Some of the names and faces might be not be familiar, but five of the 10 candidates running for president of the teachers union, UTLA, have agreed to participate in a candidate forum next Thursday, Jan. 30th at Thomas Starr King Middle School. Click here for announcement. Wil Page, the school’s chapter chair, said in...

For all the passion and discord over how to fill a vacant seat, two of the six LA Unified board members were silent during the board’s hour-long debate last night. Neither the current president, Richard Vladovic, nor his predecessor, Monica Garcia, weighed in, apart from their votes. Before a 4-2 decision to hold a June...

UTLA is making sure no deadbeats hold leadership positions in the teachers union. While it seems like common sense — if you want to run for a union office, make sure your dues are up-to-date — some candidates might not have gotten the message. The teachers union’s board of directors discovered in December that a...

While American Federation of Teachers affiliates are holding a “National Day of Action” today, UTLA is planning four vigils in support of “housed” LA Unified teachers, those caught between allegations of misconduct and final rulings on their employment status. Currently 260 such teachers are caught in so-called “teacher jails,” the consequence of what UTLA President Warren...

If Warren Fletcher is reelected president of the LA Unified teachers union, UTLA, it won’t be easy. At yesterday’s filing deadline, the union announced that eight others – all men — are challenging him for a three-year term that begins next year. The size of the field, which includes one current UTLA officer, Secondary Vice...

With the filing deadline tomorrow, a new candidate has emerged to challenge Warren Fletcher as president of UTLA. Kevin Mottus, who frequently appears at LA Unified school board meetings to warn of adverse health effects of wireless digital devices, is the latest among three challengers to file for running, according to the union’s most recent...

As daylight faded and red brake lights of rush hour cast their eerie glow, a group of LA Unified teachers and students marched through downtown streets yesterday, demanding a reversal of district policies that value testing over “authentic” learning. Drivers honked and pumped their fists in solidarity as students waived their banners: “Technology for Teaching,...

Despite all the sky-is-falling-rhetoric over the past week, things at LA Unified are much as they were: John Deasy is still the man in charge as superintendent, and teachers union president Warren Fletcher continues as his chief adversary. While Deasy was keeping out of the spotlight today — he was attending an event in Albuquerque...