Board members, Dr. Gándara, colleagues and community members. My name is Roberto Rodriguez and today I’m here as Chair of the SEA Bargaining Team. Our team members include: Chuck Patterson (ORH); Jason Leichter (CVA); Colleen Cooke-Salas (MVM) Martin Casas (ELH) and Katina Rondeau (AVA). I'm here this evening to present our proposal to the Board of Trustees and the community.
You may not know that our by-laws and our responsibility of fair representation requires us to develop our proposal based on input from our unit members. In order to do this we held open hearings, surveyed our members and visited sites in order to get a sense of our members’ priorities. The team took this information and developed the document that has been available both on Board docs and on the SEA Website.
While I won’t read the proposal I will say that It should be of no surprise, after years of stagnant salaries and an increase in out-of-pocket medical costs that salary and medical benefits are our members’ top 2 priorities. What was surprising was that their third priority, class size, was statistically equal in ranking to wages. Three years ago class size was a distant third priority. It’s clear our members are feeling the consequences of an already increased staffing ratio and an ever increasing work load. The rest of our members concerns can be read in our proposal.
We hope that the district will engage in good faith bargaining and that all negotiable items will be resolved at the table. However, it’s difficult to keep hope alive when we receive multiple reports that principals have been asked to create master schedules that don’t respect our MOU and when it took almost a month to receive the districts second interim budget report after it had been filed with the county. We received this document on the Friday before Spring Break. Good faith bargaining demands that current agreements be respected and documents be delivered on time. This has caused an unnecessary delay in our preparation to come to the table. Rest assured that I and my team will never come to the table unprepared. I suggest that as we proceed, that the bargaining process be respected and that we come to the table seeking a fair and equitable agreement.
In closing I will quote the opening paragraph of our proposal which expresses the spirit with which we come to the table:
“The Association recognizes the current state of the economy and the budgetary constraints of all school districts and is willing to collaborate with the district in creating a fair and equitable collective bargaining agreement. Therefore, the Association will protect its core values of sustaining and creating an educational environment that facilitates student learning, instruction, safety, academic integrity, and that provides association unit members a fair and equitable standard of living.”
I urge this board to ensure that all of our current agreements be respected so that we can proceed with contract negotiations in this spirit of collaboration. Finally, in light of the revelations in this afternoon's U-T website, I would suggest that 3 high school social science teachers, a middle school math teacher and 2 alternative Ed teachers hardly merit the expense of a PR firm and a law firm to deal with negotiations. Since our last negotiations we've come to mutually beneficial agreements without outside interventions......Thank you.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sunday, March 6, 2011
This must not stand
Let's get this straight:
Wall Street financial corporations lent billions to people who they knew couldn't afford to pay back mortgages. Then they packaged these mortgages as mortgage backed securities to investors who thought they were buying Triple A investments bonds; the most secure investment out there.
Then, since they knew those "securities" were all but secure, they bought insurance on these bonds so they could make money on the bad investments they sold to begin with. Honest investors were stuck with bad investments. Once the hundreds of millions of Adjustable Rate Mortgages adjusted, the house of cards began to tumble, and only the initiators of these "derivative investments" were in any place to benefit.
In other words, they made money by charging exorbitant fees on borrowers of Adjustable mortgages; they made money by selling the mortgage backed securities and at the same time shifting the losses to someone else. Then they bought insurance on those bad securities which allowed them to make money once they defaulted.
Once the house of cards fell, the economy collapses into the worst crisis in generations and in the end, these same financial institutions make billions in profits after they received handouts from the federal government because they are "too big to fail." The executives of these corporations end up getting millions in "bonuses" and the perpetrators of the mortgage back securities and derivatives make millions. And NO ONE GOES TO JAIL?
In the aftermath, states are left with huge deficits, the impact on our nation's basic services such as education, is devastating. The only solution that these pseudo-conservative, far right messianic political pawns of Wall Street can come up with, is to continue the devastation of working class americans.
The two institutions that have created some measure of social mobility in this country have been education and labor unions. The increases in state college tuition have put the dream of a college education out of reach for a large portion of our youth. The vilifying of public school teachers and public education as a whole is an ominous shadow looming over our society. The attacks on collective bargaining rights for union members is an assault on working americans. Unions have been at the vanguard of protecting middle class values and a middle class standard of living.
If the events of Wisconsin are allowed to stand, the perfect crime will have been perpetrated. Working class Americans will first have been robbed of their homes, the tax money that they pay will have been used to bail out the companies that robbed them and then the deficits created by the bailouts have been blamed on them. And just in case this wasn’t bad enough, conservatives are attempting to give a death blow by taking away the right to negotiate a decent wage and health benefits. Talk about blaming and punishing the victims.
This must not stand,
Roberto
Wall Street financial corporations lent billions to people who they knew couldn't afford to pay back mortgages. Then they packaged these mortgages as mortgage backed securities to investors who thought they were buying Triple A investments bonds; the most secure investment out there.
Then, since they knew those "securities" were all but secure, they bought insurance on these bonds so they could make money on the bad investments they sold to begin with. Honest investors were stuck with bad investments. Once the hundreds of millions of Adjustable Rate Mortgages adjusted, the house of cards began to tumble, and only the initiators of these "derivative investments" were in any place to benefit.
In other words, they made money by charging exorbitant fees on borrowers of Adjustable mortgages; they made money by selling the mortgage backed securities and at the same time shifting the losses to someone else. Then they bought insurance on those bad securities which allowed them to make money once they defaulted.
