Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. In June 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public-sector unions could no longer charge representation fees to nonmembers. The decision in Janus v. AFSCME was expected to have an immediate explosive effect. Unions had argued before the court that the loss of fees would be devastating,...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. You can’t get very far in the public education policy debate without coming across the pension issue. School districts are seeing a greater portion of their budgets going toward covering their obligations to retired employees. The fiscal pinch makes negotiating with current employees even more...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Voters in the Los Angeles Unified School District last week rejected a parcel tax designed to raise $500 million annually for district operations. Needing a two-thirds majority to pass, Measure EE failed to receive 46 percent of the vote. The measure had the support of...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Back in 2014, the California Teachers Association generated a long-term strategic plan. Titled “Our Union, Our Future,” it described eight broad goals, including community engagement and coalition building, organizing unrepresented education workers and “transforming our profession.” In April, CTA assembled a working group of union officers, representatives...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Any debate about public education finances invariably devolves to whether we are spending enough “in the classroom” and how much “administrative bloat” there is. Textbooks, maintenance, facilities, curriculum and student programs all come under scrutiny, either to find savings or to fight for additional funding....

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. In two weeks, a small percentage of those who live within the boundaries of the Los Angeles Unified School District will go to the polls to vote on Measure EE, a parcel tax designed to raise an estimated $500 million annually for the city’s schools. How will...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Most of the education support employees working for the Clark County School District in Las Vegas may soon find themselves switching state and national unions. A loss for the National Education Association will turn into a gain for the Teamsters. The Education Support Employees Association is affiliated...

*Updated May 8 Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Measure EE, the proposed L.A. Unified parcel tax on the June 4 ballot, has a steep hill to climb. It needs a two-thirds majority to pass, and a wide assortment of business groups have lined up to oppose it. What’s more, a last-minute change...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. California’s public employee unions have fought tooth-and-nail against charter schools ever since the law authorizing them was introduced by Democratic Senator Gary Hart in 1992. It’s fair to say that many things have changed in the state over the years — the composition of the legislature and...

Mike Antonucci’s Union Report appears weekly at LA School Report. Campaign season came a little early in Los Angeles this year, with the open District 5 school board seat and Measure EE, the parcel tax proposal to fund city schools. United Teachers Los Angeles is devoting its sizable war chest to these elections, and its union allies...