The struggle is real and getting more complicated by the minute. Our frontline administrators have done a yeoman’s job of somehow keeping schools open while trying to provide some semblance of normalcy. Even now, as this article is being penned, administrators are texting, emailing, and calling with a range of concerns and demands from “FOUL! Call a sympathy strike now!” to “The bastille is being stormed by picketers,” to “Escalation tactics are becoming violent, I am afraid for my safety, and fending literally for myself,” to “I want my teachers back NOW!”
We can probably agree that the time has come for the strike to be settled and for teachers to return to the classroom immediately, if not sooner! And while AALA supports many of the righteous demands UTLA is making of the District, and we all know what they are, AALA by the same token is vehemently against UTLA’s proposals to castrate the little to almost no decision-making authority principals currently have.
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There is no doubt that signs would look like this one without good teachers in the classroom every day supported by frontline managers. And lest we forget, a significant majority of AALA members were teachers first; are required to have a valid teaching credential to be able to administer; and many of us “Walked the Line in ’89.” This partly helps to explain the sleepless nights, angst, and sheer agony many school-site administrators in our ranks are experiencing, given what appears to be an almost inevitable strike. The worry comes from
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Dear Members of AALA:
I make an effort to only write in the first person when absolutely necessary. An elementary school principal wrote to me last week with a challenge regarding the District’s Early Literacy Program. The email went on to mention that every Saturday in December, including the first Saturday of the winter break, was booked with required/mandatory trainings. The article refers to Saturday trainings related to GATE and restorative justice. The intent
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The email below is from an AALA member in the trenches and reflects the current emotional and physical state of many of our frontline managers.
Dear AALA,
I am writing to express the overall dire and poor health administrators are experiencing across the District. Many of my colleagues, and [myself] included,
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Periodically, the Update shares trends and challenges our members are experiencing and we find that operational issues continue to create hazards. The specific matters are really not connected in any way other than our members are being continuously investigated for not specifically following District policy to the letter of the law. This week’s newsletter focuses on the potential difficulties with child abuse reporting, social media, and cash-on-hand at schools. The good news is
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As we approach Thanksgiving Day and all that it represents for the country, let us reflect on the many things within our educational system for which we are thankful. Granted, life in the LAUSD has been anything but easy since the Great Recession of 2008, yet the District has continued to provide what some call
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One component of the 2017-2020 AALA Certificated Agreement with the District was the provision for the auto-enrollment of active certificated members into the District’s 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plan. It is important to note that:
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AALA is proud to announce the Unit J Negotiations Team 2018:
Dr. Judith Perez, Lead Negotiator
Phyllis Lott, Vice President
Lisa Marine, Director
Dave Montes, Director
Laura Ramirez, Lead/Head Steward
Gizella Czene, Member-at-large
Juan A. Flecha, AALA President
The negotiations team convened its first meeting on October 25, 2018, to review:
• Collective bargaining in California
• AALA Unit J Collective Bargaining Agreement 2015-2018
• Bargaining Information and Procedures
• Topics for negotiations
• Proposals
Topics for negotiations and subsequent proposals to present to the District are based on input from the members. There are
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Imagine there’s no reorg
It’s easy if you try
Not having to reapply
Above us only relief in sight
Imagine all the frontline managers
Relieved to focus on the kids at hand…
Aha…ah…
Imagine there’s no reorg with 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 networks (supervised by 4 Assistant Superintendents) or who knows
Nothing to worry or pine for
And no displacements, too.
Imagine all the frontline managers
Living life and working in peace on behalf of kids
In their current central and local districts
Aha…ah…
You may say we’re dreamers
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The District and United Teachers Los Angeles have been unable to reach a settlement after three mediation sessions. When mediation fails, state statutes require the parties go to fact-finding, a process that involves the establishment of a panel that looks at all the facts and issues a report with a recommendation on how to settle the contract dispute. The fact-finding panel includes a UTLA appointee, a District appointee, and a neutral chairperson appointed by the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Each side has a maximum of five days to select a representative to the fact-finding panel, and a maximum of five days after that PERB has to determine a chairperson. To select the chairperson, PERB gives both sides a list of experienced attorneys or arbitrators and the District and union will alternately eliminate names until only one remains. That person then becomes the chairperson.
