Progressive Teachers

NEA Delegates Representative Assembly 2010

2010-07-10T20:45:00.000-07:00

The delegates at the NEA 2010 Representative Assembly listens to Diane Ravitch's Speech. Ravitch is a beacon of hope. An activists and public education change agent. As public change agents we have to stand up for better working conditions, and for the freedom to collaborate with our colleagues and to be autonomous within our own classrooms. http://www.nea.org/grants/40241.htm#

Common Core Standards New Development

2010-06-18T08:26:00.001-07:00

California established its current academic content standards in English language arts and math in 1997. A new initiative is raising the question of whether it is time for the state to re-examine these standards.
What is the Common Core State Standards Initiative?
The Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSSI) is an effort to establish a set of K–12 academic content standards in English language arts and math that multiple states can adopt. Content standards are expectations of what students should know and be able to do. (For example, California's current math standards call for fourth graders to understand that rectangles that have the same perimeter can have different areas.) If a state adopts the Common Core standards, it is expected to adopt them verbatim, and they are to comprise at least 85% of a state's standards in English and math.
The initiative is led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State Schools Officers. The two organizations have brought together scores of curriculum specialists and content experts from all over the country (and a few people from other countries) to work on the standards.
The initiative appears to be supported by grants from foundations, plus funds from the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices. A list of specific sources of funding for this initiative is not yet available from the Common Core State Standards Initiative website.
A total of 48 states (all but Texas and Alaska), plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands have signed on as participants in the process--but participation does not necessarily mean that a state will adopt the standards.
What problem is it trying to solve?
Some see the current variety of content standards among states as a "crazy patchwork," with many states having learning expectations that lack rigor, specificity, and focus. Supporters see the CCSSI as an opportunity for states to establish a common set of rich, challenging, specific, high-priority learning expectations. The intent is to create education systems throughout the country that will help all students graduate from high school ready for college or a career and make the United States more competitive in the global economy.
Proponents of the initiative acknowledge that standards alone will not accomplish that goal. They hope the new standards will form a basis upon which states would then build systems of aligned curriculum, assessments, teacher training and preparation, and teacher and student supports.
Some people are downright skeptical of the Common Core initiative. As evidenced by previous efforts to establish common standards, forging a consensus around what content to include is difficult. Furthermore, some question the wisdom of standardization when students vary widely in their needs, goals, and abilities.
How might the initiative affect California?
Now that the Common Core has been finalized, California, like all other states, can choose to adopt it as the centerpiece of content standards in English language arts (ELA) and math. In January 2010, California enacted legislation requiring the creation of a commission of 21 members, a majority of whom were to be K–12 teachers, to develop proposed standards in ELA and math, with the Common Core making up at least 85% of the standards. The commission has until July 15, 2010 to put forward its proposal, and the State Board of Education (SBE) has until August 2, 2010 to accept or reject the proposal. This deadline conforms to a target date expressed in the Race to the Top (RTT), a federal competitive grant program that promotes reform in several areas, including standards and assessments. (Adopting common standards represents 20 points out of 500 in the RTT application process, and the maximum potential grant for California is about $700 million over four years. To put that amount in context, California's total funding for K–12 education in 2009-10 alone was $66 billion.)
If the board accepts the commission's proposal, the superintendent of public instruction and SBE must present to the governor and Legislature a plan and schedule for implementing the Common Core. If, on the other hand, the board rejects the proposal, California would continue with its current content standards.
What factors will the State Board of Education and California's elected leaders consider?
In deciding whether to accept the commission's proposal, the board will need to consider several questions:
Are the Common Core standards better than California's existing, highly-rated standards, and based on what evidence?
In particular, how does the Common Core treat Algebra I, which California encourages be taught in eighth grade? And how does the Common Core treat Algebra II, which California students must successfully complete to be eligible for the state's public universities?
Should the state endorse one set of expectations for all high school graduates, as the Common Core calls for, or continue having varying sets of requirements depending on students' postsecondary plans?
Can California afford to implement the standards and how would it do so? Would the state actually realize cost savings from implementing common standards and assessments, as Common Core supporters claim?
Can California afford not to participate if the vast majority of other states implement these common standards?

OEA Leader Gerson On Jerry Brown Support For Privatization & Union Busting

2010-03-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

OEA Bargaining Team member provides information and history about charters in Oakland School District. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1QqePaO-DA

ON MARCH 4, Start the DAY for Students

2010-03-02T04:35:00.000-08:00

STAND UP FOR SCHOOLS AND CALIFORNIA'S FUTURE
The UTR Leadership has encouraged teachers to Stand Up for Schools on March 4th in El Cerrito & Hercules.
What about the heart of this school district, Richmond & San Pablo?
STAND UP FOR CHANGE ON MARCH 4TH
Join teachers from Stege, Grant, Dover, Chavez, Lake, Coronado, Riverside, Washington, King, Verde, Peres, Lincoln, Bayview, Helms MS, De Jean MS, Gompers HS, Kennedy HS, and Richmond HS
6:30-7:30 AM Cutting & San Pablo Avenue, Richmond

