![]() ![]() The reductions will continue incrementally in future years: one additional student next year and two the following year. The contract called for a decrease in average class sizes of one student per class in grades four through 12, although some targeted schools received additional reductions. “You do what you can now,” he added, and then you keep fighting.ĭuring the strike, teachers forcefully called for much smaller classes to improve achievement, as well as for more school nurses and counselors. Vargas of Banning High said he remains proud of the strike, believes in union activism and feels strongly about the need for limits on charter schools. I will never say a strike is good for anything, but if that’s what it takes to move a system, then so be it.”Īnd within the union, the strike served as a counter-thrust to inspire and build membership in the wake of a 2018 Supreme Court ruling that said public employees cannot be forced to pay union fees in exchange for representation. “I think there’s now a real sense that people need to listen to what teachers are saying about the classroom. “It’s tough to be a teacher and it’s tough to be in education,” said Vladovic, whose long career includes participating in a strike as a teacher and dealing with later walkouts as an administrator. He said the district is unlikely to become insolvent and that the strike successfully put a focus on public education. ![]() school board President Richard Vladovic takes issue with the naysayers. “These were not courageous leadership decisions,” said Bill Lucia, executive director of the Sacramento advocacy group EdVoice. The danger, they say, is that the increasing cost of employee pensions, retiree healthcare and generous employee benefits will crowd out services to students. They fault the union, the school board and Beutner for setting aside an opportunity to reshape an unsustainable status quo when it comes to the district’s long-term financial health. Some critics even portray union gains as coming at the expense of students. The UTLA strike was “symbolic, political theater, a way of showing value rather than proving it,” said Will Swaim, president of California Policy Center, an Orange County group that works to persuade workers to leave unions. voters rejected a property tax measure that both union and district leadership had hoped would stabilize district finances and help pay for improvements talked about during the walkout, such as smaller classes. The union also lays claim to helping pass new state laws that restrict charter schools, which are privately operated and, for the most part, non-union.īut the political influence had limits. ![]() For example, the agreement called for the district to commit to expanding social services at more schools and to begin dismantling the practice of randomly searching students for contraband. They count some of their biggest gains in non-traditional areas. They said the strike created an essential beginning toward achieving smaller classes and schools fully staffed with nurses, librarians and counselors. ![]() Leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles and their allies say their hard-fought gains already are game-changers - within schools and in the political realm that shapes public education policy. He also has said that he’d like one legacy of the strike to be an ongoing partnership with the union to pursue additional money. And more substantial reductions, in three to four years, arecontingent on whether the district receives more funding, he has said. In previous interviews, he has downplayed what was achieved by the strike, saying the district’s offer on such issues as immediate class-size reduction did not substantially change before and after the walkout. Austin Beutner declined to answer questions for this story. Teachers sacrificed about 3% of their pay when they walked out, and settled for the same 6% the district offered before the strike. Students lost six days of instruction and the district lost more than $100 million in state funding, which is based on student attendance. Whatever the gains, they came at some cost. But there remains much debate about how much - or how little - changed inside classrooms. The strike helped fuel a nationwide wave of activism and drew attention to what many say is a lack of resources supporting public schools. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |