AALA has scheduled a reconvening of the MiSiS Committee on Tuesday, May 19, 2015. A number of issues affecting school sites and central offices will be discussed. The meeting is a collaborative effort with Diane Pappas who serves as the Chief Adviser to Superintendent Ramón Cortines regarding MiSiS. Committee members include
The report from the Viramontes Group, a consulting firm hired to provide oversight of the My Integrated Student Information System (MiSiS) implementation, was released to the public on November 6, although dated October 16, 2014. We have read through the report and note that it finds fault with many of the same issues that the AALA MiSiS Committee noted for the past two years. For example,
For years, we heard it was coming – an integrated student information system. And then, suddenly, almost without warning, we drop right into the middle of My Integrated Student Information System (MiSiS), a system still in development. If MISIS is meant to be a test of our patience and perseverance as administrators, it rose to the occasion.
MiSiS debacle, iPad investigation, mounting teacher unrest, student demonstrations—can this year’s school opening get any worse for LAUSD? In what is being called one of the most awful openings ever, the District is taking a pounding from the media across the nation while students, administrators, staff and teachers are suffering from overwork
On August 12, 2014, LAUSD opened the school year using a new student information system, MiSiS (My Integrated Student Information System). The result has been chaos at secondary schools, where administrators, counselors and clerks have become frustrated and exhausted by software that simply does not work.
On September 9, 2021 AALA President Nery X. Paiz sent a letter to Interim Superintendent Reilly with AALA’s stance on Student Centered Funding (SCF) and its potential negative impact on our most vulnerable students.
Dear Superintendent Reilly,
The association and I seem to be in agreement with Superintendent Beutner’s overarching recommendations for the 2021 school year:
Following the science health and safety protocols to provide the safest brick-and-mortar school environments, for students, faculty, staff, and the school community and;
Effectively planning, allocating, and appropriately investing the historical influx of federal and state funds to address learning loss
A promise is a declaration or assurance that one will do a particular thing or that a particular thing will happen. Click HERE for the Health and Welfare presentation made to Board Members at their retreat on August 29, 2017.
The “How it All Began” slide on page 4 paints the LAUSD as a benevolent employer that in 1969 decided the “District pays full premium, eliminating
Because AALA will soon begin negotiations on the certificated contract, it is important that we take every opportunity to be seen and heard and that our positions on key items be continually emphasized. Historically, these positions are shared with members of the Board of Education at their meetings during the Labor Partners time on the agenda, however this section was not included on new Board President Ref Rodriguez’ order of business. Therefore, at the Board meeting on August 22, 2017, AALA President Juan A. Flecha signed up to speak under
Betsy DeVos, the nominee for U.S. Secretary of Education, said at her confirmation hearing that she would support President-elect Donald Trump if he decides to end the gun-free school zones. When asked if guns have any place in or around schools, she responded that it was best left to locales and states to decide. However, she did reference a school in rural Wyoming that might need a gun in the school to protect against grizzly bears. What?!?
Today we are taking the time to celebrate the journey of the emerging Cultural Proficiency Network of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD). The Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA), the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Equity Committee, and the LAUSD Professional Learning and Leadership Development Branch (PLLD) collaborated to address one of the most persistent and important challenges in American urban education: true access and equity for historically underserved populations. The collaborative began with some essential assumptions.
As you are aware, Friends of AALA, our 501(c)(3) nonprofit foundation, has, for the last several years, annually awarded scholarships to graduating students from LAUSD. Last year, twenty-five students each received a $2,000 scholarship. We are able to do so through the generous donations of members, friends, and corporate sponsors. This year, President Juan Flecha has set an ambitious goal to award 35 $2,000 scholarships in recognition of AALA’s 35 years of service. We want to applaud and thank Kevin Kilpatrick,
AALA’s article last week resonated with administrators across the District who are struggling with the inconceivable workload with which they are saddled. Below is an excerpt from an email that was sent by one of
Regrettably, the malady of overworked AALA administrators continues. This assertion is not being made in isolation from AALA headquarters. This self-evident truth is echoed to AALA’s leadership by the rank-and-file of every supervisory department AALA represents. The same sentiment is echoed at organization meetings, AALA Executive Board and Representative Assembly meetings, in emails, phone calls, facsimiles, and the parking lots of every Local District and the Beaudry Building. While we appreciate when the Superintendent and Senior leaders voice that principals and middle managers are the stars and everyone else is the supporting cast, AALA’s middle managers report that the “supporting cast” is more diva like,
Report! Report! Report suspected child abuse to the appropriate law enforcement agency and file an ISTAR (click HERE)! Email Operations and your director! This was the first line in the Update of October 12, 2015, and it related to the fact that AALA members were facing potential disciplinary action for failing to report suspected child abuse. Unfortunately, with the beginning of the new school year, we still find administrators being challenged with the District’s reporting requirements and therefore
Dear School-Site Administrators:
Welcome back! We hope that you enjoyed your vacation and are ready for another outstanding school year. The District recognizes the herculean efforts you made in committing your master schedules at the secondary level and reorganizations at elementary schools prior to finishing your B and E Basis assignments this past June. Most, if not all of you, met your professional obligations with flying colors.
The District is fully confident you understand the importance of every student being programmed and appropriately placed on the first day at all of our schools. With this in mind, you will be receiving a supportive telephone call or visit from as few individuals as possible so that you can best attend to the matter at hand.
First and foremost, AALA extends a warm welcome to all E Basis Administrators as you return to your sites and prepare for the opening of school! AALA wishes to thank the very considerate A Basis administrators who kept emails to a minimum while E Basis Administrators were, hopefully, relaxing, traveling, and enjoying good times with their friends and families. Moreover, more than one District office checked with AALA to ascertain if we were copacetic with emails being sent to administrators who were on vacation. In the end,
A message from President Juan A. Flecha
PLUS: The best experience of my first year has been meeting the incredibly amazing members of the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles closely and personally at meetings, PD sessions, and on school and office visits. I have taken to heart the concerns about the untenable working conditions, the lack of administrative support, the recognition that salaries should be higher for all classifications given the scopes of responsibility, and the overall feeling that District management is perceived as punitive, retaliatory, and fraught with intimidation. This is despite the system’s assertion to the contrary.
MINUS: My challenge has been assuring members I strive to represent every unit and every member equally to the best of my ability. AALA represents Unit J classified employees and four certificated departments―Adult, Elementary, Secondary, and Supervisory. Unfortunately, the
At the meeting of the Board of Education on Tuesday, May 10, 2016, all of the labor unions ceded their time to Alex Caputo-Pearl, UTLA President, in order to share the findings of a study on the fiscal impact of independent charter schools on the District that UTLA had commissioned. MGT, a national consulting firm that works with government agencies and nonprofit organizations, reviewed the data and Susan Zoller, a former teacher, principal, and deputy superintendent, presented the report.
AALA appreciates UTLA’s efforts to stimulate a genuine conversation of the intended and unintended consequences
This is the third installment of our analysis of the book of the month for LAUSD leadership, Michael Fullan’s and Joanne Quinn’s tome, Coherence.
Organizations are truly immersed in deep learning (the third driver) when they are “building a common language and knowledge base, identifying proven pedagogical practices, continuing to clarify, and providing clear casual links to the impact,”(pg. 89). Inherent is the inquiry cycle described before. As the book