The '09-'10 Contract: AALA SUNSHINES. WILL THEY SEE THE LIGHT?

FROM THE ASSOCIATED ADMINISTRATORS OF LA UPDATE Week of November 9, 2009

AALA BARGAINING BULLETIN – NO. 2

AALA President, Judy Perez, appeared before the Board of Education on November 10, 2009, to sunshine AALA's 2009-2010 bargaining proposals. Please note that we are pushing for immediate negotiations because we have been informed that the District does not plan to sunshine their initial proposals until December 2009, which means they will not be prepared to negotiate until January 2010.

Furthermore, given the State’s unprecedented budget crisis, the District may attempt to impose draconian measures on our members outside negotiations, such as the Superintendent’s recent decision to charge employees for parking at Beaudry. We wish to be proactive on behalf of all AALA members and negotiate the best contract possible, while preventing the imposition of poorly designed budget-saving policies that harm students, administrators, and public education.

Here are Judy’s Board comments:

Good afternoon, Madam President, Members of the Board of Education, and Superintendent Cortines. My name is Judith Perez, and I am President of Associated Administrators of Los Angeles.

I am here today to sunshine AALA’s initial bargaining proposals for our 2009-2010 Successor Agreement with the District. We are ready and willing to commence negotiations now and urge the District to sunshine your proposals immediately. Given the District’s current economic situation, we believe that immediate negotiations are imperative. It is our view that postponing negotiations until December or later will not be helpful to anyone.

As you know, AALA members—principals, assistant principals, directors and other administrators—play the pivotal leadership role in ensuring students achieve. While we all agree that every student deserves excellent teachers, leadership counts! Administrators select the teachers, supervise them, provide professional development and create the conditions in which they teach. We all know that every great school has outstanding leaders, who embrace excellence and accountability every day.

We ask you to support District administrators’ work on behalf of students by working in good faith with AALA to craft a positive, productive collective bargaining agreement. We believe that challenging times demand a greater urgency than usual. Board members and Superintendent Cortines, we are willing to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.