LAUSD’S LABOR PARTNERS UNIFY TO REMEMBER MS. LAMOTTE AND CALL FOR PROMISES MADE TO BE PROMISES KEPT

reprinted from the AALA Weekly Update of  December 19,2013 | http://bit.ly/1gKyvVs

Visualize the meeting of the Board of Education on December 17, 2013. Following the Pledge of Allegiance, Board President Dr. Richard Vladovic begins the Board President’s Reports starting with an In Memoriam recognition of Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, who passed away on December 5, 2013.

The second report was the Labor Partners’ Updates. Representatives of LAUSD’s unions gather around the microphone. Dr. Judith Perez speaks for the group and makes the following comments:

Dr. Perez: My name is Judith Perez. I am president of AALA, which represents certificated and classified administrators in LAUSD. All of the District unions have formed a coalition. Some of the coalition leaders are here with us today, and I’d like to introduce them:

• CSEA: Letetsia Fox
  
• LA School Police: Max Gonzalez
  
• LA School Police Management Association: P.J. Webb
  
• Teamsters: Adriana Salazar and Tom Beatty
  
• UTLA: Warren Fletcher
  
• SEIU Local 99: Courtni Pugh (Unfortunately, Courtni is unable to attend because of the untimely passing of their president, Mr. Eddie Reed.)
  
• Building Trades: Chris Hannan (The Trades representative is also unable to be with us today.)
  

Before we present the Labor Partners’ Update, out of the deepest respect for Ms. Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte, I’d like to comment briefly on a few of her many contributions. Ms. LaMotte was our colleague, our friend, our inspiration. She conscientiously represented the people of District 1, a community most needing representation. As a school administrator, she took care of her students as if they were her own children. As a Board member, she passionately pursued fairness, equity and access for all LAUSD students while seeking ways to improve the plight of the underrepresented. For our membership, she was a constant, steadfast supporter of our leadership and rights. She understood and embraced the critical role played by labor unions in partnership with the District. She was one of us. She will be missed every single day.

The members of our unions work hard to educate LAUSD students, supervise them, keep them safe, transport them, feed them, guide them and support them. We care about their well-being and accomplishments. We strongly believe that the number of caring adults in students’ lives contributes greatly to their success in school and in life, helping them be connected, responsible and productive.

Now Adriana Salazar of the Teamsters will give our Labor Partners’ Update.

Ms. Salazar: Despite the economic uncertainty brought upon schools by shrinking household budgets, the hard pressed taxpayers of Los Angeles stepped up to pass Proposition 30 last year. They did this because we told them that this was the best, and the only, option available to improve our schools which were, and continue to be, under great stress due to several years of recession and accompanying budget cuts.

We made a deal with the community. A compact. An agreement. The community heard our message and supported us. They kept their end of the bargain.

Now we must take the necessary steps to uphold our end of the bargain. To do so, we must reinvest in our children by restoring schools as the institutions that will prepare them for their future. To honor our agreement, we need to make our schools safer and cleaner. To honor our agreement, we must commit to restoring services that are essential to the success of our students such as instructional support, home-school communication and foster the involvement of parents, staff and community members as well as the students themselves.

We need to agree on a balanced approach by deploying state-generated revenues to meet the needs of the students and to a limited degree support District employees who in large part kept this District afloat. It is a fact that the number of supportive adults in a child’s life contributes greatly to the success of students in school and in life.

We now need to move expeditiously and decisively to implement the educational benefits once envisioned, now real, due to the passage of Proposition 30 and other sources of funding that are forthcoming.