OAKLAND TEACHERS VOTE ONE-DAY-STRIKE

2010-01-26T08:57:00.000-08:00

Oakland teachers vote for one-day strike-Vote To Back March 4 Action Strike For Public Educationhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/01/20/oakland-teachers-vote-for-one-day-strike/
Oakland teachers vote for one-day strike
By Katy MurphyWednesday, January 20th, 2010 at 8:56 pm in OEA, OUSD central office, teachers, union contract.
Hundreds of Oakland teachers union members who turned out to a meeting tonight voted to authorize its leadership to call a strike, once it’s legal.
The vote: 726 yes, 45 no.
The Oakland Education Association represents about 2,800 employees, including teachers, counselors and librarians, according to its Web site. If you round up to 800 participants (and if the 2,800 figure is accurate), voter participation comes to about 29 percent.
“It’s a real clear message to the bargaining team that they have the support of the membership,” said union President Betty Olson-Jones.
As I wrote in an earlier blog post, this doesn’t mean there will be a strike, and it could be weeks before the union can take such an action. But Olson-Jones has said she’s not optimistic the district will offer teachers a raise; the district’s chief financial officer has projected a deficit of nearly $40 million for 2010-11.
Next week, we learn more about how the new superintendent plans to make those cuts.
http://oaklandea.com/2010/01/21/oakland-teachers-reject-district-offer-authorize-strike/
Oakland Teachers Reject District Offer, Authorize Strike!
Thanks to all who came out to this afternoon’s OEA membership meeting! Despite the rain, we had a turnout of nearly 800 members, who responded enthusiastically to the information provided by the Bargaining Team and President and voted accordingly. Final tallies of votes taken:

Motion #1: “The OEA Membership confirms the position of the OEA Bargaining Team to reject the last OUSD contract proposal.” By voice vote, the vote was unanimous in favor of rejecting the District’s last offer.

Motion #2: “The OEA Membership authorizes the OEA Executive Board or Rep Council to call work actions up to and including a one day strike to resolve the current contract dispute. A membership meeting will be held following any strike to consider further actions.”
Yes: 726 No: 45 Total: 771 94% Yes

Motion #3: “The OEA Membership supports action(s) in solidarity with the March 4, 2010 Statewide Action in Support of Public Education.”
Yes: 689 No: 51 Abstentions: 31 89% Yes
=

Richmond Education Forum

2010-01-03T15:55:00.000-08:00

Richmond Education Forum
Defense Of Public Education and Lessons of Privatization

Tuesday January 12, 2010 7:00 PM
Richmond Public Library Community Room
325 Civic Center Plaza
Richmond, CA

Public education faces a massive attack from layoffs of teachers, closure of entire schools, cutback on supplies and the drive to privatize entire schools districts as was
proposed by the CTA in Richmond. Panelists from the Oakland Education Association OEA, the United Teachers of Richmond and there will be a report
on the experiences of charters and privatization in the state including the Green Dot schools.

Panelists:
Mary Flanagan, UTR School Delegate
Diane Brown, UTR rank and filer
Eduardo Martinez, UTR rank and file
Craig Gordon, OEA Executive Board
Cecily Myart-Cruz, UTLA West Area Chair-NEA

Sponsored by
Progressive Teachers, United Teachers of Richmond
510-501-7347
http://progressiveteachersrichmond.blogspot.com/
United Public Workers For Action UPWA.info
(415)867-0628

Richmond, California, teachers union pushes through concessions contract

2009-12-19T18:17:00.000-08:00

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.

Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Protest

2009-12-08T04:35:00.000-08:00

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=

UTR Teachers Organizing

2009-11-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

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.=

Teachers' Vote Backs Strike

2009-11-21T06:54:00.000-08:00

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.=

Richmond UTR-CTA Teachers Picket Scab Training In Berkeley

2009-10-09T07:31:00.000-07:00

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

Education is a Human Right

2009-09-23T04:12:00.000-07:00

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

A Call to Action

2009-09-07T03:25:00.000-07:00

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.

Support Our Teachers

2009-08-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

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

Community Support Needed for Teachers

2009-08-25T06:31:00.000-07:00

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

WALK NOW! Students Not a Priority

2009-08-05T08:22:00.000-07:00

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

Students Not A Priority (Our Students are not a Shared Sacrifice)

2009-07-25T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

UTR Members Stand Up For Our Rights

2009-05-31T10:38:00.000-07:00

• 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

Call to Action!

2009-04-21T21:05:00.000-07:00

A Just Labor Movement for Workers

2009-04-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

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

UTR Elections Introduction

2009-03-08T22:40:00.001-07:00

Diane Brown UTR Elections Middle School Director

2009-03-08T22:39:00.002-07:00

Eric Swabeck UTR Elections Vice President

2009-03-08T22:39:00.001-07:00

Wendy Gonzalez UTR Elections Elementary Director

2009-03-08T22:38:00.001-07:00

Pedro Navarro UTR Elections Area 2 Director

2009-03-08T22:37:00.001-07:00

The Richmond City Bailout of the WCCUSD: Like Putting a Band-aid on Gangrene By Charles Rachlis February 7, 2009

2009-02-12T06:57:00.000-08:00

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

Save our Schools Protect our Teachers

2009-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

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

ORGANIZE TO SAVE OUR SCHOOLS

2009-01-08T05:16:00.000-08:00

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!

