http://www.wsws.org/articles/2009/dec2009/educ-d19.shtml
“Teachers were crucified as a step in the destruction of public education”
By Joe Kishore 19 December 2009
On December 14, teachers in California’s West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) narrowly passed a contract that includes a pay freeze, larger class sizes and a sharp cut in health care benefits.
The WCCUSD includes several cities in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, including Richmond, Hercules, Pinole, El Cerrito, San Pablo and parts of El Sobrante and Kensington. The district had insisted on concessions to help close a deficit of about $16 million.
Accompanied by charges of irregularities, the 423-415 vote came after 18 months of discussions in which teachers continued to work without a contract. There is broad opposition to the concessions, which will hurt teachers and students alike.
In August, teachers voted overwhelmingly to authorize a strike, which the union—the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR), an affiliate of the California Teachers Association (CTA)—never called. In November, teachers rejected a very similar contract by a vote of 701-671. That “No” vote was only affirmed after the union acceded to teachers’ demands for a recount.
Only a month later, the UTR leadership returned with a new agreement, and the contract vote was called on extremely short notice. The contract was pushed through in part due to a significant decline in the number of teachers voting. The 423 teachers who voted yes amount to less than one quarter of the membership.
Among the most punishing cuts for teachers is the elimination of fully paid health benefits for workers and retirees. Teachers retiring before July 2010 will still get full health care benefits.
This provision is intended to push out more-experienced, higher-paid teachers, allowing the school district to bring in younger teachers at lower pay and fewer benefits.
For new teachers and those who do not retire by 2010, employer contribution to health care will be capped, forcing teachers to pay more out of pocket. This will set the stage for further reductions in benefits over the coming years. The younger teachers will also be left with a substantially higher workload. Class sizes will be increased, allowing for a “maximum class size average” of 38 students for most major subjects in grades 6 through 12. In lower grades, the maximum class size will be raised as well, including to 31 students (from the current 20) for kindergarten through third grade and 33 students for fourth and fifth grades. These class sizes are far too high for adequate instruction and attention to each student.
The contract also includes a wage freeze, along with the elimination of five paydays per year—amounting to a 2.5 percent pay cut. As is happening to workers throughout the country, the economic crisis is being used by California’s corporate and political establishment, backed by the media, as an opportunity to reduce wages.
The Oakland Tribune, in an editorial supporting the contract, declared, “Fortunately for the district, the cuts come at a time when many teachers are looking for work [due to layoffs statewide]. Consequently, despite the wage and benefit reductions, district officials will have an opportunity to bring in new talent.”
Steve Greaves, a preschool teacher in an elementary school in Richmond, told the WSWS that the contract is “a real violation of the rights of our students. To have a maximum average of 38 students in a class, that means that you can have 60 students in one class and 16 in another, as long as it all works out to an average of 38.
“These large class sizes mean that teaching becomes a problem of behavior management rather than an academic setting for cooperative study.” “We have taken lower salaries than many teachers in the state in order to have full health benefits,” Greaves added. “The union leadership basically sold us out and betrayed that tradition.”
“Teachers were crucified as a step in the destruction of public education,” commented Eduardo Martinez, a sixth grade teacher at Sheldon Elementary in Richmond. As with so many districts, the schools in the Richmond area have been underfunded for years. “With the fiscal problems perpetuated by the state with their unwillingness to tax corporations, we have seen our supplies dwindle,” Martinez said. ”We have a very little supply of construction paper and not in the colors needed for projects. There is no pencil sharpener in my classroom; the students use their own paper and pencils. The ones without borrow from other students.”
Greaves expressed the opposition many teachers feel to the role of the UTR leadership. “They shot-gunned this contract through, not letting anybody know until Saturday afternoon [two days before the vote] that there was a definitive agreement reached. A lot of people did not vote because they did not know about it or were not able to change plans on short notice.”
Many teachers have complained about irregularities in the voting procedure. In addition to calling the vote on short notice, it was held at a distant location. Teachers were not asked to show IDs, and some have voiced concerns that it was possible to vote more than once. Despite the very close vote, the UTR has refused to have a recount. Whatever the specifics of the vote, it is clear that the UTR and the CTA were determined to get the contract passed, accepting entirely the line of the district that there was no alternative to concessions.
UTR President Pixie Schickele said after the vote, “This was a very difficult bargaining session because of the state of the economy and the state of the district.” A spokeswoman for the school board declared, “It’s not the agreement we wanted to bring to the teachers. It’s the best we could do under the circumstances.”
In fact, these “circumstances” are the product of the policies pursued by the Democratic and Republican parties on a state and federal level, now led by the Obama administration. The treachery of the UTR and CTA is fundamentally a political question, bound up with its subordination to the Democratic Party, which controls the state legislature. In the summer, the Democrats reached an agreement with Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to slash billions in state spending, including $6 billion from K-12 education. This is now being translated into crippling cuts in school districts throughout the state.
Both parties have ruled out any tax increases on the wealthy or corporations to address the crisis. The $16 million budget deficit for the WCCUSD is less than one-one-thousandth of the net wealth of the richest man in California, Lawrence Ellison ($27 billion according to Forbes). Ellison owns a $200 million palace across the San Francisco Bay in Woodside.
Responding to the claim that there is “no money” for maintaining teacher pay and benefits, Martinez, the middle school teacher, noted, “In a state that has one of the largest economies in the world, this assertion is ludicrous. In a district that houses [oil giant] Chevron, a corporation with record-breaking profits, this is shameful. There is no money because our government is either too weak to do their job or they are in league with corporations to destroy public education. I would tend to believe the latter since much of educational policy is set under the guidance of the Business Roundtable, and the federal government’s educational policy continues down the path of destroying public education.”
Indeed, the attack on public education is now being overseen by the Obama administration, which is promoting right-wing measures such as charter schools, merit pay for teachers and increased testing. Meager federal stimulus dollars are being tied to the introduction of these measures in the administration’s so-called “Race to the Top” program.
After handing out trillions of dollars to the banks, the Obama administration refused to bail out states facing budget deficits. The California budget crisis in the spring and summer was seen as a model by the administration, with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner declaring that states would not get substantial financial aid but should instead “put in place reforms that will restore their creditworthiness.”
The consequences of this policy are now being realized, and not just in California. Among the cuts in education now being implemented are: $540 million in Michigan, $300 million in Indiana, $101.5 million in South Carolina, $110 million from one school district in Maryland; $43 million in Oklahoma…. The list goes on. The combined budget deficit for all 50 states this year was about $180 billion. While substantial, this sum pales in comparison to the bailout of the banks, as well as the $636 billion military appropriations bill just passed by the House of Representatives.
The economic crisis, which has hit California particularly hard, is being used as an opportunity to sharply reduce funding on social programs and education, while driving down wages for workers across the board. More cuts are likely, with California facing a projected $20 billion shortfall next year. For its part, the Obama administration is preparing to make 2010 the year of “fiscal responsibility,” in which further cuts to domestic programs and services will be a priority.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Protest
Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Protest CTA Push For Privatizationhttp://blip.tv/file/2933715
Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Protest CTA Push For Privatization
On 11/30/2009 at a United Teachers of Richmond union assembly, teachers spoke out about the push by the California Teachers Association
for privatization of the schools through charter schools and the role of the UTR president in manipulating and rigging an election for their contract.
Additional videos include YouTube - utrprotest-UTR Rank and File Teachers Occupy Executive Offices In Response To Rigged Ratification On Concession
Contract http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq6eInj5pA4 Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Speak On Contract Fight, Privatization & Rigged
Union Vote http://blip.tv/file/2878250
Produced by the Labor Video Project P.O. Box 720027, San Francisco 94172 (415)282-1908
www.laborvideo.blip.tv www.laborvideo.org=
Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Protest CTA Push For Privatization
On 11/30/2009 at a United Teachers of Richmond union assembly, teachers spoke out about the push by the California Teachers Association
for privatization of the schools through charter schools and the role of the UTR president in manipulating and rigging an election for their contract.
Additional videos include YouTube - utrprotest-UTR Rank and File Teachers Occupy Executive Offices In Response To Rigged Ratification On Concession
Contract http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eq6eInj5pA4 Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Speak On Contract Fight, Privatization & Rigged
Union Vote http://blip.tv/file/2878250
Produced by the Labor Video Project P.O. Box 720027, San Francisco 94172 (415)282-1908
www.laborvideo.blip.tv www.laborvideo.org=
Saturday, November 21, 2009
UTR Teachers Organizing
Unhappy Richmond teachers organizing
By Shelly MeronContra Costa Times
Posted: 11/17/2009 05:03:21 PM PST
Updated: 11/18/2009 09:08:30 AM PST
A group of West Contra Costa teachers who are unhappy with their union leadership have successfully pushed for a members' meeting next month, and they are once again raising the possibility of a strike. Those members say they are mobilizing following a controversial vote and recount on a tentative agreement with the district earlier this month.
