TEACHERS FOR CHANGE ------ January/February 2005
THE MAN--HIS PLAN--OUR FUTURE
My name is A. J. Duffy. I am a candidate for President of UTLA. I have the drive, desire, commitment and the ability to turn our union around, but I can’t do it without your help.
On December 1, 2003, after consulting with my twenty two member election committee, I decided to run for the presidency of UTLA because I believe I can make a difference. My six years as West Area Chair (1996-2002) taught me the managerial skills necessary to run our union.
During my term as Area Chair, West Area created unique outreach programs for our members. Some of these programs included chapter chair trainings and political gatherings. Under my leadership, the West Area Chapter Chair Training Committee created our own training guides and manuals that are still in use today. The political gatherings brought together classroom teachers and health and human service workers with state and local politicians for frank discussions and an exchange of ideas.
Under my leadership, West Area membership grew by over 500 members and PACE membership went up by 1000 members. Working with teachers, classified and parents, I removed twelve abusive/corrupt principals, yet I had the wisdom to work with good principals to resolve issues before they became problems. West Area was in the forefront of activity in our union during my tenure. Members and activists were involved.
For the past fourteen months I have articulated issues and offered solutions, via the Teachers for Change newsletters, concerning some of our chronic internal and external problems. Let me review some of the issues and the solutions that I believe are necessary in order for UTLA to once again take a leading role in education reform.
Pay Raise
There is money for a 7% pay raise. The cost-of-living increase for the past three years was 6.6%. Anything less than a 7% pay raise is a pay cut! The money can be found in the over 200 million dollar end-of-year surplus and especially in the bloated bureaucracy. UTLA’s current president has led a lackluster effort to confront LAUSD bloat. The cutback from eleven to eight mini-districts is a sham. No positions were lost. In fact, more were created! District personnel that went back to the schools did so at the same salary while the number of administrators and coordinators has continued to rise.
Here’s how we can save more money to put back into the general fund:
• We must insist that the district cease building and refurbishing administrative offices.
• All district personnel must have their cars taken away.
• All district conferences must be held on district property, not at high priced hotels or leased properties.
• No district official should be allowed to take a fact-finding trip, either in or outside the country.
Teachers, health and human service workers, students, parents and taxpayers can no longer afford to pay for the luxurious life that LAUSD bureaucrats have.
Medical Benefits
The healthcare in our country and state is in crises. We can no longer afford to go along with the status quo. I propose a bold new direction.
I believe that we can enhance our purchasing power by pooling our resources with other school districts in California in order to acquire and maintain high quality health benefits for all of our members. IN THIS WAY WE WILL BE IN THE DRIVER’S SEAT. THE INSURANCE COMPANIES WON’T.
School Discipline
I will demand, on behalf of teachers, that the LAUSD institute a “school-away-from-school” program to deal with the growing discipline problems that continue to plague classroom teachers. Teachers need a mechanism which will allow them to remove chronic discipline problems from the classroom and school site in order to focus on the learning process for the overwhelming majority of students who want to learn.
Testing, Staff Development and Programmed Teaching
I will work tirelessly with the Legislature and the LAUSD school board to reduce the exorbitant amount of time spent on testing. We must reverse the trend towards teaching test-taking skills and replace it with valuable instructional time to better prepare our students for success in life.
We must also cut back on the number of staff development days. Staff development must be created at the school site to reflect the needs of teachers so that we can determine the instructional goals. UTLA has taken its eye off the ball while LAUSD has robbed us of our professional status by dictating to teachers what to teach, when and how to teach it. One size does not fit all.
Additionally, I will lead a review of the trend towards programmed teaching for the purpose of creating modifications that will allow teachers to bring the joy of teaching and learning back to the classroom. Because our ability to decide what to teach has been taken away and replaced with programmed curriculum and pacing plans, we are now mandated to teach small bits of very specific information for short periods of time for the sole purpose of helping our students pass standardized tests. We simply can’t keep up with the demands of predetermined pacing plans. This ideology of education must be halted before we destroy our students’ desire to learn and our ability to help those that fall behind.
UTLA’s Internal Workings
For too long our area representatives have been asked to do too much. Their priorities have changed every six months. Our current president wants them to organize schools, but our teachers and chapter chairs want them to be available to answer questions in a timely manner, and file and complete grievances before they become moot points. Under an A. J. Duffy presidency, the area representatives will be back at their desks answering questions in a timely manner and at schools handling grievances. I will create a UTLA/LAUSD committee to standardize grievance processing so that we do not have to file the same grievances over and over again. At the same time I will work to create a UTLA task force for the sole purpose of implementing school-site actions and to work political campaigns.
What I have proposed is absolutely necessary for the health of our union. I will make sure that UTLA’s agenda is the agenda of teachers and health and human service workers because a union that doesn’t take care of its own members first is a bankrupt union. I will work with the district on every level possible to resolve issues in an amicable and professional way. I will also fight them tooth and nail on behalf of our members and our students to get the district to understand that the school site is the center of the universe and the classroom is the nucleus/core of that universe.
All of this and more is possible if only we dare to believe it can happen. Together we can change the direction of our union and take control of our profession.
When you get your ballot, vote for change.
My name is A. J. Duffy. I am a candidate for President of UTLA.