Mayor McLaughlin - Speaks to Community

2009-01-08T05:06:00.000-08:00

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.

S.O.S.! Community & Teachers Say NO to School Closures

2008-12-05T04:20:00.000-08:00

There is money:
• We have taxpayers money for wars but none for education
• Large corporations like Chevron make billions in profit but fail to support our community

We demand quality education for all students
• Say No to school closures to bailout the District
• Say No to crowded classrooms
• Keep experienced teachers and support new ones

We must come together, community, parents, and teachers, and organize against anything that hurts students and their future.

What can you do?
Come to the school board meetings
And let your voice be heard.
***Rally*** before the school board meeting on December 10 at 5:00 PM at Nicholl Park
(on Macdonald Ave.) We will then march
to the school board meeting.

December 10th, January 7th and 21st February 4th All meetings held at De Jean Middle School, 3400 MacDonald Ave at 6:30 PM.

Progressive Teachers of UTR: Contact Margaret Browne, 510 672-1898, 510 234-3957, mtsustak@sonic.net, Wendy Gonzalez, 510 332-9320, wendy_gonzalez@hotmail.com

Community Alert !

2008-11-13T04:55:00.000-08:00

WCCUSD teachers have been working without a contract since July1, 2008. UTR and the District are in negotiations for a new contract. So far, the District has demanded these giveaways from teachers.

ELIMINATE secondary class size maximums
ELIMINATE secondary student-counselor ratios
ELIMINATE staffing provisions for libraries
ELIMINATE maximum and minimum English Learner class sizes

What do these giveaways mean for our students?

40, 50, 60 students in middle and high school class rooms

No counselors to advise students about course selections to meet graduation requirements, A – G, for the California University system and help them with completing personal statements for college/university applications

No librarians to help students develop research and technological skills needed to become literate 21st century citizens

What can you do to support your students?

Join us in a Day of Action at the WCCUSD School Board meeting on Wednesday November 19 and tell the board that students are our priority. We will not support givebacks that destroy our students’ learning environment.
Our students are our first priority and should be the districts.

Los maestros del WCCUSD han estado trabajando sin un contrato desde el 1de Julio del 2008. El sindicato de maestros (UTR) y el distrito escolar estan en negociaciones para un contrato nuevo. Hasta ahora el distrito ha demandado lo siguiente:

ELIMINAR números máximos en las clases secundarias
ELIMINAR proporciones de consejeros y estudiantes en las escuelas secundarias
ELIMINAR provisiones de personal en las bibliotecas escolares
ELIMINAR los números máximos y mínimos en clases de estudiantes que son apréndices de inglés.

¿Qué se significa estas eliminaciones para nuestros estudiantes?

40, 50, 60 estudiantes en las clases secundarias.

No habrá consejeros para guiar a los estudiantes sobre cuales cursos deben tomar; los requisitos A – G, para ser elegibles para sistema del la Universidad de California, o para ayudarlos a completar las aplicaciones o ensayos personales para la universidad.

No habrá bibliotecarios para ayudar a los estudiantes a desarrollar destrezas de investigación o técnicas que se necesita para ser personas competitivas en el siglo 21.

Unensen con nosotros en le día de acción en la junta de la mesa directiva del distrito escolar el Miércoles, 19 de noviembre y díganles a la mesa que los estudiantes deben ser nuestra prioridad. No vamos a apoyar las eliminaciones que destruyen el ambiente de aprendizaje de nuestros estudiantes .
¡NUESTROS ESTUDIANTES SON NUESTRA PRIORIDAD Y TAMBIEN DEBE SER LA PRIORIDAD DEL DISTRITO!

¿Que pueden hacer para apoyar a nuestros estudiantes?

A New Tone

2008-11-02T23:45:00.000-08:00

Organizing what’s at Stake

Apparently, the theme of the October rep council was unity and organizing. The message from the leadership was unity within the local. According to Webster’s dictionary, unity is the state of being one; oneness, a whole or totality as combining all its parts into one. I have to say that all the organizing activities have come from the organizing committee and dictated to us. These activities have been extremely narrow and modest. There is too much at stake and we are not doing enough. We need to do more! I did express my concerns with the president prior to this rep council meeting.

At the October rep council meeting was an organizing activity under committee reports. Rick Willis our CTA Executive Director conducted a “Rep Council Organizing Conversation” with the rep members. We broke up into small groups and addressed two questions about organizing strategies... However, the responses were not brought back to the body for discussion. Once again, leadership missed an opportunity to listen to rep council members input on organizing or anything else. I went to the president and expressed my frustration with the format of this information gathering activity.

.We need to reach out to activist parents who are our potential allies and advocates. Dr. Harter has the ear of our activist parents. I feel we are wasting precious time by not stepping up our out reach effort to the communities. Use resources to mobilize communities.

UTR needs to boost its image, change our tone, be visible and educate the community about classroom issues. Focus grassroots energies on activist organizing activities that promote personal commitment to achieve victory in bargaining. For example, Saturday morning several of us leafleted the District’s Parent Conference Training and within one hour we made contact with over 100 parents.

