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UC Management and UCLA Lab School Administration Must Stop Delaying and Negotiate All Mandatory Subjects of Bargaining

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On Tuesday, November 1st, Lab School families may have seen Demonstration Teachers at carpool again with signs and wearing UC-AFT t-shirts to pass out another informational flyer. These flyers allow Demonstration Teachers to provide factual information about issues that impact teaching and learning at UCLA Lab School because teachers are not permitted to directly communicate with all families via email, Town Halls, or State of the School Addresses.

Lab Flyering Nov 1 2022.jpeg

A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) covering a full range of negotiable subjects will improve teaching and learning conditions. Fulfilling the three pillars of our mission and serving ALL children requires full teaching teams and a tremendous amount of time to collaborate. We no longer have the time necessary, during the school day, to reflect upon and refine our teaching and learning, research, and public engagement practices. The following practices must be enshrined in enforceable contract language.
 

Planning time during every instructional school day

In the past, having a sufficient number of Specialists provided rich learning experiences for children and planning time every day for classroom Demonstration Teachers.

Planning time allows for collaboration and onboarding. New TAs, Demonstration Teachers, teaching apprentices, teachers in training, and administrators must be onboarded to understand our Safe School values, constructivist approach, inquiry cycle, balanced literacy approach, Cognitively Guided Instruction in mathematics, the pillars of Dual Language education, and the Reggio Emilia philosophy.

Planning time during the instructional day allows Demonstration Teachers to look at student work, plan small group and whole group interventions and learning experiences, and ensure that children’s needs are being met across levels and classrooms. We do not use textbooks or scripted curricular materials; instead, we create curriculum each year that reflects the students in our classrooms. Our planning time is also essential to coordinate services such as Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and support from our School Psychologist and Resource Specialist.

Full days for planning and professional development during the school year

Demonstration Teachers use full days of planning and professional development to facilitate generative initiatives such as the Inquiry Collaboration Institute in under-resourced LAUSD schools, mentoring and training mathematics educators throughout LAUSD in partnership with UCLA Mathematics Project, longitudinal studies of the impacts of the Dual Language Program, and teacher action research on Documentation and our Inquiry Process. We currently do not have sufficient time for classroom Demonstration Teachers to collaborate with Specialist Demonstration Teachers.

Demonstration Teachers need more time for the responsive and interdisciplinary work of listening to children’s voices and designing curriculum that is engaging and addresses the standards.



Planning Time in The Past

Current Planning Time

Classroom Demonstration Teachers had an average of more than 5 hours of common level and team planning time each week

EC - 30 minutes of common level planning time each week Primary - no common level planning time Intermediate - no common level planning time Upper - 4 hours of common level planning time each week

Inequitable across levels

19 full days of planning and professional development sessions

9 full days (2 of which are parent conferences) of planning and professional development sessions

AT-A-GLANCE COMPARISONS OF SCOPE OF NEGOTIATIONS & MOUs

GEFFEN ACADEMY at UCLA • THE PREUSS SCHOOL UCSD

UCLA MANAGEMENT’S PROPOSAL FOR LAB SCHOOL





Proposals of concern to UCLA Lab School Families

Geffen

Academy at UCLA

MOU

(44 pages)

The Preuss School UCSD MOU

(18 pages)

UCLA Mgmt Proposal for Lab School

Sept. 29, 2022

(3 pages)

Appointments & Merit Increases

(promotion process and timelines - important for recruiting and retaining educators)

Yes

Articles

7a

7b

7c

22

Yes

Articles

7

10

22

 

No

Instructional Support

(substitutes and other

important supports)

 

Yes

Article 8

 

Yes

Article 8

 

No

Professional Concerns (funding for professional development)

Yes

Article 9

Yes

Article 9

No

Compensation

Yes

Article 21

Yes

Article 21

Yes

Instructional Workload (team teaching and cap on class size)

 

Yes

Article 24

 

Yes

Article 24

No

Academic Calendar (calendar process, instructional days, planning time, teacher planning days, etc.)

Yes

Article 29

Yes

Article 29

No

The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has alleged that UCLA and Lab School Management have committed the following violations of labor law with respect to current negotiations with Demonstration Teachers:

  • Unilateral change to the school calendar
  • Unilateral change to past practice in negotiations
  • Refusal to bargain
  • Refusal to bargain in good faith

Despite this rebuke from PERB, UC Management and UCLA Lab School Administration continue to refuse to bargain all mandatory subjects.

Demonstration Teachers Need Support from Our Community

 

Contact Chancellor Gene Block, Administrative Vice Chancellor Michael Beck, Vice Chancellor Michael Levine, and Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Darnell Hunt with the following message:

 

UCLA and Lab School Management must stop the unfair labor practices and immediately begin bargaining a full range of all mandatory subjects with Demonstration Teachers.

 

The Demonstration Teachers at UCLA Lab School are entitled to the same negotiations process as the educators at Geffen Academy and The Preuss School UCSD. The UCLA Lab School Memorandum of Understanding (contract side letter) has been expired for nearly three years.

 

The Public Employment Relations Board has alleged four separate but related labor law violations with respect to the current negotiations. UCLA and Lab School Management must stop needlessly delaying the negotiations in order to move forward collaboratively with our entire Lab School community in mind.