Did you “notice” that we

“Put the District on Notice!”

LAUSD Offices 12/6/07— The bell rang and dedicated UTLA member teachers signed out, grabbed bags of chips and a button and boarded the UTLA sponsored school bus to head downtown for the 2^nd Annual Winter Demonstration against LAUSD. Last year we had nearly 30 teachers with flashlights willing to come out and be counted to pressure the District to give in and meet our demand for a salary increase. Maybe it was because this year we had post-it notes and not keychain lights with whistles. Maybe it was because folks didn’t want to strike but were willing to protest last year. Maybe it was too cold this year with a possiblity of rain. Maybe we are just too tired of not getting paid right that asking for more money scares us into thinking that it may be yet another way for the District to mess up our checks again. Whatever the reason…our numbers were down this year to 20 member teachers and to top it off the bus on the way back was 45 minutes late! I would like to thank those of you who made it out to join us: Ms. Garett, Ms. Lombardi, Ms. Cohen, Ms. Conley, Ms. Forman, Ms. Minster, Mr. Doherty, Mr. Gonzalo, Mr. Caukin, Mr. Weintraub, Mr. Llanes, Mr. Ahrens, Mr. Khudyan, Mr. Garay, Mr. Pineda, Mr. Scharf, Mr. Simmons, Mr. Mannion, and Mr. Dacaret. Be sure to ask them about the action and thank them for representing LA High. Lets hope we were able to make the needed difference to convince LAUSD that a raise for teachers is the right thing to do. Other teachers may be have driven on their own and we just didn’t see you. If we missed you last night please be sure to mention that you TOO were there so we can add you to the official list.

UTLA Elections Candidates Forum #1 Wedndesday 12/12/07

Room 258 Wednesday—In February we will receive UTLA election ballots in the mail and have just a few weeks to cast our votes. Every position in the larger union is up for election and many are running for the re-election to their position including AJ Duffy. We would like to offer as many opportunities as possible for you to hear from the candidates themselves and so in that effort we have asked all candidates if they are interested in coming out to 3 different candidates’ forums we will be hosting here at LAHS. We are looking to have 2 in the month of January and one this week on Wednesday @ lunch in room 258!! Food will be provided so that we can have the maximum time to spend with our candidates so please be prompt and come with questions.

“Transforming…. District in Disguise”: The Good, The Bad, and The Confusing.

Later this week at the LAUSD Board meeting---- Superintendent Brewer will be presenting his 11^th draft plan for where the 34 “High Priority” schools will be moving to (we are among the 34 schools listed.. these are the PI schools). For months UTLA has been pushing back and organizing around developing a plan of action for how schools will function in this new “special district.” Your local UTLA Leadership has been gathering information on what our alternative options may be including investigating what it would look like to: 1) Work with the Mayor’s Office 2) Work with the Coalition for Essential Schools 3) Organize Parents and the larger School Community to see if we can just be left alone all together (which was the winning outcome of Valley Schools and Hollywood High). The last we heard LD3 is looking to hold several meetings with both parents and teachers to go over some of the changes that would impact our school as we move into this new district. Finally, there are areas of the plan that are “Required” and some that are “Optional.” For now let’s review the good, the bad, and the confusing:

· There is no dress code for Teachers in the most current proposal! Though student uniforms is “optional.”

· There are no specific details about making the day, week or year longer! Though there is a mention of making LAHS a single track school sooner than later (the reality of this is about 2-3 years away though).

· There is an option for changing the bell schedule.

· Provide full-time school support personnel such as nurses, school psychologists, PSA Counselors, and Diploma Project Advisors to support students at-risk. (But there are District funds to go with any part of the plan.)

· Provide incentives that attract highly-qualified and experienced principals+ teachers who have demonstrated significant improvements in secondary schools ($5,000 “signing” bonus, $5,000 bonus at the end of three years of continual service- Only for teachers with specialties in mathematics, science, and special education & Administrators get an extra $1,000 if they “improve school performance and student achievement.”)

· Remove non-California standards-aligned texts, supplementary materials, worksheets and materials from use during regular classroom instructional time and after school programs provided at the school site.

For a complete look at the 10^th Draft go to our UTLA Website.

Check out our UTLA website!!

http://romans-utla.blogspot.com

UTLA Holiday Party

This year your local UTLA Chapter returns to Tom Bergin’s Tavern for our 2^nd Annual Holiday Party—December 19^th from 3pm-7pm (Wednesday). Please plan on stopping by to wish each other well during this holiday season. Light refreshments will be provided and folks wishing to have dinner later in the evening should call for reservations. It will be a great way to kick off our holiday vacation and there will be plenty of opportunities to win prizes and gifts. Our event will be located in the backroom by the fireplace.

Directions: Located on Fairfax Avenue, just south of Wilshire at 840 S Fairfax Ave Los Angeles, CA 90036-.