UTLA REACHES TENTATIVE AGREEMENT TO STABILIZE SCHOOLS BY SAVING JOBS AND RESTORING PROGRAMS + Draft agreement

From the UTLA website | http://bit.ly/Mr2UaM

Friday, June 08, 2012 :: UTLA reached a tentative agreement today with LAUSD that would stabilize schools and save jobs and programs for the 2012‐13 school year.

Jobs and programs saved in all areas

Under this agreement, 4,149 full‐time equivalent positions* would be restored. Class sizes and counselor norms will be kept at 2011‐2012 levels. Elementary arts educators, nurses, Options program instructors, librarians, and secondary counselors will be restored to current levels. All the programs at threat of elimination would be restored, although Adult Education, Early Childhood Education, and SRLDP will be restructured and some positions will be lost. UTLA’s priority was to save the maximum number of jobs possible at the minimum cost to employees. The furlough days employees will take this June will help do that—UTLA secured an agreement for LAUSD to apply the savings from this year’s furlough days to immediately save jobs for next year.

* The total number of RIFs rescinded will be higher than the number of restored positions cited in the agreement. See the TA Summary and Q&A (both posted soon) for details.

Number of furlough days directly tied to Governor’s initiative

Employees would take from zero to 10 furlough days next year, depending on the outcome of the Governor’s education funding initiative on the November ballot. Passage of the Governor’s initiative would unlock funds to eliminate or reduce furlough days. UTLA’s agreement also mandates that, if the Governor’s initiative passes, LAUSD must use any year‐ending surplus to reduce the number of furlough days. (LAUSD has had a significant ending balance each year for the past three years.) Conversely, if the Governor’s initiative fails, school districts across California will face a dramatically shortened school year.

• · If furlough days are taken but it turns out at the end of the fiscal year that funding levels were sufficient to avoid them, LAUSD must reimburse employees for lost pay.
• · All schools must immediately redo the matrix from the beginning
• · Administrators and the LAUSD website will have a list of employees whose RIFs will be rescinded if the agreement is approved. The new matrix will be tentative, pending the results of the UTLA member ratification vote and School Board approval.

UTLA members will vote on the agreement at school sites June 13‐15

The voting timeline is very tight to cause the least disruption to school sites in planning for next year.

Chapter chairs (or a designee) must pick up voting materials on June 12 and they must be returned by June 15 (see utla.net for pickup and dropoff locations). Results will be available on June 16.

Off‐track members can vote June 13‐15 at any school site (call site for voting times) or at UTLA headquarters (from 9 to 5).

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