Well, we are in a New Year and we need to close up our 2008 SAUSD corruption thread before it becomes overwhelmed with comments. Consider this to be our new 2009 SAUSD corruption thread.
Click here to read our 2008 thread. And here are links to all our previous SAUSD corruption threads:
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2008 Comments
- SAUSD-Temporary Thread (Migration 5/16/2008) Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2007 Comments
- SAUSD-Mijares corruption thread, 2006 Comments
The results of last year’s SAUSD School Board elections were disappointing. The incumbents were re-elected. Shame on the teacher’s union for supporting them! And the one new Trustee, Roman Reyna, is not likely to make a difference.
The SAUSD budget is a mess and our Governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, appears primed to make it worse. So this is going to be a very tough year. As always, this forum will be here to allow you to vent about what is going on at the SAUSD!
Al Mijares is long gone, but the corruption at the SAUSD continues unabated…
Patricia,
You hit the nail on the head. If they get rid of the CSR teachers, then they have more money for themselves “raises” and “benefits.”
I have heard that before. In fact, one teacher told me that. She said, “oh good…they are getting rid of teachers…now I can get a raise.”
Jill,
SAEA had a rally on March 13 as well. The rally was held at 6:30 am to 7:30 am at about 6 school sites. Did you attend any of those? Somehow I doubt that you bothered to get up early in the morning and attend that rally. Now SAEA is planning another rally, and all you can say is it’s too late. You are never happy with anything that SAEA does.
I noticed that at the rally I attended on March 13 that not one RIF’d teacher from my school bothered to attend. It was all older, veteran teachers who did not even get RIF’d who attended. So please don’t say that those teachers who didn’t get a pink slip don’t care about the RIF’d teachers. That is simply not true.
Susan Mercer won this election by a huge amount. I think the members have spoken.
I know the word is out that classes will be 30:1, but, at my site, we have been told that classes can’t be formed until after the 8th because that is the date by which administrators expect the definitive word from the District on what class size will be.
Maria,
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/education-held-arnold-1997929-proposed-gov
Go here and please refrain from telling me what I have or have NOT attended. I attend more than you will ever know.
Did you see my name there?
You are correct. I am not a fan of the union and I am entitled to my opinion. All that I am saying is why the 9th (the day after they announce that we are going 30:1)…don’t you find that a little ironic? Not all teachers think “raise” by the way, but many do and I guess those were the ones who have spoken.
Jill,
I stand corrected! I’m glad to see that you have contributed. So I apologize. Now, did you attend SAEA’s rally as well? My point is that SAEA did hold a rally on March 13, and they are planning another one as well. And all you can say is that it’s too late. It’s such a slap in the face to all those volunteers who are organizing this on their own time. And you may have heard a teacher, or some teachers say that they should RIF teachers so the rest of us can get a higher salary, but most teachers do not feel that way. That is disgusting for this teacher to say that to you. I did not get RIF’d and I attended the rally held on March 13 to at least give my support for those teachers who got RIF’d. It’s awful for all of us to watch our friends lose their jobs. But I got very frustrated when I didn’t see one RIF’d teacher from my school attend. I know RIF’d teachers from other schools attended the rally. But it was disheartening to see mostly older, veteran teachers attend the rally that I attended.
I am glad that you have participated in helping other RIF teachers.
Red Vixen and Patricia O’Neil,
Yes, we will help parents help our students! Parents have the power to make a difference. Parents can voice their concerns whenever, wherever, without limitations!
We, teachers, principals, district employees, support staff, community leaders, business owners, etc. support parents to become empowered. SAEA is planning a march for the end of the year… anyone remember the date, details? Please, post the info.
Remember, when the year is over, we have the freedom to march 24/7 in support of 20:1 for three months, if need be!!!
We have 18 days of school left. In 18 days, we can support the parents to organize and to bring about change. Let’s switch the, defenseless worker, “help me” mode to the proactive,
“LET ME HELP!”
The LET ME HELP mode empowers. Come to think… our superintendent was very wise…
“FAILURE IS UNACCEPTABLE!
SUCCESS IS THE STANDARD…
IT’S UP TO US ALL!”
Inform all parents that WE: riffed teachers, rescinded teachers, retired employees, “Bakersfield” teachers, senior teachers, principals, support staff, district employees, community leaders, local government, business leaders, etc. now, join the Santa Ana parents to bring about peaceful, POSITIVE RESULTS!
“IT IS UP TO US ALL!”
SAVING 20:1/ HELPING STUDENTS / SAVING JOBS!
Nice pictures Jill. You should have included some of you as well. Too bad you didn’t get someone else to take your picture. Thanks for sharing that article.
