The teachers union’s annual Leadership Conference starts today (click here to see the program), and perhaps the biggest question on members’ minds is who will rise to challenge UTLA President Warren Fletcher as he seeks reelection in January. Filing won’t officially begin until December, but the campaign season begins today. “Most slates [of candidates] are...

Less than 23 percent of the 40,000 members of United Teachers of Los Angeles cast ballots in the final round of voting for union president in 2011, the union’s last leadership election. Even fewer, 15 percent, voted in the preliminary round. A new, online voting system could change all that, says a group of teachers...

The local teachers union, UTLA, is holding its annual leadership conference next weekend, starting  August 2 at the Westin Hotel near LAX. “The conference is an important way for us to unite as a union, and to provide you with support and resources for the challenges in the coming year,” reads the invite letter. “We...

The unions that represent LAUSD teachers and administrators have sent the School Board a letter raising “a concern” over controversial comments Superintendent John Deasy made to LA School Report in June.  Last month, following a decision by the Board to postpone voting on a motion by Tamar Galatzan to allow schools greater autonomy over how...

As anyone following us on Twitter knows all too well, Tuesday’s School Board meeting was a marathon session that lasted well into the night — much of it accompanied by the sound of protesters drumming on the street outside. Among several key decisions the Board arrived at during the lengthy session were votes to award a...

Warren Fletcher’s three-year term as UTLA President is heading into its last year, and while the teachers union election is a long way off it seems likely that he will face a challenger or two. One of the potential challengers is a teacher activist from Crenshaw High school.  The other is a current UTLA Vice...

Starting in July, the composition and leadership of LAUSD’s School Board will change substantially. District 6’s Nury Martinez will be out, replaced by Monica Ratliff, and Monica Garcia will step down as Board President, thanks to term limits motion passed by the Board in March. But the shifts in direction for the Board are already...

Last Wednesday, mere hours after Antonio Sanchez conceded to her, School Board member-elect Monica Ratliff showed up at a UTLA House of Representatives meeting to thank all the teachers who volunteered for and donated to her campaign. Though the video above (shot on UTLA spokesperson Suzanne Spurgeon’s iPad) is incomplete, it shows Ratliff specifically thanking Jose...

The results are (mostly) in, and the LAUSD School Board District 6 election looks like the shock result of the evening, with Monica Ratliff having apparently defeated Antonio Sanchez, 52 percent to 48 percent — a complete reversal from the primary results in which Sanchez bested Ratliff by 10 points. Sanchez has now conceded the...