I have gotten a lot of support from the union leadership and from the other committee chairs who worked together on what we want from the District. In order for all of us to get a fairer contract we need to stand together. That means showing up and supporting the union events, calling the Board of Education members on issues UTLA asks our help with and making sure that you become a member. The more united we stand together, the less likely we will have to go on strike. And if things unfortunately come down to a strike, the more we stick together as a union the shorter the strike will be. There will be a strike "authorization vote" on September 25-27. As a UTLA member you can vote at any school. This is different from a "Strike Vote". Voting yes will send a message to the Board of Education.

Our main goal is at least a 15% raise. That will make LAUSD contract teachers among the highest paid in the county. This is in the best interest of the District because it will help solve one cause of  the teacher shortage that is due to many teachers who go to neighboring school districts for higher pay. The Substitute Teachers would also get the 15% increase.

Because the pay raise will probably account for all the available money that isn't needed for other programs, we are going for a 1 year contract. That way if the economy keeps expanding at the current rate there will be more money available from Sacramento for other monetary items we are asking for such as holiday pay.

If you look on your paycheck in the lower left hand corner you will see "UTLA" if you are a member or you will see "A FEE" if you are not a member. UTLA collects a fee from everyone whether you are a member or not, because UTLA bargains for the pay and benefits we receive. We are among the best paid Substitute Teachers because of UTLA. There is no extra charge for becoming a member. So seeing that you are paying anyway, you might as well get the extra benefits.

In order to become a member ask the Chapter Chair (union rep), at any school you go to, for a membership form. Fill it out and mail it. Or you can call the membership department at UTLA, 800-556-UTLA, and ask them to mail a form to you. There is no difference in price, only a difference in benefits.

Other benefits include special rates on car and disability insurance, free 1/2 hour legal advice (each incident) on non-collective bargaining agreement issues, accidental death insurance, workers compensation counseling,  finance and auto special purchase benefits, the United Teacher newspaper, input into teacher-related legislation, voting on negotiated collective bargaining agreement changes, participation in special interest committees, a voice in UTLA policy-making and governance voting power. If you bring your photo I.D. and check stub to Universal Studios you can get in for free until October 1.

The current leadership of UTLA is very supportive of Substitute Teachers. It hasn't always been that way. If we are going to have an influence on the leadership when the next UTLA leaders are chosen, you will have to be a member in order to vote. Sign up as soon as you can.

On the membership form it will also have a place you can choose a monthly deduction to support PACE (Political Action Council of Educators). This is very important. The money is used to lobby the state legislature, where most of the money comes from. The reason we are likely to get a 15% pay increase is because of the new money they recently sent to all the school districts in California.

An example of how important this lobbying money is, is how effective the prison lobby has been. They are a smaller association, but their members give a lot of money every month. Over the last 10 years they always got a cost of living adjustment, while teachers didn't. They even got a pay raise the year that teachers in L.A. took a 10% pay cut. Over many years only one new college was built, while many new prisons were built.

If you want to take an active role in getting more support from Sacramento, then choose to invest in PACE for $8.33/month or $16.66/month. It's like donating less than 1/2 hour or 3/4 hour of your time each month. That is about how long it takes to earn that much. It would take longer than that just to drive some place to donate your time to help us get paid better. Even though it is a small amount of  money, it adds up when we all contribute.

Last year I started lobbying legislators in Sacramento with the help of UTLA's lobbyist, Bill Lambert. I found out that Substitute Teachers are not even on their radar screen. So Mr. Lambert has asked me to get him a list of our ten most important problems by

October 1. He will then work on getting a hearing so we can educate the legislators. Send your ideas to me at UTLA or go to our website for details on how to get your ideas to me.

My goal is to show them that we are teachers. Many contract teachers wouldn't want to do the job we do. We are credentialed by the State of California and teach millions of children every year. Other teachers get over 20 paid days off each year, can take sick days off with pay, get paid professional development, and get pay raises with experience and more education. When you consider how much more money that would add up to, the PACE investment is small with a large potential gain. I encourage you to do the math.

1. Provide a separate salary schedule for Substitute Teachers that reflect years of experience and education.

2. Change Article 19, Section 4.0 so that any Substitute Teacher who is responsible for the duties of the roster carrying teacher for more than 3 days shall be paid the current extended rate of 140% and Substitutes for unfilled positions or extended leave of absence shall receive extended rate from the first day. (Many Subs have performed a lot of extra work before the 21st day. And many have not gotten paid for all the extra work done when the position ended before 21 days. I have found that after 3 days I am going to the copy machine, modifying lesson plans,  calling parents and teachers, etc.)

3. Reinstate pro-rata earned days of vacation/sick pay/ holiday pay. (Paid days off are important to keep a strong  Sub Pool, due to the amount of stress and exposure to many sick children.)

4. Pay Substitute Teachers when asked to cover a class during their conference/preparation period. (This is a very emotional issue with Subs. We are teachers and would like to be treated like other teachers. There are many things that Subs must do to prepare for each class. Sometimes the conference is just used to recover from the stress of inadequate preparation time. It is also a matter of treating Substitute Teachers with the respect of any other teacher.)

5. Pay 20% additional daily rate supervision before school, and during nutrition or lunch.

6. Substitute Teachers shall participate in all the planned school activities of the absent teacher such as in-service, meetings, etc.

7. Sub Folder shall include the name and location of the Chapter Chair, the Department Chair, buddy or helpful teacher for the absent teacher, the school discipline policy/procedures and a list of the administrators. (This is in addition to what is already provided.)

8. Confirm Article XVI Section 3.0b ... enroll in a plan. A substitute teacher who has received  a work related injury or illness shall qualify for District Health and Welfare Benefits as if they had been providing services for the period of time the teacher was unable to work during recovery.

9. There shall be one Substitute Chapter Chair per Substitute calling area.

10. Substitutes shall have access to one paid professional development day per year like other teachers.

11. Substitutes shall have access to buy-back  day training

12. Replace  Article XIX 5.1 (c) with:  If a make-up day is not offered by the end of the school year or and an unavailable is not chosen then the Substitute Teacher shall be reimbursed for lost wages at the end of the school year.

13. Accurately identify incentive pay schools. ( Difficult schools need to be identified and helped. During that time people who work in more difficult circumstances should be compensated for it.)

14. New Substitute Teachers will receive health benefits immediately after working 100 days and can carry over the days worked in the prior school year. (Contract Teachers get health insurance from the beginning of their job. If we have to work 100 days first, then it is only fair that our insurance starts after 100 days, rather than then having to wait till November. If a Sub misses the 100 days by 1 day (or a larger number that can be made up the next year)  s/he should get health coverage as long as s/he fulfills the requirement of 100 days per year. Send your real life stories to me.

15. Paid training and mentoring for new Substitute Teachers