Maria,
No corrections necessary. We are all under stress. I appreciate teachers like you and I do understand your frustration. I think many RIF(ed) get discouraged and give up (I can’t speak for them), but after the 3rd year of it they are don’t see anything changing. Thank you to anyone who rallies for education. I do appreciate you! I don’t like my picture taken. 🙂
Maria:
It is good to remind the readers about the statewide rally on March 13 that SAEA participated in. I think, however, that there have been many comments on this thread asking if SAEA could be doing more to save jobs.
Also, please notice that Jill never said that the teachers who didn’t get a RIF notice don’t care about those who did. She simply reported one teacher’s comment which reflects a belief some people may have that a choice has to be made between saving CSR and a future salary increase.
Thanks Jill. Good luck. I hope your RIF is rescinded. This is a terrible time.
—“Yes, we will help parents help our students! Parents have the power to make a difference. Parents can voice their concerns whenever, wherever, without limitations!”
Parents can storm the board room and take hours of the board’s time supporting us, but in the end parents can’t make $50 Million appear out of thin air!
I noticed that at the rally I attended on March 13 that not one RIF’d teacher from my school bothered to attend. It was all older, veteran teachers who did not even get RIF’d who attended.
Hello Maria,
I am not sure how intimidated a Rif’ed teacher would be to show up at a rally/protest. SAUSD has a known reputation of retaliation and uses intimidation often. A younger, Rif’ed teacher might assume that it could further harm chances of surviving the Rif process. Not saying it’s right. Not saying it is smart of them, either. But it might be understandable.
NOW that those who are Rif’ed KNOW they are fired, then it does not seem like there should be much to stop them by organizing and rallying to try and get their jobs back. If they can be successfully informed of upcoming rallys, it would be a morale booster to ALL teachers and district workers. There are also biliterate instructional assistants and other CSEA employees who are getting the axe ( over 200 I believe, but their union has not released that information yet).
Also, admittedly, there are holes in the communication system between SAEA decisions and the general membership. There have even been comments that it is difficult for SAEA to even motivate some site reps to keep membership informed. I have heard there is a reluctance of membership to give out their private emails. However, how often does SAEA put on their paper fliers sent to each site – something to the effect of: These are drastic times! If you want to stay informed, please email (whoever) and we will put you on our email list and keep you regularly updated?
Something like that might be comforting to all those employees who are facing job cuts. I think they deserve whatever can be done to keep them informed and giving them notices about upcoming rallys etc…
HOUSEKEEPING ALERT
It has been mentioned by several readers/posters to this thread that the time loading the SAUSD posts is taking a very long time. Anyone else having trouble? We’re considering making a new thread for the last half of this calendar year b/c we know from past experiences that this thread can only hold so many posts before it breaks down and freezes up.
We are open to timely suggestions on how to go forward. We will have to make a decision soon. Thanks and welcome all new readers and posters to Orange Juice!
Patricia (#899) – Maybe you should set up a personal meeting with someone at SAEA to discuss what they do and don’t know about the budget?
Jill (#900) – Why the 9th? Maybe because the 9th is a BOARD OF EDUCATION meeting? Maybe SAEA feels that the most impact that can be made on administrators, staff, parents, the public, and the Board is to protest before a Board meeting, have hundreds of teachers attend the meeting, and have teachers and parents address the Board?
I have made mention in a related thread about the SFSchools listserve/email discussions. The group is well-established and there are lots of insighthful and informative communications from the members there. I am going to reprint one of the latest discussion emails and the related news story about Arne Duncan’s assessment of California schools. This is just a sample of how their discussions go.
If you would like to keep tabs of the discussions to the SF group, please contact them directly. You will need to ask permission to join, but it just takes a minute to do that:
sfschools@yahoogroups.com
A coordinated letter/email campaign to have Feds put pressure on the Calif. government to retain jobs first and shore up the middleclass (one of the cornerstone’s of VP Biden’s tasks for the American public)might be in order.
From the email:
Quite a few of us heard Secretary of Education Arne Duncan today in an inspiring address at the SF School Alliance luncheon. Apparently, he was quite a downer earlier in the day speaking to California Mayors and Superintendents (see article below.)
We really have to pressure Sacramento – including our local reps Ma, Lee, Ammiano and Leno – to make sure California qualifies for national funding. I know there is a group from PPS planning to charter a bus to Sacramento from SF a month from today (June 22nd).
Lorraine
———————————-
California schools have “lost their way,” U.S. ed chief says
Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer
Friday, May 22, 2009
(05-22) 14:30 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — A handful of states will soon be chosen to take part an intense, $5 billion experiment to improve schools that the federal government is calling “Race to the Top” – but California will be lucky if it gets to participate, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said today during a visit to San Francisco.