The last thing we can afford is concessions. We are headed down that road if we don't reach out to build a base of support in the communities. The communities don't realize what goes on in the classroom. It is our responsibility to strike up that conversation. They need to hear our story, issues and better understand what happens to their students. Through my lens the stakes haven’t been higher than they are right now in this economic crisis.

Diane Brown

National Education 87th Representative Assembly Convention 2008 Final Recap

2008-07-29T18:08:00.000-07:00

Thank you for electing me as one of your delegates to the 146th National Education Association (NEA) Annual Meeting held July 1-July 6. Delegates’ representing the United Teachers of Richmond was Mel Collins, Hadjah McLeod (successor delegate), Pixie Hayward Schickele, Terri Jackson, Debora Willis, and Robert Ellis. NEA delegates tackled a range of tough issues and policy on the convention floor at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington DC, July-3-6. Delegates are the primary legislative and policymaking body of the National Education Association.

President Reg Weaver opened the first day of the 87th Representative Assembly (RA), with his final keynote address to over 12,000 delegates and guests. President, Weaver led the National Education Association for six years. Weaver highlighted the need for change in education and in the nation and looked ahead to the decisive 2008 elections. The theme for this 2008 Annual Meeting is Team NEA: Commitment; Courage; Power.

Through the Parliamentary process we took action on New Business Items, Resolutions, and Amendments to the Constitution, Bylaws, and Standing Rules, and Legislative Amendments.

The First Day of the RA – California Activists Stand Strong on Health Care

On the first day of business the NEA Board of Directors moved (NBI) NEW BUSINESS ITEM A. This NBI is NEA’s basic policies on both the importance of health care coverage and the urgent need for health reform that are set forth in NEA Resolutions and in the NEA Legislative Program.

Health care is a primary concern in California, in the country and the nation. When I saw NBI A, I immediately began collaborating with my sisters and brothers in the Oakland Education Association and in our Caucuses to develop language to amend this NBI in support of health care reform.

Delegates from New Jersey also amended the language by addition on the floor of the RA. I submitted several changes to the appropriate committee and was waiting to speak on the floor of the RA. When I was recognized by the chair, I was asked if I would be willing to postpone until later because several changes were being proposed, I concurred. This postponement was significant and is worth taking the time to tell what happen in the interim.

During the postponement, I was asked to meet with NEA Staff and board member. I requested Bill Balderston from the Oakland Education Association meet with us. Balderston is also the issues chair of our Peace and Justice Caucus. He was also instrumental in working with me to craft the amendments that were being proposed.

We informed members of the NEA staff and board that our focus was universal single-payer health care. Delegates and members of the Peace and Justice Caucus endorsed our efforts. Some NEA members from California and in other states believe that NEA and its resources would play a major role and make an impact in the universal health care reform debate and in achieving health care coverage and single-payer health care for all. We urged NEA to support our amendments and California in its efforts and lead the way to real universal single payer health care reform for all. We educated them on the work that was being done in California on this issue. Further, single-payer health care reform would provide access for all regardless of employment status. Single-payer health care is a means of controlling health cost inflation. Currently 30% of every health care dollar is spent on administrative overhead, high administrative executive salaries, advertising and share holder benefits.

NEA staff informed us that the board had committed and approved major funding and resources that directed staff to join a coalition of unions and organizations in a campaign to achieve universal health care reform. NEA had conducted polling among NEA members and the results determined that the campaign needed to have more flexibility working with diverse groups within a coalition. They also wanted to let us know that NEA believes that comprehensive affordable health care coverage can best be achieved through a single-payer health care system. Staff agreed to come to the Peace and Justice Caucus to clarify issues, provide additional information on NEA’s campaign and answer questions. We negotiated and agreed on proposed language changes.

The next session of the RA, I moved to amend NEW BUSINESS ITEM A. Early in the debate the NBI was referred to a NEA committee. However, talks continued with delegates from Wisconsin, who felt that the NBI should not be referred and the vote to refer was without merit. In a subsequent meeting the delegate from Wisconsin joined the debate with NEA staff and NBI A was replaced by NEW BUSINESS ITEM 75. A compromise and agreement was reached and new business item 75 was adopted by the Representative Assembly delegates.

Although we didn’t get everything we wanted, through our efforts, we raised an awareness and expectation that health care reform for all is the goal. We also will hold NEA staff to their commitment to inform the Peace and Justice Caucus on every step of the campaign to achieve health care reform for all. We will stay in touch. I want to thank Margaret Browne who was not a delegate attending the RA for her email contributions and all the other delegates and supporters who worked collectively with Bill Balderston and me.