"We're still organizing. And we will continue to organize until we're heard," said Diane Brown, a teacher at Stege Elementary School. She characterized the current relationship between United Teachers of Richmond leaders and members as "very strained," saying recent exchanges have been hostile and that a change in leadership is needed.
Union president Pixie Hayward Schickele and executive director Rick Willis could not be reached for comment. Brown said she hoped the Dec. 14 members meeting would be a chance to openly discuss concerns about the union's bargaining team, the recent tentative agreement, leadership changes, future negotiations, and the possibility of a strike.
"We want a fair contract and working conditions in which we can teach students," Brown said. "(Union leaders) didn't listen to members, and when we were in opposition after learning what was happening, they turned hostile on us." Brown added that she is in support of going on a short-term strike, and that United Teachers of Richmond has the support of other local unions.
District spokesman Marin Trujillo Advertisement said Tuesday that school officials haven't heard anything from the union about returning to the negotiating table or going on strike, but he added that district officials were eager to work out an agreement.
Earlier this month, union members voted to approve a tentative agreement with the school district with just a nine-vote margin. After teachers complained of voting irregularities, a recount was done last week that resulted in a rejection of the agreement by 34 votes.
One of the issues raised by critics was the wording of the ballot. Members could choose to vote "Yes, I vote to ratify the tentative agreement," or "No, I vote to go on strike." "The way that the ballot was actually worded was biased from the beginning," Brown said. "It pitted members against members.
We asked that it be changed to a simple yes or no (on the tentative agreement). They said the ballots were already printed, and that there's nothing left to bargain." It is unclear if union leaders now will move forward with a strike or return to talks with the school district.
Reach Shelly Meron at 510-243-3578. Follow her at Twitter.com/shellymeron.=
By Shelly MeronContra Costa Times
Posted: 11/17/2009 05:03:21 PM PST
Updated: 11/18/2009 09:08:30 AM PST
A group of West Contra Costa teachers who are unhappy with their union leadership have successfully pushed for a members' meeting next month, and they are once again raising the possibility of a strike. Those members say they are mobilizing following a controversial vote and recount on a tentative agreement with the district earlier this month.
"We're still organizing. And we will continue to organize until we're heard," said Diane Brown, a teacher at Stege Elementary School. She characterized the current relationship between United Teachers of Richmond leaders and members as "very strained," saying recent exchanges have been hostile and that a change in leadership is needed.
Union president Pixie Hayward Schickele and executive director Rick Willis could not be reached for comment. Brown said she hoped the Dec. 14 members meeting would be a chance to openly discuss concerns about the union's bargaining team, the recent tentative agreement, leadership changes, future negotiations, and the possibility of a strike.
"We want a fair contract and working conditions in which we can teach students," Brown said. "(Union leaders) didn't listen to members, and when we were in opposition after learning what was happening, they turned hostile on us." Brown added that she is in support of going on a short-term strike, and that United Teachers of Richmond has the support of other local unions.
District spokesman Marin Trujillo Advertisement said Tuesday that school officials haven't heard anything from the union about returning to the negotiating table or going on strike, but he added that district officials were eager to work out an agreement.
Earlier this month, union members voted to approve a tentative agreement with the school district with just a nine-vote margin. After teachers complained of voting irregularities, a recount was done last week that resulted in a rejection of the agreement by 34 votes.
One of the issues raised by critics was the wording of the ballot. Members could choose to vote "Yes, I vote to ratify the tentative agreement," or "No, I vote to go on strike." "The way that the ballot was actually worded was biased from the beginning," Brown said. "It pitted members against members.
We asked that it be changed to a simple yes or no (on the tentative agreement). They said the ballots were already printed, and that there's nothing left to bargain." It is unclear if union leaders now will move forward with a strike or return to talks with the school district.
Reach Shelly Meron at 510-243-3578. Follow her at Twitter.com/shellymeron.=
Teachers' Vote Backs Strike
West Contra Costa teachers' vote backs strike
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The threat of a strike hung over West Contra Costa Unified schools Wednesday, a day after an election recount confirmed district teachers narrowly rejected a contract that would have drastically cut benefits and pay. The district's teachers were given two choices: Vote yes to approve the contract or no to support a strike.
A majority of teachers voting checked no. The vote was 701 - 671. Some teachers reportedly complained that the two options appeared to eliminate the possibility of returning to the bargaining table for a better offer.
District Superintendent Bruce Harter said Wednesday morning that despite the official language of the vote, he hoped both sides would sit back down to tweak the contract language to address teacher concerns without increasing district costs. That could include offering better health coverage for families while decreasing benefits for single teachers, Harter said.
Such a compromise could respect the wishes of the union's 1,858 teachers while keeping the district from going under, the superintendent said. "This is a just a hard time for our employees," he said. "Our teachers are underpaid to begin with, and now we're taking things away from them."
Schools and the office of the United Teachers of Richmond were closed Wednesday for Veterans Day. Calls to union President Pixie Hayward Schickele were not returned. On Tuesday evening, after the recount, a stunned Hayward Schickele said she didn't know what the vote would mean.
The district serves 30,000 students in Richmond, Hercules, Pinole, El Cerrito, San Pablo and unincorporated west Contra Costa County. E-mail Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.=
Jill Tucker, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, November 12, 2009
The threat of a strike hung over West Contra Costa Unified schools Wednesday, a day after an election recount confirmed district teachers narrowly rejected a contract that would have drastically cut benefits and pay. The district's teachers were given two choices: Vote yes to approve the contract or no to support a strike.
A majority of teachers voting checked no. The vote was 701 - 671. Some teachers reportedly complained that the two options appeared to eliminate the possibility of returning to the bargaining table for a better offer.
District Superintendent Bruce Harter said Wednesday morning that despite the official language of the vote, he hoped both sides would sit back down to tweak the contract language to address teacher concerns without increasing district costs. That could include offering better health coverage for families while decreasing benefits for single teachers, Harter said.
Such a compromise could respect the wishes of the union's 1,858 teachers while keeping the district from going under, the superintendent said. "This is a just a hard time for our employees," he said. "Our teachers are underpaid to begin with, and now we're taking things away from them."
Schools and the office of the United Teachers of Richmond were closed Wednesday for Veterans Day. Calls to union President Pixie Hayward Schickele were not returned. On Tuesday evening, after the recount, a stunned Hayward Schickele said she didn't know what the vote would mean.
The district serves 30,000 students in Richmond, Hercules, Pinole, El Cerrito, San Pablo and unincorporated west Contra Costa County. E-mail Jill Tucker at jtucker@sfchronicle.com.=
Friday, October 9, 2009
Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Picket Scab Training In Berkeley
http://blip.tv/file/2678555
Dozens of teachers from Richmond and the West Contra Costa Unified School District who are members of the United Teachers of Richmond-CTA picketed a training for scabs at the Double Tree Hotel in Berkeley on 10/3/2009. The district management has demanded major take-aways including eliminating healthcare for dependents and the union rights on the job. Class sizes have also increased in this working class district with a large number of Black and Latino children.
Produced by The Labor Video Project
P.O. Box 720027 San Francisco, CA 94172
(415)282-1908
www.laborvideo.org laborvideo.blip.tv
Dozens of teachers from Richmond and the West Contra Costa Unified School District who are members of the United Teachers of Richmond-CTA picketed a training for scabs at the Double Tree Hotel in Berkeley on 10/3/2009. The district management has demanded major take-aways including eliminating healthcare for dependents and the union rights on the job. Class sizes have also increased in this working class district with a large number of Black and Latino children.
Produced by The Labor Video Project
P.O. Box 720027 San Francisco, CA 94172
(415)282-1908
www.laborvideo.org laborvideo.blip.tv
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Education is a Human Right
This is a speech given in solidarity of Richmond Teachers at the Richmond Branch of the Human Rights/Human Relations Commission on Monday September 21, 2009
Human Rights Commission 9-21-09
For 16 months the teachers of West County have been working without a contract. The possibility of a strike looms over this labor dispute like a Kansas tornado. Not unlike a tornado a strike will reek havoc on the students, teachers and all of their families. However this strike is about more than wages, seniority rights and health benefits. This strike is for the children. Should the teachers fail to win concessions the children will suffer through increased class sizes for the next four years and possibly longer. With an already failing school system we as citizens of West County cannot allow this to happen. Children have a right to an education. This right is guaranteed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26. Should the teachers lose in the current contract dispute our children will suffer another, significant blow to their chances of obtaining a meaningful education.
The School District’s policies significantly impact our children’s self esteem and sense of possibility for their future. The way the school treats the child - whether there are books and supplies for that child, how crowded his or her classroom is and if the teacher has the time to address there particular problems - these are the things which communicate to the child whether he or she is valued, respected and cared for. If schools function merely as institutions to house our young people until they can legally leave, if teachers serve solely as babysitters and later as guards what hope is there for our children? What will be their fate?