More Bay Area News
* Druggings added to charges facing Huckaby 05.22.09
* California schools have “lost their way,” U.S. ed chief says 05.22.09
* State high court to rule Tuesday on Prop. 8 05.22.09
* State jobless rate dips, but payrolls shrink 05.22.09
“Honestly, California has lost its way,” Duncan told dozens of the state’s mayors and education officials who packed into San Francisco City Hall. “The long-term consequences of that are troubling.”
Duncan said the few states that win the competition for the new education money will have to show they are innovative, and that their creative efforts succeed in helping low-performing students reach grade level and earn high school diplomas.
He said California’s fiscal crisis – in which schools are being forced to cut programs and lay off teachers – means the state has a long way to go before it is regarded as a state that can show others how to make public education shine.
“I have huge hopes for what California can do,” he said. “I’d love to have California at the table, but California has things it needs to change.”
The Race to the Top money – to be awarded next fall and spring – is part of the $100 billion for education in the federal stimulus package.
Duncan said the reforms he has in mind would transform schools into centers for community life, and would lengthen the school day so that students could take classes for longer than the typical six hours.
By contrast, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is proposing to cut short the school year by seven and a half days to help close the state’s $21.3 billion budget gap.
San Francisco Superintendent Carlos Garcia, who attended the meeting, minced no words in an aside to a reporter: “Our entire state’s going down the tubes.”
He had asked Duncan whether good school districts – say, San Francisco, for example – might be able to win a piece of the $5 billion pie even if their state does not.
No, they can’t, Duncan responded.
Garcia’s deputy superintendent Tony Smith – who just learned that he will become Oakland’s new superintendent on July 1 – said he was energized by the education secretary’s efforts to inspire new ways of thinking about schools.
“It’s about courage,” Smith said. “And Oakland will be an opportunity. I’m excited to come in and nurture things there that are good.”
At the same time, he said, everything’s on the table-including closing schools- in considering how to help Oakland’s students, who are among the lowest-performing in the state. “But you don’t close a school without a better option,” he added.
In wide-ranging remarks to the mayors and educators, Duncan also said he favors paying more money to excellent teachers – a bone of contention with teachers’ unions – and getting better data on which specific teachers are succeeding or failing with students.
E-mail Nanette Asimov at nasimov@sfchronicle.com.
Thank you NTK… I “knew” that you would “know” why they “knew” to do this on the 9th.
Not that anyone is concerned, but in reviewing some financial information I had posted earlier, I noticed a misprint/error. It should state that the District’s estimated cost of $11.59 million to implement CSR represents $4.87 million (not $7.67 million) plus the $6.72 million the District would get for CSR even if they loaded grades 1-3 at 30:1.
NTK: Why should I request a personal meeting? Shouldn’t this information be shared with anyone who might be interested?
Regarding your comment to Jill about the rally on the 9th because it’s the day of the Board Meeting, I think the question is: Why have we not put continual public pressure on at every opportunity rather than wait until a final decision has been announced?
By the way, do you know just what progress has been made in addressing the 1.5% pay cut? In anticipation of your recommendation to ask SAEA, I will do so, but I thought you might want to share what you know since you present yourself as knowledgeable regarding SAEA matters (are you perhaps a newly elected SAEA Board member?).
Oh Jill. You’re trying to point out that NTK loves to have all the information and shares only little snippets here and there…. And then berates other posters for not knowing the “obvious” answers?
God, that little schtick is getting tiresome
NOTE TO NTK: If your union had an efficient strategy to help get information out to the basic membership then we would ALL KNOW THE ANSWERS to basic questions about upcoming rallys, etc… Not that we have not TRIED to keep informed.
MAYBE THAT INFORMATION IS NOT YET ON THEIR UN-UPDATED WEBSITE?
“Why should I request a personal meeting? Shouldn’t this information be shared with anyone who might be interested?”
Oh Patricia, Quite being a Pollyanna! That kind of information is the type you have to go begging for. It’s not like you’ve paid a thousand bucks this past year to have any kind of representation, is it?
Your “leadership” doesn’t HAVE TO SHARE that information. In fact they seem to have a bad case of Information Constipation.
Anyone who is “someone” in the UNION already KNOWS. YOU are obviously an outsider. Your job is to pay your dues, shut up and let them all enjoy their side jobs on your dime.
Man, you teachers are suckers. Sheep too. Keep shaking in the corner and let these selfish cowards keep it all to themselves while you all scramble finding a way to keep your job.
S C R E W E D That’s what you all are.
Need to Know is in itself an interesting Goldfinger CIA-ish moniker. Must be an important person, far more important than any lowly teacher. It is an honor that he so enlightens us.
Jill,
I know that switching grades and schools is very disruptive, but I don’t think that’s the reason you hear more talk of that than the effect on the students.
I think that most teachers are well aware that increasing class size does not bode well for student achievement. I know I have heard upper grade teachers lament the expected decline in the level of preparation of their incoming students as a result of CSR being reduced or eliminated.