Once the house of cards fell, the economy collapses into the worst crisis in generations and in the end, these same financial institutions make billions in profits after they received handouts from the federal government because they are "too big to fail." The executives of these corporations end up getting millions in "bonuses" and the perpetrators of the mortgage back securities and derivatives make millions. And NO ONE GOES TO JAIL?
In the aftermath, states are left with huge deficits, the impact on our nation's basic services such as education, is devastating. The only solution that these pseudo-conservative, far right messianic political pawns of Wall Street can come up with, is to continue the devastation of working class americans.
The two institutions that have created some measure of social mobility in this country have been education and labor unions. The increases in state college tuition have put the dream of a college education out of reach for a large portion of our youth. The vilifying of public school teachers and public education as a whole is an ominous shadow looming over our society. The attacks on collective bargaining rights for union members is an assault on working americans. Unions have been at the vanguard of protecting middle class values and a middle class standard of living.
If the events of Wisconsin are allowed to stand, the perfect crime will have been perpetrated. Working class Americans will first have been robbed of their homes, the tax money that they pay will have been used to bail out the companies that robbed them and then the deficits created by the bailouts have been blamed on them. And just in case this wasn’t bad enough, conservatives are attempting to give a death blow by taking away the right to negotiate a decent wage and health benefits. Talk about blaming and punishing the victims.
This must not stand,
Roberto
Friday, October 22, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
ABC Committee Campaign Speech
Recently I had the honor of running for the At-Large position for CTA's ABC Committee. This committee is in charge of administering CTA's PAC funds. The following was my speech to CTA's State Council:
David, Dean Gail, carolyn, Council,
It's truly an honor to address this body for the first time and I'm grateful to m colleagues in the Sweetwater Education Association for the opportunity to serve with each of you.
Although I've met many of you at conferences, committees and the Read Across America table, I should take a moment to introduce myself. I am the son of Ampelio and María Rodriguez; two hard working people who rose from humble origins, and who by example taught my brothers an I, the value of education, dedication, responsibility and service. Armed with these fundamental principles, I began a teaching career in 1987.
Since then I've worn many hats for my local: Site Rep, Elections Chair, State Council member, Secretary, Communications Chair and all around web guy. However, nobody is more surprised than I, to find myself asking for your vote today.
I've taken pride in being a foot soldier. I'm proud that the communications plan that Alex mentioned is being used in trainings; that CTA staff is sharing it with locals going through difficult bargaining. That's what foot soldiers do. They work hard and in anonymity. Under normal circumstances I would have been happy to continue in that role. But circumstances haven't been normal for a while now.
I seek the position of ABC Minority At-Large out of a sense of conviction. A conviction born from the powerful lessons I learned during SEA's last round of bargaining. From the start we faced a Superintendent with a clear strategy: intimidate and lie, weaken the union, fast track to factfinding, and impose a contract. That strategy failed.
That experience taught me that organizing is paramount; that communication with members is the cornerstone of success; that there is power in collective action and most importantly, that school boards matter.
During the eighteen months of stalled bargaining, our School Board was disengaged, negligent and at times outright hostile. They fully endorsed our superintendent's tactics. At one point, a board member suggested that a 15% pay-cut was NOT out line. And after approving over 150 RIFs, they extended the superintendent's contract. School Boards matter a great deal!
We are living in a time when the enemies of public education are well entrenched, and our traditional allies are at best unrecognizable.
We are living in a time when tens of thousands of teachers across the country helped elect a President and a Congress, who in turn have dedicated more federal dollars to education than we've ever seen before; yet the best they can come up with is "Race to the Top."
School Boards matter more than ever!
We must dedicate effort, time and financial resources to taking back our schools! And given what's happening in Washington and Sacramento, the only way to do so is one school board at a time.
I know I should be asking for your vote with a big smile and a sunny disposition but I can't. I'm frustrated an angry! I see what's happening to locals up and down the state. The ridiculous proposals; big pay cuts, unpaid furlough days, "do more with less." Increase the curriculum, shrink the school year and be accountable to the results. When did we become the national scapegoat?
I ask that you send me to ABC to be the voice of all minority groups in this room and of teachers of minority students, I will be an advocate and a liaison. I will work to bring in more minority leaders because we need more hands not fewer. Allow me to serve on a committee that recognizes you must have the resources you need to take back your schools!
Thank you.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Economic stimmulus package and education
As a California teacher I was curious to see CTA President David Sanchez behind Illinois Senator Dick Durbin at a Press Conference last week. Then I realized Durbin is on the Appropriations Committee. A key committee for the stimulus package. That led me to search for what is in the stimulus package for education. I found some answers in the New York Times.
The good news is that there is money for education in the Bill. The bad news is that while the House version had $150 billion for education, the Senate trimmed quite a bit of that. The Senate version contains about $83 billion for child care, public schools and universities.
The Senate bill is expected to pass today and then it goes to a Conference Committee where House and Senate leaders will work on a compromise bill that can be sent to President Obama for his signature.
If you'd like to read the full New York Times article click here...NYT.
The good news is that there is money for education in the Bill. The bad news is that while the House version had $150 billion for education, the Senate trimmed quite a bit of that. The Senate version contains about $83 billion for child care, public schools and universities.
The Senate bill is expected to pass today and then it goes to a Conference Committee where House and Senate leaders will work on a compromise bill that can be sent to President Obama for his signature.
If you'd like to read the full New York Times article click here...NYT.
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