This Commission must stand in solidarity with the West County School teachers and their struggle for a fair contract in general and their demand for no increase in class size in particular. For the school board to suggest there is no money for the teachers and children of West County while we live in the shadow of one of the largest corporations in the world is to accept institutional injustice and abdicate our obligation to the children, parents and teachers of West County. I suggest you immediately call for a special meeting to address this issue. I would suggest that the Commission call a press conference, issue a statement of support explicitly defining the school contract issue of as one of human rights. The failure to provide meaningful education is one critical way in which society creates social conditions which breed gangs, violence, drug addiction, despair and youth suicide. This Commission can be part of a process of re-conceptualizing issues of economic justice as part of the movement for basic human rights. The Commission could forward a declaration of support for the teachers and students to the Richmond City Council. The Commission should write a commentary in the Bay Area News Group papers supporting the teachers and students of the West County Unified School District. I know the Commission is made up of capable, caring and concerned citizens. I’m sure if the will is there you will be able to find ways to provide support for the children and their teachers. Thank you.
Charles T Smith
Human Rights Commission 9-21-09
For 16 months the teachers of West County have been working without a contract. The possibility of a strike looms over this labor dispute like a Kansas tornado. Not unlike a tornado a strike will reek havoc on the students, teachers and all of their families. However this strike is about more than wages, seniority rights and health benefits. This strike is for the children. Should the teachers fail to win concessions the children will suffer through increased class sizes for the next four years and possibly longer. With an already failing school system we as citizens of West County cannot allow this to happen. Children have a right to an education. This right is guaranteed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 26. Should the teachers lose in the current contract dispute our children will suffer another, significant blow to their chances of obtaining a meaningful education.
The School District’s policies significantly impact our children’s self esteem and sense of possibility for their future. The way the school treats the child - whether there are books and supplies for that child, how crowded his or her classroom is and if the teacher has the time to address there particular problems - these are the things which communicate to the child whether he or she is valued, respected and cared for. If schools function merely as institutions to house our young people until they can legally leave, if teachers serve solely as babysitters and later as guards what hope is there for our children? What will be their fate?
This Commission must stand in solidarity with the West County School teachers and their struggle for a fair contract in general and their demand for no increase in class size in particular. For the school board to suggest there is no money for the teachers and children of West County while we live in the shadow of one of the largest corporations in the world is to accept institutional injustice and abdicate our obligation to the children, parents and teachers of West County. I suggest you immediately call for a special meeting to address this issue. I would suggest that the Commission call a press conference, issue a statement of support explicitly defining the school contract issue of as one of human rights. The failure to provide meaningful education is one critical way in which society creates social conditions which breed gangs, violence, drug addiction, despair and youth suicide. This Commission can be part of a process of re-conceptualizing issues of economic justice as part of the movement for basic human rights. The Commission could forward a declaration of support for the teachers and students to the Richmond City Council. The Commission should write a commentary in the Bay Area News Group papers supporting the teachers and students of the West County Unified School District. I know the Commission is made up of capable, caring and concerned citizens. I’m sure if the will is there you will be able to find ways to provide support for the children and their teachers. Thank you.
Charles T Smith
Monday, September 7, 2009
A Call to Action
We call on teachers, students, the community and workers, to actively support UTR's contract struggle and fight for quality education for the students in WCCUSD. The Progressive Teachers have reached out to the communities of West County and asked them to support their teachers.
The Berkeley Federation of Teachers # 1078 National Substitute Teacher Alliance (NSTA) and the Chair of the Berkeley Commission on Labor pledged that no substitute teachers from Berkeley and San Francisco will scab or cross our picket lines if there is a strike.
The University of California Berkeley Student Workers Action Team (SWAT), UC Graduate students, members of AFSCME Local 444 East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS), Oakland Education Association teachers, and workers from Berkeley joined us and distributed our community fliers in Richmond, San Pablo, Hercules, Pinole, and El Cerrito on Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th.
Union members from the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, ILWU Local 10, and ATU BART Local1555, have pledged to support our activities around our contract demands. We have joined with other unions in solidarity rallies against concessions, give backs, furloughs, and union busting. We must build a bottom- up grassroots movement for the working class so that we can fight back and win. We ask UTR members to join us in mobilizing the community and work with other unions who support our struggle.
The UTR Bargaining Team and the District met September 1st, the first meeting since April. Talks are set to continue on September 15th. Go to http://www.unitedteachersofrichmond.com to read about the recent negotiations.
We ask UTR members to participate in these labor events and actions:
On September 19, AFT 2121 and the San Francisco Labor Council will hold a Northern California meeting of all education unions and student groups at San Francisco State University to develop a united plan for action initiated by the United Public Workers Association (UPWA); UC Professors’ Call for a System Wide Walkout on September 24th to protest faculty furloughs, budget cuts, and student fee increases.; on Saturday, September 26th, the Defend Our Education Conference will be held at the San Francisco State University Student Union, Rosa Parks Room, at 1:00 PM.
UTR members should consider the impact of possible concessions on their income. Here are two examples. The number of furlough days (5) and term of the contract (3 years) are based on the recently rejected Local 1 tentative agreement.
The annual and daily rates are taken from Salary Schedule 8 for Teachers, Nurses, and Librarians.
A teacher in Range 1, Step 1
New hire with Credential Plus
Annual Salary, $40,297
Daily Rate, $217.82
5 furlough days =
$1089.10 reduced annual pay
For 3 years = $3,267.30 reduced pay A teacher in Range 2, Step 12,
Experienced
Annual Salary, $54,461
Daily rate, $294.38
5 furlough days =
$1471.90 reduced annual pay
For 3 years = $4,412.72 reduced pay
The potential reduced annual pay (5 furlough days) plus increased employee contributions for health insurance, particularly for dependents, mean that teachers will have less take-home pay to meet their families’ needs.
UTR members should follow the leadership of Local 1 rank and file members and reject a TA with concessions.
Contact Progressive Teachers @ 510-501-7347.
The Berkeley Federation of Teachers # 1078 National Substitute Teacher Alliance (NSTA) and the Chair of the Berkeley Commission on Labor pledged that no substitute teachers from Berkeley and San Francisco will scab or cross our picket lines if there is a strike.
The University of California Berkeley Student Workers Action Team (SWAT), UC Graduate students, members of AFSCME Local 444 East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), the California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS), Oakland Education Association teachers, and workers from Berkeley joined us and distributed our community fliers in Richmond, San Pablo, Hercules, Pinole, and El Cerrito on Saturday, August 29th and Sunday, August 30th.
Union members from the Transport Workers Solidarity Committee, ILWU Local 10, and ATU BART Local1555, have pledged to support our activities around our contract demands. We have joined with other unions in solidarity rallies against concessions, give backs, furloughs, and union busting. We must build a bottom- up grassroots movement for the working class so that we can fight back and win. We ask UTR members to join us in mobilizing the community and work with other unions who support our struggle.
The UTR Bargaining Team and the District met September 1st, the first meeting since April. Talks are set to continue on September 15th. Go to http://www.unitedteachersofrichmond.com to read about the recent negotiations.
We ask UTR members to participate in these labor events and actions:
On September 19, AFT 2121 and the San Francisco Labor Council will hold a Northern California meeting of all education unions and student groups at San Francisco State University to develop a united plan for action initiated by the United Public Workers Association (UPWA); UC Professors’ Call for a System Wide Walkout on September 24th to protest faculty furloughs, budget cuts, and student fee increases.; on Saturday, September 26th, the Defend Our Education Conference will be held at the San Francisco State University Student Union, Rosa Parks Room, at 1:00 PM.
UTR members should consider the impact of possible concessions on their income. Here are two examples. The number of furlough days (5) and term of the contract (3 years) are based on the recently rejected Local 1 tentative agreement.
The annual and daily rates are taken from Salary Schedule 8 for Teachers, Nurses, and Librarians.
A teacher in Range 1, Step 1
New hire with Credential Plus
Annual Salary, $40,297
Daily Rate, $217.82
5 furlough days =
$1089.10 reduced annual pay
For 3 years = $3,267.30 reduced pay A teacher in Range 2, Step 12,
Experienced
Annual Salary, $54,461
Daily rate, $294.38
5 furlough days =
$1471.90 reduced annual pay
For 3 years = $4,412.72 reduced pay
The potential reduced annual pay (5 furlough days) plus increased employee contributions for health insurance, particularly for dependents, mean that teachers will have less take-home pay to meet their families’ needs.
UTR members should follow the leadership of Local 1 rank and file members and reject a TA with concessions.
Contact Progressive Teachers @ 510-501-7347.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Support Our Teachers
Parents, Students, Teachers, workers and allies of the workers movement in West Contra Costa Unified School district and beyond.
Classes began in WCCUSD schools on August 24th. Teachers are working under conditions imposed by the school district. Teachers and parents have reported these conditions in schools.