I am glad SAEA might do something, but I fear it will probably be too little, too late. Any real pressure on the board would have had to be continuous over a period of months, and involve parents. The budget information Patricia presents should have been pressed upon and studied by the board over many meetings. I don’t believe SAEA’s little show rally at such a late date will have any effect. Nor is it intended to in my opinion.
Patricia and Jill: Maybe one or both of you have the organizational talent that is needed to bring about meaningful change. SAEA doesn’t care, and all of us riffed teachers are like sheep looking for a shepherd. I think we have more power than we may realize, but nobody has harnessed that power. Most of the riffed teachers have placed their trust in SAEA, a false shepherd, and have consequently been pacified and submissive as the district has trampled all over them.
I am feeling very discouraged. I have given a lot to the students of SAUSD only to be thanked with a kick out the door. It hurts all the more because there are teachers who are universally considered incompetent who will have an even harder teaching job next year with more students and less support. The students will pay the price, and so will the larger society in the long run. The system is so broken.
#913 Red Vixen
I wanted to attend the rally, but what you said is how I felt. So that is why I did not attend. I will however attend any rally now. I have a few parents wanting to know what they can do to save my job. What can I tell them to do to help out in any way since they came up to me without me even telling them to go out and help. It may be that these parents speak English and know what is going on whereas the others do not have not watched the news.
Intermediate RIF Teacher,
I know you didn’t address your comment to me, but I would like to respond.
Perhaps the parents would be willing to speak at Tuesday’s Board Meeting, or one parent representative from your school could speak. I think that the MacArthur teachers were very effective when they had only a few teacher representatives speak with their fellow teachers standing behind them in support. While delivering the same message from different speakers is probably not necessary (although it might be effective under certain circumstances), I believe it can be helpful for the Board to hear from people speaking from different perspectives or making different points, as well as to see that those speaking are supported by others.
Perhaps SAEA would say there’s no point, but I think we should at least try to save jobs and preserve services to students. I would think the Board would see SAEA’s not engaging in more organizing as almost a sort of complicity with the cuts that are planned. Until SAEA produces a detailed fiscal analysis of the District’s budget and anticipated revenue that convinces me it’s fiscally impossible, I will continue to believe that we should be doing more than we are currently doing to prevent losses of members’ jobs and the accompanying negative impact on students.
“I wanted to attend the rally, but what you said is how I felt. So that is why I did not attend. I will however attend any rally now. I have a few parents wanting to know what they can do to save my job. What can I tell them to do to help out in any way since they came up to me without me even telling them to go out and help. It may be that these parents speak English and know what is going on whereas the others do not have not watched the news.”
Intermediate RIF Teacher,
Thank you for taking the time to post. I DO know what a dilemma you’ve been in. Get all your resources in order and do what you can to attend meetings with them to voice your objections to losing your job. You know what kind of energy and focus you need to help the students. Cutting your job is the worst possible plan that SAUSD can do. Get that across. Write the Joe Biden site and write the Arne Duncan site. Fight! Fight! You are absolutely right in saying you need to stay in your position to educate these students who need you so much.
Rif rif,
NO ONE WILL GIVE YOU POWER TO STAY. you need to take back your power every day in order to keep your job. Get innovative, like Duncan is calling for. Organize writing campaigns. Show up at the board meetings. Contact Board of Ed members. Make an appointment with Jane Russo. Do not let this transpire without a fight. Your union is busy self-promoting and protecting their own jobs. You are on your own and the only thing you can do is to call in all your resources. I have found that board member John Palacio is a good listener and an advocate. He may be the minority of the board in voting, but that does not mean that he is wrong headed. It only means that he has no support. Just like you.
Find like-minded leaders, colleagues and supporters and let your voices be heard. I wish you well and I wish you strength in these difficult times. It is a lonely, scary place, but you will find what you need if you proceed forward with determination. Best of wishes to you. These are troubling times that need to be met with fortitude.
Patricia,
I know that you have lost the past SAEA election and I commend your efforts to rally the troops. You have much to offer your fellow teachers. You are a hero in this time of turmoil.
I certainly don’t see myself as a hero, but thank you for the complement. I found the election process energizing and will continue to work for the changes that, I believe, are needed.
Patricia, to what do you attribute to your school’s success; i.e., test scores,teacher/staff relations? How could that success be emulated in other schools?
REPOST
SAEA
Please let readers know that the current election can be challenged by contacting CTA Elections Chairperson, Carol Robertson. George Bush was elected twice before voters finally caught on, too.
It’s bullshit that SAEA does not have email addresses for their members. Jennifer Isensee just sent me this:
SAEA is conducting a survey from the SAEA Bargaining Team, and your response would be appreciated.