The three-person panel then
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Last month, we published an article about the election for State Superintendent of Public Instruction which set the record straight on some of the accomplishments of AALA-endorsed candidate Tony Thurmond. The article also informed readers that this race is set to break all fundraising records and be the most expensive campaign in the state. With absentee ballots in the mail and millions being spent on television ads, mail, radio, and Internet advertising, we question why so much money is being poured into the election for a nonpartisan office that will head the California Department of Education, but have limited authority over school funding or educational policy.
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The Center at Cathedral Plaza was awash in a sea of red, white, and blue as administrators converged for an evening of networking, enjoying refreshments, meeting with colleagues, and making new friends at the AALA Annual Fall Reception. Lucky attendees won a TV, a notebook computer, and gift cards.
AALA President Juan A. Flecha brought the house down when he thanked his supporters for reelecting him and advised the audience, using the words of President Trump, that in less than two years his administration has accomplished more than any administration in the history of the country!
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Unit J members in good standing will be receiving an AALA survey shortly by email. The purpose of the survey is to understand what Unit J members are thinking and what their priorities are for the upcoming negotiations with the District. The results will be analyzed by the Unit J Bargaining Team in order to best
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The focus of this week’s Update is to answer the many questions that have arisen as a result of the 2017-2020 Successor Agreement between the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles.
Q: Did the Board of Education approve the 2017- 2020 Tentative Agreement (TA)?
A: The Board of Education APPROVED the TA at its first regular meeting of the year on Tuesday, August 21, 2018.
Q: When will the negotiated raise and the retroactive pay appear on the pay warrant?
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As you may know, the District and UTLA have been in negotiations for a new contract for more than a year. The union is asking for a 6.5% salary increase, class-size reductions, discretion to determine which standardized assessments are used in classrooms, and more school nurses, librarians, and restorative-justice advisors, among other things. The District’s position is that funding these demands will lead to immediate bankruptcy. To learn more about the District’s offer, click HERE (or visit www.lausd.net); for more about UTLA’s position, click HERE (or visit www.utla.net).
Recently, UTLA conducted a strike vote in which 98% of those voting
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BREAKING NEWS!
The Board of Education approved the AALA Tentative Agreement on Tuesday, August 21, 2018. Key provisions are:
3% on-schedule wage increase retroactive to July 1, 2017
3% wage supplement retroactive to July 1, 2018
Addition of a third career increment, which will be 50% greater than the second career increment
A special appeal process for School Support Administrators who are released from their positions for other than District operational needs.
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This week’s Update begins with an association. What comes to mind when you read the title “Gone with the Wind?” Scarlett O’Hara, Rhett Butler, Vivien Leigh, Clark Gable, are names that probably come to mind for many of us. What may not immediately come to mind is Margaret Mitchell’s name. She is the author of the great novel “Gone with the Wind” upon which the blockbuster movie was based. Our point is that the movie would never have been made had she not written the novel. The same goes for AALA’s School Support Administrators and AALA’s Unit J. Like their Hollywood counterparts
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AALA members overwhelmingly ratified the 2017-2020 Tentative Agreement (TA) with LAUSD. With all votes counted, 98% of those voting were in favor of the TA. The next step is for the Board of Education to approve it at its next regular meeting.
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING!
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Some Unit J members are rightly wondering if the recent contract negotiations applied to them. The negotiations and upcoming ratification process are for certificated frontline managers. However, AALA is looking forward to the approaching Unit J Negotiations. The AALA Unit J contract is the only contract in the District that expired this
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