Classes had as many as 55 students; others were in the high 40's. There were not enough chairs and desks for all the students. Some students sat on the floor until chairs were found; desks were not provided to go with the extra chairs. Some students sat at counters. Students at counters had to twist their bodies to write things down. Improper seating, lack of a desk and forcing children to twist and bend to write is an ergonomic hazard. Children's bodies are still developing and poor posture due to lack of chairs and desks may lead to future orthopedic damage. It was hard to hear the teachers over the background din of noise. Following the lesson and getting one on one attention from the teacher was difficult. Students have been placed in classes that are inappropriate for their ability level. At Kennedy High School, some classes had 65 students.
Imposed cuts to Kindergarten teachers’ preparation time and increased duties take teachers' time from our most vulnerable young students who are just beginning their education. This is a prescription for destroying quality education. In some elementary schools, there are 34 in K, and 28 in second grade.
District Imposed cuts in health insurance benefits are a take away done in bad faith. For years the teachers in WCCUSD traded cash/wages for their health insurance benefits. This trade off put our teachers’ salaries below many in the surrounding districts. Cuts in health insurance benefits increase the stress on the teachers and their families. By taking away the security provided by their current health insurance plan, teachers will be worrying about their families instead of giving their full attention to their students.
UTR and the district return to the table on Monday, August 31st. However, the district is prepared to pay $325.00/day for labor scabs. We call on parents, students, community groups, labor unions and worker activists to support direct actions. Support a teachers’ strike by setting up strike schools and strike kitchens. We need your help to mobilize our communities.
On Saturday August 29, and Sunday August 30, at 10:00 am we will meet at the Richmond Civic Center Auditorium 403 Civic Center Plaza in Richmond and give out fliers to be distributed to our school communities. We are inviting teacher members and allies to join us.
West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education,
Progressive Teachers of UTR Contact 510 501 7347
Classes began in WCCUSD schools on August 24th. Teachers are working under conditions imposed by the school district. Teachers and parents have reported these conditions in schools.
Classes had as many as 55 students; others were in the high 40's. There were not enough chairs and desks for all the students. Some students sat on the floor until chairs were found; desks were not provided to go with the extra chairs. Some students sat at counters. Students at counters had to twist their bodies to write things down. Improper seating, lack of a desk and forcing children to twist and bend to write is an ergonomic hazard. Children's bodies are still developing and poor posture due to lack of chairs and desks may lead to future orthopedic damage. It was hard to hear the teachers over the background din of noise. Following the lesson and getting one on one attention from the teacher was difficult. Students have been placed in classes that are inappropriate for their ability level. At Kennedy High School, some classes had 65 students.
Imposed cuts to Kindergarten teachers’ preparation time and increased duties take teachers' time from our most vulnerable young students who are just beginning their education. This is a prescription for destroying quality education. In some elementary schools, there are 34 in K, and 28 in second grade.
District Imposed cuts in health insurance benefits are a take away done in bad faith. For years the teachers in WCCUSD traded cash/wages for their health insurance benefits. This trade off put our teachers’ salaries below many in the surrounding districts. Cuts in health insurance benefits increase the stress on the teachers and their families. By taking away the security provided by their current health insurance plan, teachers will be worrying about their families instead of giving their full attention to their students.
UTR and the district return to the table on Monday, August 31st. However, the district is prepared to pay $325.00/day for labor scabs. We call on parents, students, community groups, labor unions and worker activists to support direct actions. Support a teachers’ strike by setting up strike schools and strike kitchens. We need your help to mobilize our communities.
On Saturday August 29, and Sunday August 30, at 10:00 am we will meet at the Richmond Civic Center Auditorium 403 Civic Center Plaza in Richmond and give out fliers to be distributed to our school communities. We are inviting teacher members and allies to join us.
West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education,
Progressive Teachers of UTR Contact 510 501 7347
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Community Support Needed for Teachers
Parents, Students, Teachers, workers and allies of the workers movement in West Contra Costa Unified School district and beyond.
Our teachers have been working without a contract since July of 2008. During this time the teachers and their representatives in the negotiations with the School Board have negotiated in good faith. That good faith is demonstrated by the fact that our teachers have continued to teach, our students day in and day out, without a contract. During these negotiations the School Board has unilaterally imposed cuts that attacks the quality of education.
Last Thursday August 20th the workers of the UTR voted a strike authorization which the president of the UTR hopes will show the School Board how serious the teachers are. With a 93% approval vote there can be no doubt the teachers are fed up with the disingenuous negotiations of the School Board. All the while the union busting School Board has been preparing to pay up to $325.00 per day for scab labor.
Although many teachers joined parents fighting against the school closures last spring, the UTR did not organize strikes or occupations of schools in order to stop the closures, layoffs, increases in class size or cuts in programs. In hind sight this inaction on the part of the union has only emboldened the School Board which has become more and more inflexible.
As school is set to open our children will face the following destruction of the quality of their education:
1) Increase in class size “to ratio” instead of “to maximum” means some classes may have as many as 45-50 students enrolled. These are not conditions conducive to teaching youth. Rather they are conditions that warehouse youth.
2) Imposed cuts to Kindergarten teachers preparation time and increased duties take away time our teachers have for our most vulnerable young students just entering the school system. This is not how trained professional educators should have to work and this is a prescription for the destruction of educational quality.
3) Imposed cuts to health care benefits are a take away done in bad faith. For years the teachers in the UTR traded cash/wages for their health program. This trade of increased wages for health benefits put our teachers salaries below many in the surrounding districts. This increases the stress on the teachers and their families. By taking away the security provided by their current health plan our teachers will be worrying more about their families while we expect them to give our children their full attention.
We understand that as Fredrick Douglas taught us “Power concedes nothing with out a demand!” only when we make our demand concrete through action can we win. A winning strategy is for the UTR teachers is to strike immediately before the class rooms are organized. The teachers should not prepare their class rooms for the scabs to easily take over. The UTR should call on the parents, students, community groups, labor unions and worker activists to help keep the scabs out of our schools and to set up Strike Schools and Strike Kitchens to educate our children and keep the community mobilized during the strike.
Our strike schools will teach more in the few weeks we will need to win the strike than Arnie Duncan’s or the forced curriculum and teach to the test method of “No Child Left Alive” can teach in a year. Parents we can only win by keeping our children out of school and organized during a strike. On Saturday August 29, and Sunday August 30 at 10:00 am we will meet at the Richmond Civic Center Auditorium 403 Civic Center Plaza in Richmond and divide up the fliers to be distributed to our school communities. We are inviting members and other allies to join us.
West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education,
Progressive Teachers of UTR Contact 510 501 7347
Our teachers have been working without a contract since July of 2008. During this time the teachers and their representatives in the negotiations with the School Board have negotiated in good faith. That good faith is demonstrated by the fact that our teachers have continued to teach, our students day in and day out, without a contract. During these negotiations the School Board has unilaterally imposed cuts that attacks the quality of education.
Last Thursday August 20th the workers of the UTR voted a strike authorization which the president of the UTR hopes will show the School Board how serious the teachers are. With a 93% approval vote there can be no doubt the teachers are fed up with the disingenuous negotiations of the School Board. All the while the union busting School Board has been preparing to pay up to $325.00 per day for scab labor.
Although many teachers joined parents fighting against the school closures last spring, the UTR did not organize strikes or occupations of schools in order to stop the closures, layoffs, increases in class size or cuts in programs. In hind sight this inaction on the part of the union has only emboldened the School Board which has become more and more inflexible.
As school is set to open our children will face the following destruction of the quality of their education:
1) Increase in class size “to ratio” instead of “to maximum” means some classes may have as many as 45-50 students enrolled. These are not conditions conducive to teaching youth. Rather they are conditions that warehouse youth.
2) Imposed cuts to Kindergarten teachers preparation time and increased duties take away time our teachers have for our most vulnerable young students just entering the school system. This is not how trained professional educators should have to work and this is a prescription for the destruction of educational quality.
3) Imposed cuts to health care benefits are a take away done in bad faith. For years the teachers in the UTR traded cash/wages for their health program. This trade of increased wages for health benefits put our teachers salaries below many in the surrounding districts. This increases the stress on the teachers and their families. By taking away the security provided by their current health plan our teachers will be worrying more about their families while we expect them to give our children their full attention.
We understand that as Fredrick Douglas taught us “Power concedes nothing with out a demand!” only when we make our demand concrete through action can we win. A winning strategy is for the UTR teachers is to strike immediately before the class rooms are organized. The teachers should not prepare their class rooms for the scabs to easily take over. The UTR should call on the parents, students, community groups, labor unions and worker activists to help keep the scabs out of our schools and to set up Strike Schools and Strike Kitchens to educate our children and keep the community mobilized during the strike.
Our strike schools will teach more in the few weeks we will need to win the strike than Arnie Duncan’s or the forced curriculum and teach to the test method of “No Child Left Alive” can teach in a year. Parents we can only win by keeping our children out of school and organized during a strike. On Saturday August 29, and Sunday August 30 at 10:00 am we will meet at the Richmond Civic Center Auditorium 403 Civic Center Plaza in Richmond and divide up the fliers to be distributed to our school communities. We are inviting members and other allies to join us.