Top Five NEW BUSINESS ITEMS:

NBI 7 – NEA review and disseminate research and best practices for dropout prevention…
NBI 8 – NEA affirms longstanding commitment to Resolution B-20, the Education of Refugee and Undocumented Children and Children of Undocumented Immigrants…students who have graduated from U.S. high schools but have no paths to citizenship because their parents are undocumented.
NBI 16 – NEA and its affiliates will disseminate existing data and analysis demonstrating the relationship of socioeconomic status and per pupil funding to standardized test scores…strive to counter the myth that teachers and the educational establishment alone can overcome social, economic, health and other barriers to equal educational opportunity in our society.
NBI – 27 The NEA will send a letter urging Congress to block attempts by the Bush administration to commit the U.S. to a permanent military presence in Iraq.
NBI – 28 NEA will encourage its local affiliates to collaborate with their local governing boards to pass a proclamation denouncing the provision of ESEA so called “No Child Left Behind.” This proclamation would be developed collaboratively between the local union and governing board….

New Association Leadership:

Your newly elected leadership is President-elect, Dennis Van Roekel; Vice President-elect Lily Eskelsen; and Secretary-Treasurer-elect Becky Pringle. Princess Moss of Virginia and Len Paolillo of Massachusetts won seats on the Executive Committee.

Upcoming Event:

Next year the NEA Representative Assembly will be held in San Diego, California July 1-6, 2009.

PRESIDENTIAL ENDORSEMENT RESULTS:
Delegates recommend Senator Barack Obama for President of the United States
Results Passed Yes 6,841 79.75% No 1,737 20.25%

Other Activities

 Governor Mike Easley of North Carolina was presented with its first America's Greatest Education Governor award
 NEA gave a tribute to Barbara Morgan an elementary school teacher and a space shuttle Endeavor Astronaut from Idaho and received the 2008 Friend of Education Award
 Laura Vernon a school safety assistant from Milwaukee received the 2008 Education Support Professional (ESP) of the Year
 Mohamed El-Khawas, president from the University of the District of Columbia Faculty Association, and Congress Eleanor Holmes Norton, welcomed the delegates to the city
 Members attended one or more of 37 special interest caucuses, tributes to outgoing President, Reg Weaver

In Solidarity,
Diane Brown

UTR Contract Bargaining Proposal by Nathan Sampson

2008-06-13T05:43:00.000-07:00

Some personal opinions on the recent UTR initial contract bargaining proposal to the West Contra Costa Unified School District.

My name is Nathan Samson. I currently teach Economics and U.S. Government at De Anza High School to seniors. This is my third year in the district, and my second full year at De Anza. I am transferring to El Cerrito High next school year, which means I will still be a member of the UTR. The following is a personal reflection on the initial bargaining offer that UTR proposed to the district.

I found out about the proposal through the newsletter or bargaining alert that the UTR produces. Sometimes, war between the classes may be hidden from sight, because the working class is simply not in motion, is not that militant, and has not taken action on a mass scale independently from its bureaucratic union leaders and parties that represent the rich and powerful, like the Democrats and Republicans. But that does not mean that class war has disappeared. And it certainly doesn't mean that a harmony between capital and labor exists. Far from it. If that were so, we would not be having contract negotiations with our employer at the present time.

In fact, the class interests of the workers are opposed to the class interests of the bosses or employers, whether public or private. The idea is a simple one and should guide our actions during contract negotiations. That is not the case with the current leaders of the UTR or the CTA. Take the wording of the proposal, for instance. “The United Teachers of Richmond proposes that the terms and conditions set forth in the current collective bargaining agreement be extended . . . with a term commencing on July 1, 2008 and expiring on June 30, 2009” This proposal has no militancy, no fight in it, whatsoever. It is flat and limp. They put forward three reasons that such a proposal is appropriate.

First, they assert that “ The Governor’s current budget proposal still guts education funding for our District.” My goodness. How far do we want to give in to the state? This is a green light for the state to take away the many gains or provisions in our current contract. We are implying that it is an accomplished fact that the state is cutting money to education in the current budget and we are helpless to do anything about it. I get the feeling from the leadership’s argument that they are compromising with the state to avoid a struggle by the rank and file of the UTR against the state. And we only have 2000 dollars in our strike fund.

The leadership is not preparing for struggle, because their whole outlook and strategy is geared towards compromise and working with the powers that be. This line of reasoning sends the message that the UTR is willing to accommodate the needs of the state. It is a tacit concession of weakness. Thus, we are bargaining from a position of weakness, not one of strength.

The UTR is very contradictory, because they have asked us to write our state reps and Senators to denounce the cuts to education. The UTR also says that the latest proposal “ would prevent any cost-shifting on health insurance for next year. That would give us time to see what happens with state funding and our parcel tax.”

We know that in industry after industry the bosses have gone after health care. Our industry is no exception. The district has been up front about not extending health care benefits, and has proposed to increase the co-pay each time we visit the doctor. Now that our union has conceded that education budget cuts are inevitable, that will give the go-ahead to the state to take away our health benefits.

Finally, the leadership of the UTR says that “A successful parcel-tax measure that provides additional resources would help make a successful settlement possible.” The vote on the parcel tax won't happen until November. That means that it is likely we will not have a settlement until then. We will be working without a contract for 5 long months. And what if it passes. That is no guarantee that the state would give us what we want or ask for, especially with the historic budget cuts to education that have been proposed.

In addition, the leadership of the UTR wants the parcel tax to pass in its current form, that is, the same dollar amount to be taxed on property. I forget the exact figure. In other words, they are not asking for a tax increase. Rick Willis, UTR Chief Negotiator, said so at the last UTR Rep Council meeting. Why? Because of the proposed budget cuts and the tough economic situation. Additional resources! I don't think so. It would be the same amount of funding. What gives? I smell givebacks.