Here is a link to the survey:http://www.surveymonkey.com/
This link is uniquely tied to this survey and your email address. Please do not forward this message.
Thanks for your participation!
David Barton
President, SAEA
http://www.surveymonkey.com/
Did everyone else get one? Do they track answers to figure out who is worthy and who is not? Tracking answers to surveys is bullshit.
———————————-
OFFICERS/SITE REPS
ANDRES, TINA – MACARTHUR
BAHNER, BRYCE – LATHROP
BARTON, DAVID – BOARD MEMBER
BATCHELOR, LORRAINE – LATHROP
BERNAL, JOHN – VALLEY HIGH
BLUE, KAREN – ROMERO-CRUZ
BORELLI, ALICE – BOARD MEMBER
BOYD, PETER – BOARD MEMBER
BROOKS, GARY – ADAMS
BUSETTI, DAVIDE – DAVIS
CASTANHA, WILLIAM – BOARD MEMBER
CHAVEZ, ROBERT – GREENVILLE
CHILDRESS, CARMEN – LOWELL
CLARY, OLGA – EDISON
COCKRELL, CHRIS – LINCOLN
COLOMBO, ANNA – MONROE
COURSON, SHARON – SIERRA
CZAJA, GREG – MCFADDEN
DAIGLE, LINDA – GREENVILLE
DAVIS, TERI – HEROES
DE LA TORRE, HECTOR – LATHROP
DETVILER, TAMMI – SANTA ANA HIGH
ESPARZA, IRMA – CENTURY HIGH
FENWICK, RANDY – WILLARD
FEUERBORN, JOYCE – GODINEZ HIGH
FISCHER, PAM – MARTIN
FLEMING, DIANE – PIO PICO
FLORES, DEBBIE – MITCHELL
FLORES, SUZANNE – HEROES
FOWLER, DAN – WILSON
GARCIA, RAUL – FREMONT
GARCIA, SHERRY – BOARD MEMBER
GARTNER, BRIGETTE – HOOVER
GOLDBERG, JEFF – BOARD MEMBER
HARRISON, TOM – CENTURY HIGH
HOBBIS, ROB – MADISON
HOOLIHAN, KATHLEEN – HOOVER
HOROWITZ, EVE – SEPULVEDA
ISENSEE, JENNIFER – BOARD MEMBER
KATO, TERRI – MONROE
LEYVA, SUSAN – LOWELL
LOPEZ, OSCAR – MADISON
LUNA, ARACELI – KING
MCGUINNESS, JOHN – SPURGEON
MCKANNA, RHONDA – BOARD MEMBER
MCPHERSON, SYLVIA – MUIR
MARES, PETER – ESQUEDA
MARINO, ROSA – GODINEZ HIGH
MARTIN, LOUISE T. – SPURGEON
MARZILLI, GREG – VALLEY HIGH
MASO, LOUIS, MONTE VISTA
MEADE, DONNA – ROOSEVELT
MENEGHINI, JULIE – HENINGER
MERCER, SUSAN – BOARD MEMBER
MILLER, SCOTT – BOARD MEMBER
MONTELONGO, HANK – MCFADDEN
MULLIS, MARK – INDEPENDENT STUDY
NUNEZ, ISABEL – WILLARD
OZUNA, JUAN – CESAR CHAVEZ
PALMER, LINDA – JACKSON
PEALE, MARGARITA – HENINGER
PEREZ, ALBERT – LINCOLN
PIONESSA, CANDI – GREENVILLE
PROCTOR, ANDY – GODINEZ HIGH
RAMIREZ, DOREEN – MARTIN
REUTER, DAVID – VALLEY HIGH
REYNOLDS, GARY – SANTA ANA HIGH
RILEY, CLAUDIA – DIAMOND
ROBISON, JIM – SANTA ANA HIGH
ROBINSON, MEG – BOARD MEMBER
RUBIO, SANDRA – BOARD MEMBER
SALAFIA, JAMIE – DISTRICT OFFICE
SETTINO-SOBIESKI, LOUISE–BOARD MEMBER
SHAPIRO, ILENE – DIAMOND
SHEPHERD, RON – BOARD MEMBER
SKELTON, JENNIFER – SADDLEBACK HIGH
STOTELMEYER, STEPHANIE – SEGERSTROM
STULTS, NICOLE – CESAR CHAVEZ
SUDBECK, ROBERT – MUSIC
TAKSAR, ANA – CARR
THRASH, RON – KENNEDY
VERA, EMMA – GARFIELD
WEST, WILLIAM – BOARD MEMBER
WILSON, JULIE – ADULT TRANSITION
WISE, ELENA – BOARD MEMBER
WOOD, JEANETTE – JEFFERSON
—————————————-
SAEA Committees
Grievance Committee: Chair–Jennifer Isensee
Negotiations Committee: Chair– Ron Shepherd
Bargaining Support Team Committee: Co-Chairs–Alice Borelli; Scott Miller
Membership Committee: Chair– Jeffrey Goldberg
Hours of Work Committee: Chair– Susan Mercer
Catastrophic Leave Bank Committee: Chair–Elena Wise
Political Involvement Committee: Chair– Meg Robinson
Class Size Committee: Chair–Meg Robinson; Susan Mercer
Election Committee: Chair–Maureen Dougherty
Budget Committee: Chair–Susan Mercer
Social Committee: Chair–Elena Wise
Benefits Committee: Ron Shepherd, Susan Mercer, Nicole Stulz
Special Education Task Force: Chair–Sherry Garcia
Newsletter Committee: Editor–Scott Miller
QEIA Oversight Committee: Chair: Rhonda Mckanna
Parent/Community Outreach: Elena Wise
Calendar Committee: Tammy Detveiler, Jennifer Isensee, Scott Miller, Susan Mercer
Personnel Committee: David Barton
Building Committee: Gladys Hall-Kessler
Human Rights/Women’s Issues: Jennifer Isensee
Webmaster: Jeffrey Goldberg
————————————–
Troubled School Sites
Spurgeon teachers face unparalleled disrespect from students, while Principal Soto has utilized the Title 1 coordinator and non teaching dept. heads as lunch/ nutrition ladies and before and after school supervisors. Nonetheless, teachers risk being hit by flying food on any walk through the lunch area. Talk of letters to the school board and a vote of no confidence on Soto are rife among certificated and classified.