West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education,
Progressive Teachers of UTR Contact 510 501 7347
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
WALK NOW! Students Not a Priority
WALK NOW!
The latest UTR Newsline dated August 3rd reports that on July 29, the WCCUSD School Board voted to pay scabs $325 a day and authorized rent-a-cops to keep us in line. Cap health care for active and retired. Health Plan for Blue Shield: Single ($577.33) 2-Person ($1,154.66) Family ($1,501.06). Plan for Kaiser: Single ($532.56) 2-Person (1,065.12) Family ($1,384.66).
It also announced UTR Members to Vote on Strike Authorization at August 20 Meeting. The district's actions clearly reflect their priorities and devalues rank-and-file workers. Now it is our battle. When we meet on August 20, change the tone.
VOTE to STRIKE NOW!
Demands
1) Restore Class Size K-3, 20:1
2) Rescind the lay-off notices for 125 teachers laid-off in May
3) Restore Quality Education. Bring back music, art, sports…
4) Hands off teachers wage and benefit package!
5) Keep Class Size Maximums
On August 20 we must act together and vote to STRIKE! WALK NOW!
Show the bosses that we are ready to battle for our students and our rights.
When we meet on August 20;
Form STRIKE COMMITTEES in each job site. NO SCABS!
Organize massive marches, job actions, rolling informational picket lines
Media messages, press conferences, community forums
Reach out to our sisters and brothers in Local 1, coordinate meetings with all workers
Parent Liaisons, Open Strike Schools
Build Inter union labor actions
DON'T LIE DOWN NOW!
Diane Brown
The latest UTR Newsline dated August 3rd reports that on July 29, the WCCUSD School Board voted to pay scabs $325 a day and authorized rent-a-cops to keep us in line. Cap health care for active and retired. Health Plan for Blue Shield: Single ($577.33) 2-Person ($1,154.66) Family ($1,501.06). Plan for Kaiser: Single ($532.56) 2-Person (1,065.12) Family ($1,384.66).
It also announced UTR Members to Vote on Strike Authorization at August 20 Meeting. The district's actions clearly reflect their priorities and devalues rank-and-file workers. Now it is our battle. When we meet on August 20, change the tone.
VOTE to STRIKE NOW!
Demands
1) Restore Class Size K-3, 20:1
2) Rescind the lay-off notices for 125 teachers laid-off in May
3) Restore Quality Education. Bring back music, art, sports…
4) Hands off teachers wage and benefit package!
5) Keep Class Size Maximums
On August 20 we must act together and vote to STRIKE! WALK NOW!
Show the bosses that we are ready to battle for our students and our rights.
When we meet on August 20;
Form STRIKE COMMITTEES in each job site. NO SCABS!
Organize massive marches, job actions, rolling informational picket lines
Media messages, press conferences, community forums
Reach out to our sisters and brothers in Local 1, coordinate meetings with all workers
Parent Liaisons, Open Strike Schools
Build Inter union labor actions
DON'T LIE DOWN NOW!
Diane Brown
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Students Not A Priority (Our Students are not a Shared Sacrifice)
Resolution No. 78-0809: F.2 K-3 Class Size Reduction Program (CSR)
On April 22, 2009, School Board Members; School Board Member Madeline Kronenberg, Antonio Medrano & President Audrey Miles VOTED TO INCREASE CLASS SIZES
On July 8, 2009 School Board Members Voted to:
Eliminate class-size maximums at all grade levels; replace with “ratios” that can result in having over 40 students in both elementary and secondary classes.
Increase Kindergarten teachers’ instructional day.
Demands
1) Restore Class Size K-3, 20:1
2) Rescind the lay-off notices for 125 teachers laid-off in May
3) Restore Quality Education. Bring back music, art, sports…
4) Hands off teachers wage and benefit package!
5) Keep Class Size Maximums
Attend the WCCUSD School Board Meeting July 29, DeJean Middle School, 6:00 P.M., fight for Quality Education and support teachers preparing to STRIKE! NO SCABS!
Demand a Change in Priorities
On April 22, 2009, School Board Members; School Board Member Madeline Kronenberg, Antonio Medrano & President Audrey Miles VOTED TO INCREASE CLASS SIZES
On July 8, 2009 School Board Members Voted to:
Eliminate class-size maximums at all grade levels; replace with “ratios” that can result in having over 40 students in both elementary and secondary classes.
Increase Kindergarten teachers’ instructional day.
Demands
1) Restore Class Size K-3, 20:1
2) Rescind the lay-off notices for 125 teachers laid-off in May
3) Restore Quality Education. Bring back music, art, sports…
4) Hands off teachers wage and benefit package!
5) Keep Class Size Maximums
Attend the WCCUSD School Board Meeting July 29, DeJean Middle School, 6:00 P.M., fight for Quality Education and support teachers preparing to STRIKE! NO SCABS!
Demand a Change in Priorities
Sunday, May 31, 2009
UTR Members Stand Up For Our Rights
• Secondary Class Size Maximums English, Reading 32 Other academic areas 35 Elementary K-3 20, 4-6,33
• Maintain Family Health Care Coverage
• No Layoffs
• Support Rank-and-File UTR Colleagues in Elementary, Middle, High Schools
• Unite with Workers in Local 1
Attend the School Board Meeting
DeJean Middle School 3400 Macdonald Ave
Wednesday, June 3, 6:30 P.M
Build for All Member Rally Tuesday June 9th
Sign up to speak during Public Comment
All Member Rally @ Administration Building 1108 Bissell Ave Tuesday June
9th 4:00 P.M.
Demand Quality Education for all our Students
• Maintain Family Health Care Coverage
• No Layoffs
• Support Rank-and-File UTR Colleagues in Elementary, Middle, High Schools
• Unite with Workers in Local 1
Attend the School Board Meeting
DeJean Middle School 3400 Macdonald Ave
Wednesday, June 3, 6:30 P.M
Build for All Member Rally Tuesday June 9th
Sign up to speak during Public Comment
All Member Rally @ Administration Building 1108 Bissell Ave Tuesday June
9th 4:00 P.M.
Demand Quality Education for all our Students
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
A Just Labor Movement for Workers
Attention Parents: DISTRICT PROPOSES CLASS SIZE INCREASES IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS:
The United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) is negotiating a new contract with WCCUSD.
One of the District’s latest demands to UTR is to eliminate secondary class maximums for secondary schools. The current contract now in effect between the WCCUSD and UTR mandates the following secondary class-size maximums:
English, Reading 32
Other academic areas 35
The District’s demands would remove these maximums from the next contract and affect ALL students. There would be no limit to class size. Classes could swell to 40, 50, students or more. Such large classes would not provide an optimal learning environment for our students.
WE MUST DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS
Join with teachers to say no to increased class sizes in our middle and high schools.
DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL.
ATTEND THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AT DeJEAN MIDDLE SCHOOL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009, 6: 30 P.M. & Saturday April 25 Town Hall Meeting, 9:30-11:30 A.M.
NO LAYOFFS
NO CUTS IN BENEFITS
NO CLASS-SIZE INCREASES
Attention Parents: DISTRICT PROPOSES CLASS SIZE INCREASES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:
The United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) is negotiating a new contract with WCCUSD.
The district proposes to take the 20:1 State Class-Size Reduction penalties to increase class size and layoff teachers. Say NO to all options. The current contract now in effect between the WCCUSD and UTR mandates the following:
Kindergarten 20
Grades 1-3 20
Grades 4-6 33
The District’s demands would remove these maximums from the next contract and affect ALL students. There would be no limit to class size. Join with teachers to say no to increased class sizes. Large classes would not provide an optimal learning environment for our students.
WE MUST DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS
DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL.
ATTEND THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AT DeJEAN MIDDLE SCHOOL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009, 6: 30 P.M. Saturday April 25, Town Hall Meeting 9:30-11:30
NO LAYOFFS
NO CUTS IN BENEFITS
NO CLASS-SIZE INCREASES
The United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) is negotiating a new contract with WCCUSD.
One of the District’s latest demands to UTR is to eliminate secondary class maximums for secondary schools. The current contract now in effect between the WCCUSD and UTR mandates the following secondary class-size maximums:
English, Reading 32
Other academic areas 35
The District’s demands would remove these maximums from the next contract and affect ALL students. There would be no limit to class size. Classes could swell to 40, 50, students or more. Such large classes would not provide an optimal learning environment for our students.
WE MUST DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS
Join with teachers to say no to increased class sizes in our middle and high schools.
DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL.
ATTEND THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AT DeJEAN MIDDLE SCHOOL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009, 6: 30 P.M. & Saturday April 25 Town Hall Meeting, 9:30-11:30 A.M.
NO LAYOFFS
NO CUTS IN BENEFITS
NO CLASS-SIZE INCREASES
Attention Parents: DISTRICT PROPOSES CLASS SIZE INCREASES IN ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS:
The United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) is negotiating a new contract with WCCUSD.
