UESF News

UESF Successful in Getting School Board to Vote Down Para Layoffs On Tuesday, April 14 the Board of Education voted down sending layoff notices to paraprofessionals by a 5-2 vote. The vote followed a boisterous rally by UESF members, and several impassioned speeches by paras and teachers calling on the Board to do the right thing and vote down the layoffs. I would like to thank those five Board members who voted to save para jobs. The proposed layoffs would have done little to save the district money, but would have had a tremendous impact on the students, as well as on paras and their families. The Board rightly decided to protect the classroom. With over $20 million expected from the Federal stimulus bill expected, the para layoffs made little sense. In fact, some of that money should be spent to expand the ranks of paras, not reduce them. Special thanks to those UESF members who spoke at the podium, including UESF VP for paras Carolyn Samoa, UESF Sergeant-at-Arms Roberto Michel, paraprofessional Janet Eberhardt, and UESF Secretary Susan Solomon. Core substitute Daniel Markarian also spoke eloquently on the need for the district to rescind the layoff notices for Site Support and Core subs. When the video is available we will load their speeches up to the UESF website. SFUSD to Rescind Most Teacher Layoffs The district has informed UESF that they will rescind most of the planned teacher layoffs. Last month the Board of Education authorized layoffs of the equivalent of 506 teachers and administrators. Today the SFUSD plans on sending out letters officially rescinding layoffs for most of them. The rescissions come on the heels of assurances from the City of San Francisco that the SFUSD will receive upwards of $23 million from the Rainy Day Fund. Thank you to the many UESF members who wrote letters and demonstrated to get the city to commit the funds early. Unfortunately, the SFUSD is proceeding with the layoffs of four categories of teachers and dozens of paraprofessionals. The teacher layoffs include: * 3 High School Vocational Education computer teachers * 12 JROTC teachers * 15 Core substitute teachers * 39 Site Support substitute teachers The JROTC and Vocational Education teachers are being laid off not because of the budget, but because of the elimination of their programs. A motion to restore the JROTC program is currently before the Board of Education. The SFUSD routinely sends layoff notices to site support substitutes. In many years Core substitutes also receive notices. Typically the district rehires these folks the following year. This year, however, because of the budget cuts, we cannot be certain that SFUSD does not intend to eliminate the Site Support and Core substitute programs. If the programs are eliminated, it would be a violation of the UESF contract and the collective bargaining process. Rally at the Board of Education to Save Para & Sub Jobs On Tuesday, April 14th the Board of Education will consider sending layoff notices to dozens of paraprofessionals. The proposed layoff notices would all but eliminate paraprofessionals from general education in the SFUSD. The paraprofessional layoffs come despite the commitment from the City for the full Rainy Day Fund. UESF members who have worked for the district for more than 24 years are in danger of getting laid off. Though we are appreciative that the district has committed to rescind most teacher layoffs, we are deeply concerned that para jobs are now on the chopping block. As any classroom teacher can attest, general education paraprofessionals are a tremendous asset in the classroom. You can do your part to help save these paras' jobs and to support the Core and Site Support substitutes by coming out to the Board meeting on April 14th. UESF will meet in the auditorium of Civic Center Secondary School (727 Golden Gate) at 5:00 p.m. to discuss the layoffs. At 5:30 we'll march to 555 Franklin, rally, and enter the meeting at 6:00 p.m. Para layoffs are currently the only item on the agenda. Mayor & Board of Supervisors Suppport Full Rainy Day Fund for SFUSD UESF asks SFUSD to start rescinding layoffs On March 17, 2009 the Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution, calling for the release of the full 25% of the city's Rainy Day Fund for SFUSD. The resolution came after our successful letter campaign and rally on March 12th, and the Mayor's announcement that he supported releasing the full $23 million. Click here for a copy of the resolution passed by the Supervisors. And here for the Mayor's press announcement. In previous press statements, Superintendent Garcia has said that with the full $23 million he would be able to rescind most if not all of the layoffs (SFUSD Press Release). In a meeting on March 19, 2009 with the Superintendent, UESF President Dennis Kelly relayed UESF's stance that the rescinding the layoff's sooner rather than later would help return calm to our classrooms. So far, however, UESF has received no indication of the district's timeline to rescind the notices. UESF will continue to advocate for the rescissions as early as possible. In the meantime, however, we have no choice but to proceed as if all of the layoffs could become permanent. UESF Staff Representative Eric Hall continues his good work representing laid off teachers. If you have received a layoff notice, but have not yet returned your consent to representation form, email Eric at ehall@uesf.org. March 12 Rally & March a Success Hundreds Turn Out to Protest State Budget Cuts, Call for Release of Rainy Day Fund Many thanks to the hundreds of UESF members, parents, and students who made our rally last Thursday such a success. The rally brought much needed attention to the funding crisis in education, and to the devastating impact that layoffs would have on our schools. Special thanks to the many pink-slipped teachers who volunteered to speak to the media. By bravely stepping forward to tell their stories, they have raised public awareness of the true cost of the $11.8 billion in education cuts. An especially moving piece featuring two teachers from Paul Revere Elementary is posted up on VidSF. Other stories can be found at KTVU Ch. 2, KCBS, and Mission Local. Hats off to the staff, parents, and students at El Dorado Elementary for their successful 'Pink Friday' demonstration the next day. Ch. 2 and KGO AM covered their event. After hundreds of phone calls and emails generated by UESF members, on March 10th Mayor Newsom came out in support of releasing the full $23 million Rainy Day Fund to the SFUSD. On March 17th, the Board of Supervisors will consider a resolution to support the release of the full 25% available for the schools. UESF has contacted each of the Supervisors, urging their support. As soon as the Board passes its resolution, we will ask the SFUSD to begin the process of rescinding the layoff notices. The district has indicated that with the full $23 million most, if not all of the layoffs will be rescinded. We will continue to press them to make any cuts as far away from the classroom as possible. This includes saving paraprofessional jobs as well. Photos coming soon. Thanks to the 65 schools who signed the 'Stop the Race to the Bottom' petition & for those who participated in the Feb.3 Rally   UESF's successful petition campaign highlighted need for state budget reform. Click here for more details. Video of February 3, 2009 Rally Return to UESF home page