We have put ourselves in a position of weakness. I do not see us bargaining from a position of strength with the current proposal. I have a strong feeling the district is going to reject it, because they will smell weakness in it.

Yours,
In Struggle,
Nathan

Resolution - Reforming United Teachers of Richmond (UTR) Election Process Submitted by Diane Brown and Margaret Browne, UTR Members

2008-05-31T16:16:00.000-07:00

http://Resolution1 Whereas, the Progressive Teachers of the United Teachers of Richmond (UTR)
2 have been organizing to reform our election procedures to use a Scantron ballot
3 and machine, and current UTR elections do not guarantee one-person, one vote
4 Whereas, the members do not control their ballots:
5 School site representatives (shop stewards) distribute ballots
6 Conduct elections, return the marked ballots to UTR to be hand-counted
7 Whereas, The Progressive Teachers used the initiative guidelines in the UTR,
8 the California Teachers Association (CTA) Standing Rules:
9 45 days to gather signatures of at least 10% of active members
10 5 days for the chapter president to verify the signatures, put the initiative
11 Before the members for a vote
12 Whereas, at the February UTR Representative Council meeting, Don Dawson,
13 the CTA Board of Directors member, informed representatives that CTA’s board
14 voted in July 2006 to change the initiative guidelines and that all CTA
15 affiliates must comply, the changed guidelines are:
16 15 calendar days to gather signatures of 60 percent of active members
17 30 days for the chapter president to verify signatures
18 Whereas, the California Teachers Association, National Education Association,
19 the United Educators of San Francisco and other affiliates use
20 an election machine in their election and balloting process,
21 Therefore be it resolved, that the Progressive Teachers of UTR declare its
22 opposition to the changed guidelines and that CTA has taken away members’
23 right to an initiative, and
24 Be it further resolved, this is democracy for the few, the labor aristocracy, not
25 the many, rank-and-file teachers, and
26 Be it finally resolved, the Progressive Teachers of UTR continue to inform
27 the members of (UTR), United Teachers of Richmond about the initiative, and
28 urge them to support a fair election process for the rank-and-file teachers, and
29 this resolution is recorded and submitted for the minutes of the April 30, 2008
30 UTR Representative Council meeting.

Open Letter to the UTR Bargaining Team

2008-05-29T06:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Colleagues:

This letter is the product of conversations among several concerned UTR members, Site Reps and rank-and-file members alike. We are voicing the following priorities and expectations to the UTR Bargaining Team. Our prime message is "No Givebacks!"

The following is what we hope to see in a forthcoming contract agreement:
Maintain current salary schedule + COLA
Full coverage for Kaiser and Blue
Shield
Allowance for each teacher toward out-of-pocket classroom
expenses
Maintain class size limits without averages

Members have also requested:
Names of bargaining team members
(some members have requested email addresses.)
Detailed email updates on bargaining
Email bargaining updates during the summer
Bargaining is not beginning until late May, when summer vacation is about to begin.
More lead time to digest information on tentative agreement before vote

People are most accountable when they are in contact with those they are representing. We feel that it is vital for the Bargaining Team to maintain communication with the unit members.

Note: We are seeking advocacy from the UTR Bargaining Team and will continue circulation of the open letter to gain support from the membership. To request a letter contact Diane Brown at diamel@aol.com

The Progressive Teachers of UTR Change Newsletter #1 April, 2008

2008-04-22T19:06:00.000-07:00

The results of the UTR Elections have been posted. Over three hundred-fifty members voted for the Progressive Teachers platform for change. We thank you for your support. We shall continue our campaign for change and need your involvement.

Action Item Negotiations

Our contract expires on June 30th. Members should be informed of the following:

Who is on the UTR negotiating team?
Has our team begun to bargain with the District?
What are our demands at the bargaining table?

Parcel Tax:

The consultant who conducted polling for the District reported their findings at the April 16 WCCUSD School Board meeting. The report revealed that the community will support the renewal of the current parcel tax through 2009. A parcel tax requires 2/3 of votes cast in order to pass.

In the last transfer round the district advertised positions for most counselors as one year only. Counselors and librarians are members of our local who are paid through parcel tax monies. Support your colleagues and actively work to pass the parcel tax

What can you do?

Attend and actively participate at the rep council meetings
Support changing the ratification process
Talk to the Executive Board members elected to serve you
Support the renewal of the Parcel Tax
Attend WCCUSD Board meetings and make your voice heard
Network and educate your colleagues on the issues at other sites
Share the Progressive Teachers blog with your colleague

Don't agonize, Organize!

"Open Letter"

2008-01-24T00:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Colleagues:

The Progressive Teachers ask members to unite with us to elect a new UTR Leadership and Executive Board that will work for a democratic, inclusive, member-centered union. Electing progressive new leadership can make all the difference in UTR in the March 2008 election. In the last election, we received about 40% of the overall vote. With more supporters we could change our union to be united, not divided.