Let’s see- maybe 1,500,000 dollars a year in salaries and costs fr 2 APs, Soto, Title 1 and non teaching dept heads, and they are utilized- ineffectively- as lunch ladies? Laxton’s years of hard work are gone in 2 months
If they can essentially fire all of the office staff at SAHS, why can’t they let all of the assistant superintendents and their own office staffs go first, and see if our teachers and staff can get the jobs done with out them? Does anyone know if there is a list of pink slips for any of the district office staff? How many cuts there?
CSEA
Did those bastards at CSEA ever send you anything like they promised?
Rv—No.
Think Juan Lopez may have screwed up again. Believe he brought in the person that is running Spurgeon. Wonder if he’ll answer for another poor choice – or will get another raise. Only in SAUSD……
In response to the above repost on SAEA:
Election challenges are submitted at the local chapter level first and, if necessary, appealed to CTA. A challenge has to be submitted within 10 days of the posting of the results. According to the Requirements for Chapter Election Procedures (available online at My CTA (www.cta.org), the following information is required:
a. The bylaws and/or standing rules which have been violated
b. Evidence of the violations, insofar as possible
c. Names and contact information of parties who can give evidence
The SAEA Elections Committee then has 10 calendar days to investigate and a decision made, after which an individual has ten calendar days from the date of filing the original challenge to appeal by writing to the CTA President. The next step is referral to the CTA Elections Committee. The last two pages of the above referenced CTA document have a challenge form (which can also be used at the local level). In addition to the documentation submitted to SAEA, a copy of SAEA’s decision on the challenge would be submitted. CTA takes into consideration whether the outcome might have been different had the violations not occurred.
************************************************
While I do not intend to file a challenge, if I were, I would be most concerned about the distribution of campaign materials at the sites. I understand that, at some sites, including some of the larger sites, campaign materials were either not distributed or not distributed in a timely manner by the Site Representatives to whom they were delivered.
The Standing Rules contain a reference to election flyers: “The candidates will be responsible for finding an individual at each site to deliver flyers to members. Regular Faculty Reps will not be used for this purpose unless their prior approval has been given to each candidate. The SAEA By-laws also include a “Candidate’s Rights” section which states that “1) Privileges extended to one candidate shall be extended to all candidates [and] 2) Each candidate shall receive a copy of the election timeline, procedures, and guidelines.
Additionally, Section IV-4 of the CTA Requirements document reads as follows:
A unit will honor all reasonable requests by a candidate to distribute campaign literature at his/her expense to all members in good standing, whether the distribution is by mail or other means. However, if distribution of campaign literature for one candidate is without charge, then distribution for all candidates must be without charge. Treating all candidates the same by refusing to honor any and all reasonable requests for distribution of campaign literature at the candidate’s expense is not permitted. The unit should inform all candidates of rules in this regard.”
sbello (#932): Interesting question. Don’t want you to think I’m ignoring it. I will get back to it.
Patricia,
I’m not sure what exactly you are trying to imply. What I read from these laws is that it would be essential that anyone running for these positions actually hand deliver their flyers or campaign information to each member, not simply drop them off at a site. Those who competed against you for the position of President did exactly that.
