Letter to the Editor: A Call for Common Sense

Written by Kathy Kantner, LCSW and Farnaz Simantob, Ph.D.

A recent KCRW broadcast entitled “Where’s the Outrage?” inspired by an article by Steve Lopez of the Los Angeles Times, addressed the impact of the current budget crisis on LAUSD schools. Guests Tamar Galatzan (LAUSD School Board Member), John Deasy (LAUSD Superintendent), Ben Austin (executive director of Parent Revolution), and other guests were all informative, but one vital piece was missing from the discussion -- namely, UTLA, which begs the question “Where is the Teachers’ Union?” 

Those interested and following issues surrounding the budget cuts to schools have noted that A.J. Duffy and other union representatives are notably absent from any of these discussions. Instead, UTLA is stubbornly sticking to their tired, worn out talking points. In fact, this week UTLA added four new negotiation dates extending the pain for teachers who have received RIF notices further. 

Last year, negotiations were resolved by April 12. This year, negotiations have been delayed by hopes that legislators would place tax increase extensions on a ballot for June. Despite the fact that these efforts have been unsuccessful, UTLA is still encouraging their members to rally together with parents to “send a message to Sacramento." Meanwhile, Governor Brown has indicated repeatedly that he will not increase taxes without voter approval. He is now talking about putting tax increases on the November ballot. Therefore, it goes against common sense for UTLA to sit around and wait for the State’s May Revise as they have indicated in their memo this week. 

It does not seem that UTLA is doing very much to protect teachers who have received RIF notices. In the national conversation we are currently having about education reform and the role of teachers and their unions, it is becoming clear that public support of unions is eroding. But is teacher support of unions eroding as well?  While unions play a vital role in protecting employees from unfair dismissals and negotiating for fair compensation and benefits, many teachers are no longer 100 percent in agreement with the staunch defense of seniority rules displayed by current union leadership as evidenced by the election of Warren Fletcher who was endorsed by a faction within UTLA known as NewTLA.

NewTLA has outlined several priorities. Among these priorities are the belief that “‘quality-blind’ reductions-in-force and teacher displacements ignore both the experience of students and contributions of teachers. NewTLA supports the inclusion of negotiated indicators in addition to seniority in reduction-in-force and displacement decisions.” Moreover, “NewTLA recognizes the severity of the current financial situation and the importance of directing the maximum amount of limited resources towards instructional spending/student needs. NewTLA supports collaborative work with the District and other entities to ensure appropriate, focused spending of limited funds.” 

This is a stark contrast to the current leadership’s staunch defense of seniority policies. The teachers who have received RIF notices are among the most effective, enthusiastic and beloved teachers at many schools. They are being sacrificed to protect the jobs of more senior teachers without performance even being taken into account. Where is the future of education headed if we as a society are willing to sacrifice an entire swath of this young, enthusiastic workforce? While speaking about LAUSD and UTLA leadership, Ike Barcarse, a senior tenured teacher at Lanai Road Elementary school stated “This has to stop. We (the teachers) didn’t cause these problems. The leaders on both sides need to take responsibility for fixing this because they caused it.”

“Where is the Outrage?” asks an important question. Yet, it is difficult for many parents to sustain a sense of outrage when they watch, year after year, as the budget crisis worsens and LAUSD teachers receive RIF notices, as part of an intricate negotiation with UTLA, and then many of these notices are rescinded.  But this cycle is demoralizing to teachers -- and it takes a toll on our children as well. It needs to stop. The budget situation continues to worsen, with no easy fix in sight.  So, what can be done to make people more outraged about how diminished we have allowed our educational system to become? 

On April 10, Tim Knowles, director of the University of Chicago’s Urban Education Institute, and a former superintendent of schools in both Boston and Chicago, spoke to an interested crowd here in Los Angeles.  He described how he gathered statistics to determine how many teachers in Illinois had been removed for under-performance. Over a span of 18 years, looking at a total of 98,600 teachers, only 2 percent were removed for under-performance -- a statistic we can agree is shockingly low. LAUSD parents are eager to know:  how many teachers are removed annually from the payroll of the LAUSD due to under-performance?   Last June, Mr. Knowles wrote an Op-Ed piece published in the Wall Street Journal entitled, “The Trouble With Teacher Tenure.”  He was surprised by the number of supportive letters he received -- from teachers -- and nearly every letter included a complaint about a colleague down the hall who, for example, napped during class time but would not be fired due to tenure protections. 

We wonder how many teachers are disillusioned with a union that has failed to look out for their best interests. In order to teach in the LAUSD, a teacher MUST join one of the teachers’ unions, and is MANDATED to pay a portion of their salary to the union -- and now it is dawning on many of these teachers that the union is doing little or nothing for them in return. In the current climate, where do teachers’ allegiances lie? With the union, to whom they are simply “a number,” or to their schools, where they are valued as unique people with whom students, parents and colleagues have forged important relationships?

These questions are by no means an endorsement of LAUSD waste. LAUSD is a cumbersome bureaucracy that should have been dismantled into smaller, more efficient districts years ago. There are earmarks that prevent useful spending from state as well as federal sources. There is money being spent on building new, extravagant schools while enrollment is dropping. The list can go on and the solutions are as complicated as the problems.  Temporary Band-Aid solutions are not the answer. However, for next school year, time is rapidly running out.  Teachers cannot leave for the summer with no benefits and no resolution as to whether or not they will have a job in September. Their union MUST negotiate in good faith on the behalf of ALL due paying members. The Administrator’s union came to an agreement with LAUSD this week. They agreed to 12 furlough days which will result in a savings of $190 million.

While it is not our place to suggest what kinds of concessions should be made, as LAUSD parents we are stakeholders in our schools, and as tax payers we are demanding that a deal be made right away. UTLA leadership must stop digging in their heels and negotiate in good faith to extract an agreement that allows the maximum number of teachers to keep their jobs and maintains current class size ratios. Teacher assignments cannot be completed properly without this deal. The stability and community at local school sites, as well as the welfare of the children, is at risk.