LAUSD CHARGED WITH VIOLATING UNION CONTRACT IN TEACHER EVALUATION + smf’s 2¢
BY BARBARA JONES, LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS | HTTP://BIT.LY/13XKEAL
8/22/13, 9:05 PM PDT :: Los Angeles Unified’s teachers union has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the school district, saying administrators failed to negotiate key changes to a controversial performance evaluation system now being used to review educators.Warren Fletcher, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said Thursday that the complaint was filed in June with the state Public Employment Relations Board after the school district “unilaterally” imposed revisions in an evaluation developed under court order.
The complaint came to light this week as part of a “toolkit” posted on the UTLA website, advising teachers how to respond when they come up for review. It includes a letter that teachers can give their principals, asserting their collective bargaining rights.
“It has consistently been the position of UTLA that applying cookie-cutter rules and procedures to the teacher evaluation process is counterproductive for both teachers and administrators,” the letter says. “It is unfortunate that central Beaudry management is attempting to unilaterally implement these changes in the evaluation process. We all share the goal of an evaluation system where the work and judgment of professional educators in honored.”
Los Angeles Unified filed a nine-page response with PERB on Aug. 15, refuting each of UTLA’s allegations and asking that the complaint be dismissed.
The teacher evaluation stems from a lawsuit filed in 2011 against the school district and Superintendent John Deasy, claiming Los