This is the record of the Progressive Teachers. Since last August we
have:
Initiated the UTR election reform process for a Scantron ballot and
vote
Submitted language for bylaw changes for transparency, term
limits for
officers, and bargaining team members
Presented
motions at Rep Council for a strike authorization vote,
movement discussion
with the Oakland and Tulare teachers on grassroots
organizing against NCLB,
changing the UTR Candidates' Forum to a debate,
question, and answer format,
and training in parliamentary procedures for all
interested
members
Conducted public forums on NCLB and Health Care
issues
Made a presentation on Single Payer Health Care SB840 at the
WCCUSD
School Board meeting in December 2007
Visited 16 schools
since September 2007 to talk with members about
their concerns and working
conditions at their sites

Members need to learn about the history and political outlook of any candidate for office in our union and judge them on their record of service to members. Candidates should not be elected to office merely on the bases of longevity, reputation, and name recognition. To that end we have planned several forums that we invite members to participate in.

A sure way to turn our union around and change the course in UTR is to vote for Progressive Teacher activists who have in a public, principled way opposed fear, barriers, doubt, secrecy, and undemocratic practices. It has been said, "If you keep on doing what you're doing you will keep getting what you're getting." Our members have told us that they want change and we're asking members to have the courage to fight back and vote for Progressive Teacher candidates. It's our union! Membership is about ownership!

Contact information: diamel@aol.com, mtsustak@sonic.net, eswabeck@yahoo.com, visit, http://progressiveteachers.blogspot.com

In Unity

Single Payer Health Care Presentation (SB840) WCCUSD School Board Presentation - December 12, 2007 by Sue Bergman Health Educator at Alameda County

2007-12-16T09:50:00.000-08:00

Thank you for this opportunity to speak to you tonight. I have a packet of information that I want to distribute to the board that includes more detailed information about single payer, how to determine cost savings, and how it compares with “the Leadership bill” now in the State Legislature. In the few minutes I have been given, it is my intention to begin the discussion about single payer health care as a real fix for the current crisis we are facing in the delivery and cost of health care. Tonight I will be discussing SB 840, a single payer health care bill currently in the California State Legislature.

I want to begin by providing a brief definition of what single payer health care is and what it is not. Included in this will be how it will benefit all Californians by providing equitable, affordable, and quality health care to all residents of California. And finally, I want to outline how it will save the district a lot of money.

What single payer is: The term single payer describes the funding mechanism for health care services. Literally, all services and expenses are paid from a single pot of money made up of contributions from existing sources of federal health care money, as well as, employer and employee contributions through payroll taxes. This is quite different than the current way health care goods and services are paid. Currently, in California, there are over 15,000 different health care coverage plans, which, individually collect premiums, co-pays and deductibles, from which they pay the providers of health care services. Each has a different set of covered services, different set of paperwork for billing, and different levels of coverage. With s/p there is only one plan – a extremely rich and comprehensive set of benefits, only one set of paperwork sent to only place for reimbursement, and only level of coverage. Single payer SB 840 provides universal coverage to all residents of California, regardless of their level of employment, age, income, or existing health problems. As you can see from the Fact Sheet, SB 840 provides coverage for all needed medical services, as well as, medications, health education, dental services, vision services, skilled nursing care, and many other benefits. It is by far, a much richer benefit package than the usual Gold Standard, CALPERS. In addition, single payer, SB 840 allows for full choice of providers.

What single payer isn’t: Single payer health care is not “socialized medicine”, as Gov. Schwartznegger mischaracterized SB840 when he vetoed it last year. Under socialized medicine, health care providers and workers are employed by the government. Under single payer they remain privately employed. Under socialized medicine, hospitals and clinics are publicly owned. Under single payer, hospitals and clinics will remain as they are today, some private, some public. None of that will change. The only thing that will change will be that everyone will be covered from cradle to grave, and there will be little need for the existence of health insurers, the people who are currently in business to make a profit by denying coverage, who spend nearly 30% of every healthcare dollar on administrative overhead, high executive salaries, advertising, and share holder profits. Under single payer, there is no need for insurance companies. Everyone has the same plan, the same medication list, has access to all needed services, and can never again go bankrupt from medical expenses. They get the care they need regardless of their income. They contribute to the pot proportionately to their income (3.78% of wages above $7,000). Beyond that they pay nothing, no co-pays, no deductibles, no nothing.

Finally, the enactment of a single payer bill will save the district a lot of money. Numerous studies have been performed that show that single payer health care will save billions of dollars while also guaranteeing comprehensive coverage for everyone. My organization, Health Care for All – California, commissioned the Lewin Group to do a financial analysis of SB 840 in 2005. In your packet is a fact Sheet of their findings. Overall, SB 840 would save California $8 billion in the first year by replacing the multiple insurers we currently have with one insurance plan. This will save about $20 billion in administrative costs. In addition, huge savings (about $5.2 billion) will be realized by the bulk purchasing power of the state to negotiate prices on medications and durable medical equipment. This is the very reason that Canada is able to buy prescription medications for so much less than the U.S.

