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By Howard Blume

On his first day back as the head of the nation’s second-largest school system, Ramon C. Cortines paid an unlikely visit to the headquarters of United Teachers Los Angeles. The union had a tense relationship with former Supt. John Deasy, and was pushing toward a possible strike over stalled contract talks.

Cortines met union officials on their turf: He wanted to show that there would be no barriers between him and teachers.

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