The district proposes to take the 20:1 State Class-Size Reduction penalties to increase class size and layoff teachers. Say NO to all options. The current contract now in effect between the WCCUSD and UTR mandates the following:
Kindergarten 20
Grades 1-3 20
Grades 4-6 33
The District’s demands would remove these maximums from the next contract and affect ALL students. There would be no limit to class size. Join with teachers to say no to increased class sizes. Large classes would not provide an optimal learning environment for our students.
WE MUST DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR OUR STUDENTS
DEMAND QUALITY EDUCATION FOR ALL.
ATTEND THE SCHOOL BOARD MEETING AT DeJEAN MIDDLE SCHOOL, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 22, 2009, 6: 30 P.M. Saturday April 25, Town Hall Meeting 9:30-11:30
NO LAYOFFS
NO CUTS IN BENEFITS
NO CLASS-SIZE INCREASES
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
The Richmond City Bailout of the WCCUSD: Like Putting a Band-aid on Gangrene By Charles Rachlis February 7, 2009
A palpable wave of relief passed through the crowd during the February 4th meeting when the representatives of the City of Richmond announced their bailout of four schools potentially slated for closure. While not looking a gift horse in the mouth, however, the community understands that one-time bailouts from the cities won’t put the WCCUSD in the black. Without a commitment for another two million dollars from somewhere, prior to February 11th, the school board sees no road to a balanced budget other than closing the doors of a number of our neighborhood schools.
To make matters worse, California Secretary of Education Jack O’Connell has announced that ten billion dollars will be cut this year from state payments to the school districts. Because of the state budget stalemate, the Governor has threatened to shave five days off the school year, and plans to lift state restrictions on how school funds are spent, freeing our school board to use state money to pay debts instead of funding education. So even if the City of Richmond money holds off some of the closures temporarily, we will be back in the same position before long.
Thirty years following the passage of Proposition 13, the simultaneous impact of a California budget crisis rendered intractable by the two thirds majority rule, and the worldwide breakdown of financial institutions, has created a perfect storm raining debt and empty promises on our children. This crisis appears to be unrelenting, unstoppable, and beyond the ability of the best and brightest to solve. All the institutions of democratic governance, from the lowly school board to the state legislature and the mighty senate of the United States, are incapable of addressing the concerns of working people and the needs of our children.
Rather, these august institutions are poised as one to enforce the greatest wealth transfer ever from the working class to the elite. Cutting schools is only one of the ways the working class is being forced to bear the burden of fiscal mismanagement and unrestrained wealth appropriation by the elites. The elderly, the uninsured, the unemployed, sub-prime mortgage holders, state workers, the disabled, and the indigent have all been abandoned along with the students. Millions have seen their life savings and retirement or pension plans wiped out.
The safety net has been shredded, and the specter of a full-fledged depression looms over the economic forecasts. The promoters of deregulation, tax breaks for the rich, and unrestrained markets, who during the Reagan, Clinton, and Bush years promised unending prosperity, have been exposed as the self-promoting hucksters that they are.
The federal government has shown that its first loyalty is to the very bankers, speculators and war profiteers who brought the growing economic crisis to its inevitable head. The bailout of the banks in October 2008 was opposed by the
grassroots, who flooded their representative with phone calls and e-mails. Against the better judgment of the American people, the bailout passed in two short weeks – with bipartisan support, and Obama’s blessing. Four months later, it has been revealed that not only did the bailout not work, but in addition, millions of bailout dollars were used to pay outrageous bonuses to the very speculators who fueled the economic meltdown. Despite the proof that the bailout was a failure, which will result in lowering the worth of the dollar and incurring debts our grandchildren will be paying for decades to come; the current administration has refused to stop the bank bailout disaster, and is poised not only to release the second half of the money to the banks, but also to institute a new plan to buy their “toxic assets,” shifting the risk of loss from the bankers to the taxpayers. In response, working people around the country are asking, “Where is our bailout?”
When working people lose their jobs, their homes, their health care, and their schools, the economic elite, the pundits, and the government either ignore their plight altogether, blame the victim, or pose and posture but provide no relief. Inversely, when the fat cats of finance destroy the economy, they are quickly bailed out by the average taxpayers, against their will. Rather than nationalizing the failed financial institutions, or letting the “free market” take its course, the elite deem the speculators “too big to fail.” At the same time, our children are deemed too burdensome to teach.
If cuts in social programs and education are not opposed vigorously, they will be made now, under the guise of the current crisis, and the funds will never be restored even if the economy recovers. Yet finding, printing, or borrowing money is no problem for politicians when their puppet masters in banking and big business deem it necessary. It all comes down to a question of whose priorities do the institutions of governance serve?
Working people can’t compete with the corporate elite in the effort to buy politicians. Despite the millions in small contributions to the Obama campaign, the biggest contributions were bundled by the corporate elite. Not surprisingly, then, the new administration is loaded down with bankers and speculators, including many of the same players who helped deregulate and bring down the system in the first place.
The working class has little recourse via the polite civic process of petitioning the government for redress. It will take a social movement unlike anything seen in this country for generations to defend and expand social programs and public education during this crisis.
However, we are not powerless to force a reordering of priorities. The working class has enormous power. We have the power to build roads, railways, planes, power and steel plants, auto factories, hospitals, and schools, and to teach the workers needed for these projects. We also have the power not to work. When we choose not to work, our real power is felt in the pocketbook of the business elite, as the profits they usually derive from our labor stop flowing. Our power not to work, if used to its fullest, can paralyze the economy and force the ruling class to meet our demands.
Strike action is the most powerful weapon in the working class arsenal. However, the leaders of our organizations have become too enamored of the corporate model; of their Democratic Party “friends”; and of the irrational and misguided belief that justice can be won in the bosses’ courthouse. Diverted by their illusions from their proper role, our union leaders refuse to prepare their membership for strike actions. Our organizations need to prepare the community for direct action up to and including mass demonstrations, student walk outs, teach ins, teacher strikes and possibly occupation of schools slated for closure.
Quality public education and an endless war economy are incompatible. Quality public education and a prison economy are incompatible. Quality public education and government dominated by corporations, bankers and speculators are incompatible. Once we recognize the problem and the obstacles, the solution becomes self-evident. When we come together as a community of working people, and forge organizations based on solidarity and democracy, there is no force that can withstand our power.
Consider the WCCUSD. The school board does not answer to the parents, the teachers, the school staff, the students, and the community. It answers to the Trustee, who in turn is an unelected bureaucrat accountable only to the agents of the ruling elite. The school board’s response to the financial pressure has not been to fight for the interests of the students and their teachers and parents, but to close schools and reduce programs, balancing the District’s budget at the expense of our children’s education. If our schools were controlled by the teachers, staff, and parents, who are intimately connected with the students and their educational needs, instead of politicians and bureaucrats, we would be working to find a way to keep the schools open and flourishing rather than trying to con the community into accepting the closures as inevitable.
No to school closures
No teacher layoffs, no cuts by attrition
Fill vacancies, restore cut programs, reduce class size
Restore quality education; bring back music, art, and sports
Hands off staff and teachers’ wages, benefits and retirement
Place schools under direct teacher, parent, and staff control
Contact: Margaret Browne, 234-3957
To make matters worse, California Secretary of Education Jack O’Connell has announced that ten billion dollars will be cut this year from state payments to the school districts. Because of the state budget stalemate, the Governor has threatened to shave five days off the school year, and plans to lift state restrictions on how school funds are spent, freeing our school board to use state money to pay debts instead of funding education. So even if the City of Richmond money holds off some of the closures temporarily, we will be back in the same position before long.
Thirty years following the passage of Proposition 13, the simultaneous impact of a California budget crisis rendered intractable by the two thirds majority rule, and the worldwide breakdown of financial institutions, has created a perfect storm raining debt and empty promises on our children. This crisis appears to be unrelenting, unstoppable, and beyond the ability of the best and brightest to solve. All the institutions of democratic governance, from the lowly school board to the state legislature and the mighty senate of the United States, are incapable of addressing the concerns of working people and the needs of our children.
Rather, these august institutions are poised as one to enforce the greatest wealth transfer ever from the working class to the elite. Cutting schools is only one of the ways the working class is being forced to bear the burden of fiscal mismanagement and unrestrained wealth appropriation by the elites. The elderly, the uninsured, the unemployed, sub-prime mortgage holders, state workers, the disabled, and the indigent have all been abandoned along with the students. Millions have seen their life savings and retirement or pension plans wiped out.
The safety net has been shredded, and the specter of a full-fledged depression looms over the economic forecasts. The promoters of deregulation, tax breaks for the rich, and unrestrained markets, who during the Reagan, Clinton, and Bush years promised unending prosperity, have been exposed as the self-promoting hucksters that they are.
