UNITY NOW!
By Cecily Myart-Cruz Emerson Middle School & West Area Chair
Unity works. The District is moving more in our direction. The rally on December 6th worked; it shocked the superintendent, the board, and the bureaucrats. It was a wake-up call that we can mobilize despite the naysayers in the media. The faculty boycotts worked too. Principals called off after school faculty meetings because they knew no one would show. The District upped its offer. It’s not okay to give a non-credentialed inexperienced superintendent a 20% pay raise and insult us with a paltry 4.5% raise offer. We need to stand for smaller class sizes because all the data say that it works. We need to stand for more local control and less District Bureaucracy. How many high-priced consultants does this District need? But we’re not through. We’re still in the negotiations stage. We need to ratchet up the pressure to get this District to understand how important we are to our children, our community and to the District itself that relies on us everyday. Now is the time we need full and complete unity across this union. We need a maximum effort on behalf of all UTLA members. We need to put any and all internal differences aside and concentrate on this contract mobilization. We can iron our disagreements after we’ve won a just and fair contact. What do you need to do? You need to stay informed. Read the UT. Talk to your Chapter Chair. Attend regular Chapter meetings and go to UTLA.net You need to vote yes on strike authorization to send a strong message to this district that we are prepared to do “the walk” after we’ve done “the talk!” West Area is holding a rally at District 3 Headquarters on Robertson Blvd near Hamilton Senior High School on February 21st. Other areas are also holding events. Check with your Chapter Chair to find out where to go. All are welcome. The media will be out to cover the event. They may stop and interview you. You need to be there and show strength and convince others that they must be at the rallies. All of these upcoming events are bargaining chips. We need to stand together in unity. This is our crucial hour. The District is watching! Listening! They want you to cave in and give up. The superintendent says the offer is reasonable. Reasonable? The standard of living rises every year. We’re always fighting to keep up with inflation and its about time the District recognizes our worth as professionals. We’ve done the job, now pay us properly. Stand together. Unity Now!
School Nurses are Vital Union Members
By Marjorie Eissler School Nurse, Webster Middle School
On several occasions, I have been asked, "What does the school nurse do besides put band aids on kids?" Or, more succinctly, "What do you do all day long?" The answer is both simple and complex. The simple answer is that we help to identify and mediate health issues that can be barriers to students' educational successes. The complex answer is how we go about doing that. All school nurses are licensed by the Board of Registered Nursing which is part of the California Department of Consumer Affairs. We have a minimum of a Bachelor of Science degree, but many of us have Master's degrees. And we have a California Credential in School Nursing. This educational background prepares us to be able to evaluate the health, growth, and development of students across the preschool to high school continuum. At all schools, we ensure that a variety of state mandated health screenings are done. We arrange for all students to have an in-depth physical examination prior to enrolling in kindergarten or 1st grade. Scoliosis screening is performed during middle school. Vision and hearing screenings are done at set intervals in elementary, middle, and high school. We make sure student athletes obtain sports physical exams. We assist students to obtain and stay up-to-date with their immunizations. Yes, the school nurse provides first-aid on a daily basis. But, we also respond to serious injuries and provide emergency care whenever necessary. We monitor the administration of medications in school so that students have what they need when they need it, and the schools stay in compliance with state law. On a daily basis, we are involved with student and staff wellness in order to control communicable diseases, and we teach students how to take better care of themselves with regard to hygiene and nutrition. School nurses are an integral part of Special Education. We perform a health assessment of every single student who is being evaluated for Special Education services. A minor assessment occurs before an SST; an in-depth assessment occurs prior to an initial evaluation; and health assessments are repeated at least every three years to keep the health information current. A significant contribution of the nurse is to interpret medical information and discuss how the medical situation may affect the educational process. Other services that we provide include case management for students with complicated health situations, health education to classrooms of students on specific topics, health counseling to students and staff members on a daily basis, child abuse reporting, social welfare referrals, and help to maintain a healthy school environment. We are able to generate money for the school district by supporting student attendance and we obtain money from Medi-Cal via MAA billing. The benefits of having a school nurse are many. We help everyone to access and understand the healthcare system. The overall result of our efforts is improved student outcomes. And yes, School Nurses are an important and integral constituency of United Teachers Los Angeles. We are fully participating members of the Health and Human Services branch of UTLA, paying our dues, carrying out our responsibilities, and receiving benefits the same as teachers.
Special Education Teachers are Union Too!
By Linda Arlington University Senior High School
I am a Community Based Instruction Teacher for students who are identified as moderate to severely handicap. My classroom revolves around teaching my students an alternative curriculum called Extended Life Skills. We work with our students to help them gain valuable skills to increase independence in the community. We teach them to use public transportation, navigate city services and resources, obtain and develop job skills and cope with the stresses of independence. Many of my students are currently placed in private businesses and public agencies working several days a week earning paychecks. My program is an extremely important one that gets my students the training and independent living skills they need. When they become adults, some will live on their own; some will live with family members, some will live in group homes. But most of my students can be taught to have some degree of independence; working and earning a paycheck, paying their fair share of taxes and becoming productive members of society with a valuable sense of self worth. My point is simple: CBI, and other teachers in the special education continuum, are important and integral teachers within LAUSD and most importantly within UTLA. With tens of thousands of special education students in our schools, and thousands of special education teachers within UTLA, we are an important constituency that deserves all the respect and attention general education teachers seek. We are UTLA!