How many teachers were handed a list of SAEA “approved” candidates -the junta- with their ballots? I know this happened at my school, but will these teachers have the guts to take this to CTA?
How many union reps stuffed mailboxes with junta propaganda?
Any reps out there who recieved a fax last Friday with the SAEA election results. So far, I have not heard from even one rep that received it.
Unbelievable, but true, there is still one particularly obsessed poster going on and on at the old SAEA election thread, for anyone who is interested. It is basically the same poster who has used several different monikers to repeatedly attack anyone who questions the election:
SAEA Corrupt Elections: Vote Early, Vote Often!
http://orangejuiceblog.com/2009/05/saea-corrupt-elections-vote-early-vote-often/#comment-88297
Here is my last response to NeedToKnow, #78:
NTK,
I am surprised how “sensitive” you are.
You have often been very highly critical of other posts and posters. Your behavior has been so over the top and aggressive that, initially, I began to edit out some of the hostile references against others as being “stupid” and a host of other put downs. I got tired of santizing your nasty posts and just delete the worst of them. I’ve left plenty of your posts up, imo.
From what I hear, so far, site reps didn’t receive that fax you are referencing. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t sent, but the reps who have emailed me say that they didn’t see the election results. And let’s be honest: WHO even uses faxes as an efficient means of communication any more?
Jennifer Isensee has the site reps’s email, yet no one received election results from her via email, either. She was emailing out notices about race for the cure to union members, but she didn’t bother to inform membership about the election results. Say what you will, but your organization has a huge problem with even basic communication.
The ballot counting was done on Thursday night and results were known then. YOU posted the results late Friday evening. SAEA website didn’t have the results posted until Sunday. Jennifer Isensee had emailed 1)a survey and 2)a race for the cure notice to membership during those days, yet didn’t see the election results as important enough to mention to her emailing groups.
WHY do you insist that your members request special meetings and speak directly to “people” that “might” have the information? Are YOU one of those special people in the know? If not, then WHO are those “people”
Why can’t your organization have a system of communications delivery that is accessible by all your members and not just those who have somehow figured out “who” has that information?
I offered to repost any announcements from SAEA as a courtesy. My offer was to your VP and Webmaster, Jeffrey Goldberg. We had some friendly email exchanges and then there seemed to be some kind of information distribution problem that made him cease contact. Whatever.
There is some new information at the SAEA website, but we’re not going to go over there and mine it for you all. I think it’s pretty obvious that witholding communications benefits a few at the top.
tmare,
When you say “hand deliver their flyers or campaign information to each member,” I think you mean that they put them in the members’ mailboxes at each site. Are you saying that neither of the other candidates for President delivered them (or had them delivered) to the Site Rep, who then distributed the flyers for them?
The envelopes with my flyers were addressed to the Rep whose name I was given by the SAEA office. (A note was included thanking the Site Rep for placing the flyers in the members’ mailboxes.)
At a minimum, if Reps pass out materials for one candidate, they are obligated to pass out materials for the other candidates.
For anyone who may wish to contact me directly, my e-mail address is: patriciaoneil7@aol.com.
Spurgeon hasn’t seen disrespect until they see the average Willard student! The kids run the school. It will be interesting to see Mr. Cole come from a fundamental, where the adults are in control, to Willard where they are outmanned and out gunned (sometimes literally)
I’m just saying that I did not deliver any flyers to mailboxes personally as site rep yet both Robert’s ended up in everyone’s mailboxes. I didn’t see it as my job to do this for any candidate. I did however, post all of the candidates flyers I received in the lounge on the designated bulletin board.
Patricia O’Neil (#940) When this whole thing started to blow up weeks ago, I called SAEA and asked for clarification. The fact is that Reps are only obligated to deliver official SAEA communications.
Campaign fliers are NOT official SAEA communications, so Reps are under no obligation to deliver them to anyone. In addition, maybe the other candidates either hand-delivered their fliers to the sites and/or mailboxes themselves or had non-Reps do it for them? Just because you only relied on Reps doesn’t mean that that’s what others did.
NeedToKnow,
We seem to be getting different information from SAEA. It was Maureen (Elections Chair) who told me that, if Reps distribute materials for one candidate, they are obligated to distribute materials for all candidates. With whom did you speak?
My flyers were addressed to the Reps and hand-delivered to the sites (with the exception of Reps at about 5 sites to whom they were sent via US Mail). I relied on the Reps partly because I expected that many, if not most, had placed campaign materials for at least one of the other candidates in the members’ mailboxes and would therefore be obligated to place mine in the boxes as well, regardless of which candidate they supported.
