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net

October 19, 2012

Dispelling the rhetoric

Taking stock of past victories and current challenges


Ever feel demoralized? I can relatebut together we can move forward.

By David Lyell
UTLA Secretary
Due to declining enrollment and the
wholesale giveaway of taxpayer-funded
public schools to outside unregulated
charter operators, our membership
numbers have now shrunk to a little less
than 32,000 active teachers and health
and human services professionals.
32,000. Thats not a typo.
If Proposition 30 doesnt pass,
the school year may end as early
as Mother s Day statewide, and if
Proposition 32 does pass, we will no
longer have a political voice. Period.
While we also face other extremely
significant union-busting challenges,
the good news is that, due to our
collective efforts, weve also had some
noteworthy victories over the past
14 months.

When UTLA President Warren


Fletcher and your current set of
officers started our terms on July 1,
2011, we were faced with the continual
syphoning-off of UTLA-represented
positions to outside charter operators
via the Public School Choice (PSC)
program instituted by the School
Board during the previous UTLA
administration.
In 2010-11 alone, UTLA lost 149
members due to PSC, and in 201112, an additional 690 bargaining unit
postions were slated for elimination.
Decisions about giving away schools
were politically motivated, and in
essence, PSC was a cleverly designed
voucher program on steroids. This
privatization effort has been halted
and, at a minimum, 649 positions were
saved in the first year alone.
In December 2011, UTLA members
also ratified a three-year health benefits
agreement that keeps benefits at their
2011 levels for three years2012, 2013,
and 2014meaning that there are no
projected increases during this time
for out-of-pocket costs or payment of
monthly premiums for active and retired
employees. At a time of rising health care
costs, this was and is a significant victory
for all UTLA-represented employees,
as well as all employees of the other
seven unions who are part of the Health
Benefits Committee.
In June 2012, we also saw ratification
of the Jobs Restoration Agreement,

House of Representatives
Self-Nomination Form
I wish to be a candidate for election to the 2013-2014 UTLA House of
Representatives. I understand my responsibilities as a member of the House to
include (Article V, Sections 5, 9, 10): (1) attend all regular and special meetings of
the House, (2) participate in the complete business portion of the meeting, (3)
attend all area meetings, and (4) report activities of the House to my constituents.
(Please Print)
Name ________________________________________________________________
Employee No. _________________________________________________________
School ________________________________________________________________
Home Address ________________________________________________________
City/Zip _____________________________________________________________
(
)
Phone ________________________________________________________________
Non-lausd.net email ____________________________________________________
UTLA Area (circle one):
North
South
East
West
Central
Valley East
Valley West
Harbor

If elected, and this box is checked, I prefer not to have agendas mailed
and request that agendas are sent via email only. I reserve the right to
later request mailed agendas at any time.

Electoral District (office use only) ________________________________________


Mail to: UTLA House Committee, c/o David Lyell, 3303 Wilshire Blvd.,
10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90010.
Nominations MUST be received by 4:30 p.m., November 9, 2012. Incomplete
forms may invalidate your candidacy.

which, to this day, has saved the


positions of more than 5,800 teachers and
health and human services professionals.
To be clear: UTLA continues to press
the District to lower class size and
restore even more jobs (and, separately,
among many, many, many other issues,
to work toward ensuring that LAUSD
ceases the practice of having RIFd
teachers work as long-term substitute
teachers in their old positions, and
to treat housed teachers in a fair and
equitable manner). In exchange for
these 5,800 position restorations, UTLA
members have agreed to between 10
and 0 furlough days. If Prop. 30 passes,
we may see a full instructional school
year for children in LAUSD for the first
time since 2008.
U T L A PA C E m e m b e r s a l s o
successfully fought SB 1530, which
would have taken the firing decision
out of the hands of the Commission
on Professional Competence and
placed that power directly into
the hands of the current School
Board majority and superintendent.
This Kafka-esque bill would have
done nothing to protect children, and
was yet one more thinly disguised
attack on collective bargaining.
UTLA President Warren Fletcher
and UTLA Secondary Vice President
Gregg Solkovits personally testified
against this bill at a Senate Education
Committee hearing in Sacramento.
We all need to stand united and

fight for all teachers, teachers in teacher


jail, displaced teachers, RIFd teachers,
arts teachers, adult education teachers,
substitute teachers, and all health
and human services professionals.
If you havent already, please phone
bank and precinct walk to help get the
message out. For more information,
visit utla.net/yes30no32.

Nominations open for House


of Reps
Another significant way to get
involved is to run for a seat on the
UTLA House of Representatives.
The HOR is the official body within our
organization that determines policy.
The term for elected members of the
next HOR will be from January 1, 2013,
to December 31, 2014. If youd like
to run, please fill out a self-nomination
form in this issue and ensure that
it is received at UTLA no later than
4:30 p.m. on November 9. Please see
this issue for a complete election timeline.
The first meeting of the 2013-2014 HOR
will take place at 6 p.m. on January 30,
2013. For a complete list of meetings for
the 2012-13 school year, please visit www.
utla.net/UTLAmtgs. Most of UTLAs 34
Standing Committees meet at 4 p.m. the
same day HOR meetings take place.
Your unionour unionneeds you
to be involved now more than ever. As
Benjamin Franklin famously said, We
must all hang together, or assuredly we
shall all hang separately.

For a list of electoral districts and how


many representatives will be elected by
each district, go to utla.net

Electoral District Assignment Form


UTLA members who are not assigned to one specific work location and who wish
to vote in the 2013-2014 House of Representatives election should fill out the Electoral
District Assignment Form to assist the Election Committee in determining which ballot to mail.
Employee Name ________________________________________________________
Employee No. __________________________________________________________
Home Address _________________________________________________________
City/Zip ______________________________________________________________
Phone _________________________________________________________________
Email _________________________________________________________________
Assignment Locations:
(Use location code and indicate time spent at each site in number of days per week)
1. _____________________________________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________________________________
Mail to: UTLA House Election Committee, c/o David Lyell, 3303 Wilshire Blvd.,
10th Floor, Los Angeles, CA 90010.
Form must be received by 4:30 p.m., November 9, 2012.

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