be viewed at www.davidlyell.blogspot.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY1NCnk_tZI
Susan Ohanian Charlotte, Vermont
susano@gmavt.net
http://www.susanohanian.org
She
is a longtime public school teacher who, after 20 years, became staff
writer for a teacher magazine and then went freelance. I've maintained a
website of activism for nearly 9 years--ever since the passage of NCLB.
People can subscribe to the website and then they get updates about new
content. I answer all the mail I get through the website and with the
answer, people have my e-mail. I also try to stir things up on Twitter,
though I find this medium frustrating. I have a Facebook page--just so
people can find me. I don't initiate anything on it, The website keeps
me busy.
http://susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.php?id=9593
Susan Lee Schwartz Suffern, New York
Susan studied literacy education, English literature, and fine arts and holds a BA ('63) and MS ('65) from Brooklyn College, and has the equivalent of two master's degrees, earned in graduate studies of literacy, arts and education. She taught literacy skills and art, for four decades in NYC in elementary and secondary school. In 1998 she won the New York State English Council (NYSEC) Educator of Excellence Award for her successful teacher practice, studied by Harvard and the LRDC at the University of Pittsburgh for the New Standards research. At the end of her research, her unique curriculum was selected by the LRDC to be used in their national staff development seminars for school superintendents. She was among six teachers -- from among the thousands across the nation-- observed during the research project, and her teaching practice met all the principles of learning. In the nineties, she rose to prominence in national educational circles, while teaching at a new magnet school, East Side Middle School. The reading scores of her seventh grade students were at the top of the city, and on the first ELA, which two thirds of city students failed, her former students (then in the eight grade) were TENTH IN THE STATE.
She writes often about what she learned about the genuine standards for learning, in an attempt to begin a national conversation about the authentic standards, so that there can be genuine reform. Her experience that ended her fine career in the NYC Public Schools has led her to write about the process that removed the top educators, silencing the voices of the classroom practitioners who would not accept anti-learning policies. Her essay here on Perdaily, is one that describes this process. Read more as she talks about education, literacy and learning on her site, from the perspective of the experienced teacher-practitioner of pedagogy. She is the voice of dedicated and talented classroom teachers who know why the schools are failing.
Her website is:
http://www.speakingasateacher.com/Susan_Lee_Schwartz_(Steiner)_/index.html
Joel Shatzky: Brooklyn, New York
Joel.Shatzky@cortland.edu
Professor of English Emeritus--SUNY, College at Cortland (1968-2005)
Adjunct instructor-Kingsborough CC (CUNY) 2006-- )
Regular contributor to the Huffington Post: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/searchS/?q=Joel+Shatzky
Author of "The Thinking Crisis" with Ellen Hill (Authors Choice Press: New York, 2001)
Numerous articles on education in Jewish Currents.
Script-writer for three YouTube satires on educational "reform."
"The Lessons": www.youtube.com/watch?v=D712J1V2Jsg&feature=player_embedded
"Numbers Lie": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57BRNLviVTQ
"The Charter Starters": www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnrrw5CV3Gw<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnrrw5CV3Gw>
Here's Joel's latest post about the low percentage of "college ready" high school graduates. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-shatzky/educating-for-democracy-t_2_b_821410.html
Lorna Stremcha Havre, Montana
<lornastremcha@yahoo.com>
http://www.endteacherabuse.org/Stremcha.html
http://twitter.com/lornapstremcha
callmescarlet.blogspot.com
HER STORY:
"I know first hand the financial, personal, emotional
and physical damage that can result when school administrators, the
Montana Education Association and the National Education Association put
their own interests above the students, teachers and the taxpayers of
the State of Montana My files contain mountains of paperwork including
depositions, declarations of truth, notarized documents and exhibits
resulting from an arduous legal process that finally ended when the
Havre (Montana) School District settled two lawsuits - a Federal suit
and one filed in State District Court. These documents also include a
letter from a union representative stating, " This is nothing more than a
witch hunt." Yet the union continued to allow the school administration
to harass, bully and bring harm to me.
These two lawsuits resulted
from a single incident that, had it been handled differently and under
the light of public scrutiny, would not have snowballed into awards of
more than $200,000 worth of damages. Funds that eventually came from the
taxpayers' pockets. Ironically, as a taxpayer in Hill County, my family
and I are helping to pay for the damages awarded to me. This covered
the attorneys' fees. The settlement did not include my attorney fees,
however the district, insurance and taxpayers paid the defendants
attorney bills, which exceeded mine. The settlement was made on March 2,
2006."
Sabrina Stevens Shupe Denver, Colorado
TeacherSabrinaFSP@gmail.com
"I
went into teaching because I (mistakenly) believed the hype about bad
teachers in our worst-performing schools, and I wanted to Be the change I
wished to see in the world. When I was rushed to the hospital after
fainting from exhaustion in my classroom, I started to suspect that the
situation might be more complicated than the conventional wisdom on
education reform would have us believe."
Excellent Colorado teacher who was forced out of the profession for being a dedicated and conscientious teacher.
TeacherSabrinaFSP@gmail.com
http://failingschools.wordpress.com
@TeacherSabrina on Twitter
Jim Taylor, Ph.D., Psychology San Francisco, California
email: mailto:jim@drjimtaylor.com
web site: www.drjimtaylor.com
Jim
Taylor is an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco. He
is the author of three parenting books and speaks regularly to students,
parents, and educators around the U.S. He blogs on education issues for
psychologytoday.com, huffingtonpost.com, sfgate.com, seattlepi.com, and other web sites around the country, as well as on his own web site.
Lois Weiner Jersey City, New Jersey
Professor, Elementary and Secondary Education
New Jersey City University
2039 Kennedy Blvd.
Jersey City, New Jersey 07305
drweinerlo@gmail.com
Blog
Democracy Now
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/9/3/educators_push_back_against_obamas_business
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Impact of urban school characteristics on teachers' classroom practice
How race, class, and gender mediate academic achievement
Teachers' work and the school as a workplace
Effects of changes in global political economy on teaching, teachers, and schools.
I pay my dues and I didn't get it either. I haven't gotten anything from paying my dues. Is there anyway to get a refund?