Last Thursday at a UCI career event, I sat on a panel of educators: a UCI professor, a school principal, 2 school of education directors, and I, a teacher). The UCI students had a choice of attending two of six career discussions: business, healthcare, engineering/tech, communications, law/criminal justice, and education. We had only six attend our session.
I graduated from the Univ. of Calif. years ago and had zero interest in teaching. It’s not an attractive career for those who have other options. It was only after the military did I realize I could lead a large group of poorly educated youth, teach ‘em a job, and have fun doing it. How do we attract into teaching more graduates from our top universities, those who had the passion for academics for admission to these schools?
tmare,
You said that you “did not deliver any flyers to mailboxes personally as site rep.” Did you deliver any campaign material to mailboxes, perhaps thinking you were acting as an individual?
No, I didn’t deliver anything to anyone’s box. I thought that since I was the site rep, it would be inappropriate, so I instead posted everything I received on the bulletin board in the teacher’s lounge.
Anyone who kmows Willard knows why there is a problem. An effective administration can begin resolving the problem by have a firm and consistent discipline plan that is strictly enforcecd. That does not mean rewarding students for poor behavior with star bucks. It means a progressive discipline plan with clearly defined consequences that are enforced. If Mr. Cole subscribes to that philosophy, the students will have no choice but to shape up and the healing can begin.
tmare,
You wrote above (#937): “What I read from these laws (sic) is that it would be essential that anyone running for these positions actually hand deliver their flyers or campaign information to each member, not simply drop them off at a site. Those who competed against you for the position of President did exactly that.” It sounds like you’re saying that the other candidates placed the materials in members’ mailboxes at all of the sites themselves, but perhaps you are referring only to your site.
In #948, you said you didn’t put any campaign materials in boxes because you thought it would be inappropriate to do so as Site Rep. Apparently, Site Reps had different understandings of what was permitted or required. Hopefully, the Elections Committee will make sure, in the future, that directions are clear, that Site Reps all have the same directions during elections and that these directions are provided to candidates.
Patricia,
I think it’s a good idea for these things to be made clear, I just did what my conscience told me to do and I truly have no idea what happened at other sites. I do know that Robert placed his materials in teacher’s boxes personally at my site. I don’t think Susan had anything that was given to each individual teacher but I’m not sure about that.
I truly hope Willard can begin the process of healing and becoming a good school again. It’s going to be an incredible challenge during these times, but just getting a handle on the discipline matters that others have brought up will go a long way. It’s so sad to see what has become of that school.
REPOST
SAEA
As currently conducted, the Rep Council meetings don’t offer an opportunity to discuss anything that’s not on the agenda. (We used to have an opportunity at Rep Council to share Site Concerns, but that was eliminated years ago.) Now, the Reps would have to introduce a new item on the agenda, which I don’t think many are comfortable doing. Nor, has there been any training in the last few years, as far as I know, in using parliamentary procedure. The only training would be from observing the way it is currently used in the meetings. I am pretty sure the current leadership prefers that the Reps be as disempowered in meetings as possible. From my observations, parliamentary procedure, is currently used in the meetings for the purpose of preventing participation rather than for facilitating it, as it was designed to do. People could informally ask for something to be added to the agenda and they could ask to have the rules of parliamentary procedure explained to them, but this doesn’t seem to happen. When someone speaks with a divergent opinion, or even an uncomfortable question, they are usually treated in such a way as to discourage similar participation by others.
I am a site rep and I didn’t see a fax on Friday, however, receiving a fax depends entirely upon who receives it and if they choose to deliver it to someone. I have picked up faxes that have remained in the copier for a day or so before I actually hand delivered them to the person addressed. I have actually delivered faxes to office staff that were placed next to the copier. It’s kind of strange because they used to come out of the fax machine but now they come out of the copier. You could actually make copies for your class and go back to your room and find one on the bottom of your class copies. Anyone who comes along to make copies could just toss a fax in the trash or the recycle bin if they don’t look at it. I really don’t think that there is a designated person to receive faxes at my site as they seem to randomly pop out of one copier machine that we have in the main office which is used by everyone on the staff. Probably another problem because it is most likely handled differently at each site. It’s funny that you mention it because every time I take one to someone in the office, I have actually thought to myself that I am probably the only one who does that. Not sure if that helps, but that is my experience at my site.
I am a first year site rep and I wasn’t sure what the procedures were for the elections. I handed out flyers for Jennifer and Patricia, because the flyers were delivered to our site. I also posted a copy each onto the bulletin board at our site. Our site never received any flyers from Robert. I feel uncomfortable about how things were run. It seems like it was sneaky or disorganized. I can’t tell which one.
SAUSD There was a letter received by teachers at different intermediate schools from Jane regarding the 8 period day and the new grading system but it was not received at all intermediate sites. I only heard about it from a few teachers at two other sites over the weekend. Communication is definitely not a strength in the SAUSD.