In your packet is a simple instruction sheet to allow you to calculate the savings your district will realize under a single payer system. When you plug in the numbers, you will be able to see exactly how much you will save from your current spending, and still provide an extremely rich benefit package to your employees. Instead of the steady rise in premium costs that everyone has been experiencing in the past 10 years, SB 840 contains cost controls that will prevent such excessive spending.

Now that you have been given a general description of single payer, its extremely comprehensive benefit package, and the money that the district could save, I hope that you will continue this discussion with the board and the teachers, and conclude that you want to endorse SB 840.

Thank you.

Quick Link

2007-10-27T08:17:00.000-07:00

http://www.calaborfed.org/issues_politics/healthcare/vigil_10_07.html

Welcome back!

2007-08-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

Dear Colleagues: August/September

On August 28, 44 years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his “I Have a Dream” speech at- the-time in the largest nonviolent demonstration in our nation’s history.

In the spirit of that dream, we, the Progressive Teachers of UTR, have prepared this Open Letter to all fellow members in our union, United Teachers of Richmond, for three reasons: to introduce ourselves, note critical issues UTR teachers face this year, and to invite your active participation in strengthening our union, whose sole purpose is to ensure our needs and rights as professionals are met and to serve the needs of the children in our communities.

Who we are: We are a group of activist, dues-paying proactive UTR leaders, former UTR Executive Board members, in elementary, middle and high schools who came together seven years ago because of the lack of priorities for quality education reform from our local leadership, and the lack of federal funding for public education. We believe our UTR leadership, WCCUSD administration, and teachers should be sufficiently accountable for their actions. We are committed to raising public awareness, and providing divergent input that leads to greater quality education for all students and inclusion for every member. To that end some of us are also at-large members in the CFT, California Federation of Teachers and pay an additional $100 a year in union dues, and consult with CFT on leadership training and development.

Some of our accomplishments include:
Negotiations training for teachers; conducting a community forum on NCLB;
Organizing with the March4Education, in a 70-mile march to the State Capitol in Sacramento for forgiveness of our 1991 state loan; draw attention to inequities between prison and education funding; more state funding for WCCUSD
10% of our members participated in a petition drive for UTR election reform to use a Scantron in all UTR balloting;
Last April, we co-sponsored an NCLB Community Forum with Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin’s office and the March4Education;
Last May’s rep council meeting, we added the strike authorization vote;
In 2005, we held a forum, “Understanding K-12 Budgets,” for teachers and the larger community; we have and continue to work with Justice Matters, a research and policy advocacy group focused on racial justice in education

Current Issues:

Between 2001 and 2007 members have felt disenfranchised; the policy-making body Representative Council's authority has been decimated; members critical of UTR leaders have experienced their jobs being threatened; involuntary and administrative transfers increased; Curriculum and instruction has been colonized by high-stakes testing (e.g., NCLB), inappropriate assessments... Our union must be democratic, not oligarchic... Dissents is the mother of democracy. Progressive Teachers believes it is imperative that rumors and backbiting have no place in union communications. In the 2007 UTR election we ran a campaign that reflects members' interests. Our plans include visiting all school sites to inform about Rep Council actions and CTA/NEA developments, educate, communicating with members via newsletter, forums, and the Internet.

Invitation: For more information, and to join us in taking full ownership of the union for which we each pay a thousand dollars a year dues.

____________________________________________________________________

Union Pride

Labor Day is a time to celebrate union pride. Celebrate the American everyday working people who make this nation great, and the heroes that brought you the weekend…

What is a union?

A union is a group of workers who form an organization to gain:
• Respect on the job,
• Better wages and benefits,
• More flexibility for work and family needs,
• A counterbalance to the unchecked power of employers, and
• A voice in improving the quality of their products and services

¿Qué es un sindicato?

Un sindicato, o unión, o gremio,
es una organización integrada por
un grupo de trabajadores que se
unen para obtener:
_ Respeto en el trabajo;
_ Mejores salarios y beneficios;
_ Más flexibilidad en el trabajo
para poder atender necesidades
de la familia;
_ Un contrapeso al poder sin control
de los empleadores; y
_ Una opinión para mejorar la calidad
de sus productos y servicios.

On Social Justice

2007-07-20T18:31:00.000-07:00

The goal of social justice education is full and equal participation of all groups in a society that is mutually shaped to meet their needs. Social justice includes a vision of society in which:

distribution of resources is equitable
all members are physically and psychologically safe and secure
individuals are both self-determining (able to develop their full capacities) and interdependent (capable of interacting democratically with others)
individuals have a sense of their own agency [identity, worth, value] as well as a sense of social responsibility

...Developing a social justice process in a society steeped in oppression is no small feat. For this reason we need clear ways to define and analyze oppression so that we can understand how it operates at various individual, cultural, and institutional levels.

...We use the term oppression rather than discrimination, bias, prejudice, or bigotry to emphasize the pervasive nature of social inequality woven throughout social institutions as well as embedded within individual consciousness.

...We look the existence of a dominant or agent group and (a) subordinate or target group(s) in each form of power and privilege that are dynamic features of oppression, whatever its particular form, e.g., racism, sexism, heterosexism, class ism).

Adapted from "Teaching for Diversity and Social Justice," edited by Maurianne Adams, Lee Anne Bell, and Pat Griffin