The federal government has shown that its first loyalty is to the very bankers, speculators and war profiteers who brought the growing economic crisis to its inevitable head. The bailout of the banks in October 2008 was opposed by the
grassroots, who flooded their representative with phone calls and e-mails. Against the better judgment of the American people, the bailout passed in two short weeks – with bipartisan support, and Obama’s blessing. Four months later, it has been revealed that not only did the bailout not work, but in addition, millions of bailout dollars were used to pay outrageous bonuses to the very speculators who fueled the economic meltdown. Despite the proof that the bailout was a failure, which will result in lowering the worth of the dollar and incurring debts our grandchildren will be paying for decades to come; the current administration has refused to stop the bank bailout disaster, and is poised not only to release the second half of the money to the banks, but also to institute a new plan to buy their “toxic assets,” shifting the risk of loss from the bankers to the taxpayers. In response, working people around the country are asking, “Where is our bailout?”
When working people lose their jobs, their homes, their health care, and their schools, the economic elite, the pundits, and the government either ignore their plight altogether, blame the victim, or pose and posture but provide no relief. Inversely, when the fat cats of finance destroy the economy, they are quickly bailed out by the average taxpayers, against their will. Rather than nationalizing the failed financial institutions, or letting the “free market” take its course, the elite deem the speculators “too big to fail.” At the same time, our children are deemed too burdensome to teach.
If cuts in social programs and education are not opposed vigorously, they will be made now, under the guise of the current crisis, and the funds will never be restored even if the economy recovers. Yet finding, printing, or borrowing money is no problem for politicians when their puppet masters in banking and big business deem it necessary. It all comes down to a question of whose priorities do the institutions of governance serve?
Working people can’t compete with the corporate elite in the effort to buy politicians. Despite the millions in small contributions to the Obama campaign, the biggest contributions were bundled by the corporate elite. Not surprisingly, then, the new administration is loaded down with bankers and speculators, including many of the same players who helped deregulate and bring down the system in the first place.
The working class has little recourse via the polite civic process of petitioning the government for redress. It will take a social movement unlike anything seen in this country for generations to defend and expand social programs and public education during this crisis.
However, we are not powerless to force a reordering of priorities. The working class has enormous power. We have the power to build roads, railways, planes, power and steel plants, auto factories, hospitals, and schools, and to teach the workers needed for these projects. We also have the power not to work. When we choose not to work, our real power is felt in the pocketbook of the business elite, as the profits they usually derive from our labor stop flowing. Our power not to work, if used to its fullest, can paralyze the economy and force the ruling class to meet our demands.
Strike action is the most powerful weapon in the working class arsenal. However, the leaders of our organizations have become too enamored of the corporate model; of their Democratic Party “friends”; and of the irrational and misguided belief that justice can be won in the bosses’ courthouse. Diverted by their illusions from their proper role, our union leaders refuse to prepare their membership for strike actions. Our organizations need to prepare the community for direct action up to and including mass demonstrations, student walk outs, teach ins, teacher strikes and possibly occupation of schools slated for closure.
Quality public education and an endless war economy are incompatible. Quality public education and a prison economy are incompatible. Quality public education and government dominated by corporations, bankers and speculators are incompatible. Once we recognize the problem and the obstacles, the solution becomes self-evident. When we come together as a community of working people, and forge organizations based on solidarity and democracy, there is no force that can withstand our power.
Consider the WCCUSD. The school board does not answer to the parents, the teachers, the school staff, the students, and the community. It answers to the Trustee, who in turn is an unelected bureaucrat accountable only to the agents of the ruling elite. The school board’s response to the financial pressure has not been to fight for the interests of the students and their teachers and parents, but to close schools and reduce programs, balancing the District’s budget at the expense of our children’s education. If our schools were controlled by the teachers, staff, and parents, who are intimately connected with the students and their educational needs, instead of politicians and bureaucrats, we would be working to find a way to keep the schools open and flourishing rather than trying to con the community into accepting the closures as inevitable.
No to school closures
No teacher layoffs, no cuts by attrition
Fill vacancies, restore cut programs, reduce class size
Restore quality education; bring back music, art, and sports
Hands off staff and teachers’ wages, benefits and retirement
Place schools under direct teacher, parent, and staff control
Contact: Margaret Browne, 234-3957
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Save our Schools Protect our Teachers
At this point the only way to protect our neighborhood schools is to mobilize the community for massive actions including student and teachers strikes supported by the parents. Protests leading to srike action, sit-ins at the schools, are needed to get the national attention necessary to force a favorable resolution. If the community does not prepare itself to take such actions the board will carry out the proposed closures and the politicans in Sacramento and Washington will do nothing.
Massive March !!!
Date: Wednesday, February 4 & 11, 2009
Time: 5:00 PM
Where: Meet at the Pinole Valley Shopping Center, March to the school board meeting at Pinole Valley High School, 2700 Pinole Valley Road, Right off Pinole Valley Freeway Exit
DEMAND:
1) No to all school closures
2) No teacher layoffs no cuts by attrition
4) Fill Vacancies, restore cut programs, reduce class size
5) Restore Quality Education. Bring back music, art, sports…
6) Hands off teachers wage and benefit package!
Take action now! Contact: West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education (WCCCQE)
English Margaret Browne (510) 234-3957
Spanish Wendy Gonzalez (510) 332-9320
Massive March !!!
Date: Wednesday, February 4 & 11, 2009
Time: 5:00 PM
Where: Meet at the Pinole Valley Shopping Center, March to the school board meeting at Pinole Valley High School, 2700 Pinole Valley Road, Right off Pinole Valley Freeway Exit
DEMAND:
1) No to all school closures
2) No teacher layoffs no cuts by attrition
4) Fill Vacancies, restore cut programs, reduce class size
5) Restore Quality Education. Bring back music, art, sports…
6) Hands off teachers wage and benefit package!
Take action now! Contact: West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education (WCCCQE)
English Margaret Browne (510) 234-3957
Spanish Wendy Gonzalez (510) 332-9320
Thursday, January 8, 2009
ORGANIZE TO SAVE OUR SCHOOLS
The School Board has taken its stand and is determined to make cuts to our schools, educational programs and teaching staff. The community has the power to stop the cuts and expand the quality of education in the WCCUSD. If we come together as a community, stand united, and take direct action we can save our schools!
The school board was elected to lead our community in its quest for quality education but they have abdicated their responsibility. The school board has initiated a School Closure Committee of 279 members to create a semblance of community participation in the school closure process. This action is proof of their lack of creativity and leadership.
Current events have shown us that there is plenty of money available it is just a question of priorities. The Congress made 800 billion dollars available in little over a week to bail out the bankers and speculators who have used our tax dollars to assure their million dollar bonuses. Ten billion dollars a month is wasted on a useless and unwanted war. So to those who say there is no money, we respond, “All that is needed is a change of priorities”. Where is the bail out for our schools? We pay our taxes! Teach our kids!
A committee of parents, teachers, and students has come together to form the West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education, (WCCCQE). We invite parents, teachers, students and organizations who are committed to providing a quality educational experience for our children to join us at an organizing meeting to build for direct actions to unite to demand quality education be treated as a priority.
Mass Organizing Meeting January 13th
6:00-8:00PM
Richmond Public Library Community Room
corner of 25th and MacDonald Ave
West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education
OUR DEMANDS
1) NO TO ALL SCHOOL CLOSURES
2) SHUT DOWN THE SCHOOL CLOSURE COMMITTEE
3) NO TEACHER LAY OFFS, NO CUTS BY ATTRITION
4) FILL VACANCIES, RESTORE CUT PROGRAMS, REDUCE CLASS SIZE
5) RESTORE QUALITY EDUCATION: BRING BACK MUSIC, ART, SPORTS…
Take action now: contact the: West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education
Join the Steering committee meeting on January 5th. Place and time to be announced. Call for information:
English: Margaret Browne (510) 234-3957
Spanish: Wendy Gonzalez (510) 332-9320
e-mail wcccqe@yahoo.com
QUALITY EDUCATION BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!
OUR WORKING CONDITIONS ARE YOUR KIDS LEARNING CONDITIONS!
The school board was elected to lead our community in its quest for quality education but they have abdicated their responsibility. The school board has initiated a School Closure Committee of 279 members to create a semblance of community participation in the school closure process. This action is proof of their lack of creativity and leadership.
Current events have shown us that there is plenty of money available it is just a question of priorities. The Congress made 800 billion dollars available in little over a week to bail out the bankers and speculators who have used our tax dollars to assure their million dollar bonuses. Ten billion dollars a month is wasted on a useless and unwanted war. So to those who say there is no money, we respond, “All that is needed is a change of priorities”. Where is the bail out for our schools? We pay our taxes! Teach our kids!
A committee of parents, teachers, and students has come together to form the West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education, (WCCCQE). We invite parents, teachers, students and organizations who are committed to providing a quality educational experience for our children to join us at an organizing meeting to build for direct actions to unite to demand quality education be treated as a priority.
Mass Organizing Meeting January 13th
6:00-8:00PM
Richmond Public Library Community Room
corner of 25th and MacDonald Ave
West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education
OUR DEMANDS
1) NO TO ALL SCHOOL CLOSURES
2) SHUT DOWN THE SCHOOL CLOSURE COMMITTEE
3) NO TEACHER LAY OFFS, NO CUTS BY ATTRITION
4) FILL VACANCIES, RESTORE CUT PROGRAMS, REDUCE CLASS SIZE
5) RESTORE QUALITY EDUCATION: BRING BACK MUSIC, ART, SPORTS…
Take action now: contact the: West Contra Costa Community for Quality Education
Join the Steering committee meeting on January 5th. Place and time to be announced. Call for information:
English: Margaret Browne (510) 234-3957
Spanish: Wendy Gonzalez (510) 332-9320
e-mail wcccqe@yahoo.com
QUALITY EDUCATION BECAUSE WE KNOW WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!
OUR WORKING CONDITIONS ARE YOUR KIDS LEARNING CONDITIONS!
Mayor McLaughlin - Speaks to Community
Gayle McLaughlin: Unity is the way forward for saving our schools
By Gayle McLaughlin
Published 1/4/09 Contra Costa Times
IN RECENT WEEKS I have received many comments from Richmond residents about the possibility of school closures in our city. I have heard concerns about certain individual schools in particular, as well as suggestions for all of our schools.
More than anything, Richmond residents have told me they want to avoid pitting one school against another in making closure decisions, and instead work together to find a way to keep all schools open.
Longtime community leaders and activists who live in South Richmond are concerned that students who walk to Kennedy High School may end up dropping out if they are moved to a more distant campus, or that students will fear for their safety if required to cross certain neighborhood lines to attend another school.
In addition, there are lingering hard feelings in the neighborhood that so little of the bond money is being used to upgrade Kennedy High School facilities.
Kennedy High recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, and distinguished alumni have repeatedly expressed to me the importance of keeping their beloved high school alive and well for future generations.
Teachers, parents and students from many schools have stressed that having local, walkable neighborhood schools is critical to the successful achievement of students.
The more challenges parents face with transportation, the more difficult it is to meet children's academic needs.
While I appreciate the dire straits the district is in and the need to make tough decisions, I join Richmond residents and others throughout the district in asking the School Board to look for more creative and less damaging solutions that could save all our school from closure. Here are some of the ideas my constituents have shared with me:
--To bring in significant one-time revenue, the district could sell other properties it owns that are not school sites.
--The district could substantially reduce operating expenses on an ongoing basis by initiating a plan to solarize all schools in the district. A possible use for part of Richmond's increased revenue from Measure T, which the voters passed in November, could be to train and employ our youth to solarize our schools.
--Maximizing recycling throughout the district and renegotiating contracts for waste management could also reduce operating expenses.
--Many in the community have repeatedly asked School Board members to join them in taking strong leadership in promoting a vigorous advocacy campaign with the governor and state Legislature to put an end once and for all to the district's loan from 1991. As a result of hundreds of students, parents, teachers and community members marching to Sacramento in 2004, the loan payments were slightly lowered for a while, but at the same time, the loan was privatized. In other words, we are in the perverse situation in these dire times of having to pay money to banks that could be used for educating our children. Because of misdeeds that occurred before any of our students were born and which no one currently employed in the district had anything to do with, our children continue to be punished unfairly with crippling loan payments. This is unacceptable, and I would gladly join the community in doing whatever it takes to convince state leaders and banks that these loans must be forgiven to remove an unfair burden from West Contra Costa County youngsters.
These are but a few of the good ideas I've heard, and I'm sure there are many more out there. The community has been asked by the district to respond with very short notice to what we've been told is an inevitable necessity. Before a new school is built, a comprehensive environmental impact study is required, and the same should be required before any school is closed.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Richmond City Council will be discussing ways Richmond could participate in helping to save schools.
With regard to the district's "school closure committee," on Dec. 15, I received a packet from Superintendent Bruce Harter asking me, as mayor of Richmond, to make 10 appointments to a WCCUSD districtwide committee with a total of 279 members and submit the names by Dec. 19.
Given the extremely short turnaround time, I relied in some cases on strong recommendations by certain Richmond residents I know who are very involved in and knowledgeable about the school district and share my overall vision.
I chose appointees who, to my understanding, held the interests of Richmond, as well as the interest of the entire school district, in their view. Most, but not all, of my appointees are Richmond residents.
One resident has suggested, let's replace the "school closure committee" with a "school opening committee." Indeed, that is a committee we can all be part of. There is still a need for continued advocacy along with the throngs of parents, students, teachers and community members who have been speaking out already in a very visible and vocal way. Strong voices in large numbers at the School Board meeting (Wednesday) and at the public meetings of the school closure committee (Jan. 8-20) will definitely have an influence over any decisions that are ultimately made by the School Board. On Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. at Lovonya DeJean Middle School there will be a joint meeting of the School Board and elected officials from cities throughout the district. I urge everyone to get involved.
McLaughlin is mayor of Richmond.
By Gayle McLaughlin
Published 1/4/09 Contra Costa Times
IN RECENT WEEKS I have received many comments from Richmond residents about the possibility of school closures in our city. I have heard concerns about certain individual schools in particular, as well as suggestions for all of our schools.
More than anything, Richmond residents have told me they want to avoid pitting one school against another in making closure decisions, and instead work together to find a way to keep all schools open.
Longtime community leaders and activists who live in South Richmond are concerned that students who walk to Kennedy High School may end up dropping out if they are moved to a more distant campus, or that students will fear for their safety if required to cross certain neighborhood lines to attend another school.
In addition, there are lingering hard feelings in the neighborhood that so little of the bond money is being used to upgrade Kennedy High School facilities.
Kennedy High recently celebrated its 40th anniversary, and distinguished alumni have repeatedly expressed to me the importance of keeping their beloved high school alive and well for future generations.
Teachers, parents and students from many schools have stressed that having local, walkable neighborhood schools is critical to the successful achievement of students.
The more challenges parents face with transportation, the more difficult it is to meet children's academic needs.
While I appreciate the dire straits the district is in and the need to make tough decisions, I join Richmond residents and others throughout the district in asking the School Board to look for more creative and less damaging solutions that could save all our school from closure. Here are some of the ideas my constituents have shared with me:
--To bring in significant one-time revenue, the district could sell other properties it owns that are not school sites.
--The district could substantially reduce operating expenses on an ongoing basis by initiating a plan to solarize all schools in the district. A possible use for part of Richmond's increased revenue from Measure T, which the voters passed in November, could be to train and employ our youth to solarize our schools.
--Maximizing recycling throughout the district and renegotiating contracts for waste management could also reduce operating expenses.
--Many in the community have repeatedly asked School Board members to join them in taking strong leadership in promoting a vigorous advocacy campaign with the governor and state Legislature to put an end once and for all to the district's loan from 1991. As a result of hundreds of students, parents, teachers and community members marching to Sacramento in 2004, the loan payments were slightly lowered for a while, but at the same time, the loan was privatized. In other words, we are in the perverse situation in these dire times of having to pay money to banks that could be used for educating our children. Because of misdeeds that occurred before any of our students were born and which no one currently employed in the district had anything to do with, our children continue to be punished unfairly with crippling loan payments. This is unacceptable, and I would gladly join the community in doing whatever it takes to convince state leaders and banks that these loans must be forgiven to remove an unfair burden from West Contra Costa County youngsters.
These are but a few of the good ideas I've heard, and I'm sure there are many more out there. The community has been asked by the district to respond with very short notice to what we've been told is an inevitable necessity. Before a new school is built, a comprehensive environmental impact study is required, and the same should be required before any school is closed.
At its meeting Tuesday, the Richmond City Council will be discussing ways Richmond could participate in helping to save schools.
With regard to the district's "school closure committee," on Dec. 15, I received a packet from Superintendent Bruce Harter asking me, as mayor of Richmond, to make 10 appointments to a WCCUSD districtwide committee with a total of 279 members and submit the names by Dec. 19.
Given the extremely short turnaround time, I relied in some cases on strong recommendations by certain Richmond residents I know who are very involved in and knowledgeable about the school district and share my overall vision.
I chose appointees who, to my understanding, held the interests of Richmond, as well as the interest of the entire school district, in their view. Most, but not all, of my appointees are Richmond residents.
One resident has suggested, let's replace the "school closure committee" with a "school opening committee." Indeed, that is a committee we can all be part of. There is still a need for continued advocacy along with the throngs of parents, students, teachers and community members who have been speaking out already in a very visible and vocal way. Strong voices in large numbers at the School Board meeting (Wednesday) and at the public meetings of the school closure committee (Jan. 8-20) will definitely have an influence over any decisions that are ultimately made by the School Board. On Jan. 10 at 10 a.m. at Lovonya DeJean Middle School there will be a joint meeting of the School Board and elected officials from cities throughout the district. I urge everyone to get involved.
McLaughlin is mayor of Richmond.
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