Small Learning Communities

This contract protects your rights if your school is divided into
Small Learning Communities. Without these added protections your
rights in SLC’s will be seriously compromised.
With the SLC contract language we have given our members a
real voice in the process of creating, developing and running an
SLC. We will have rights we do not now have. Without contract
language the District has the right to mandate whatever “reforms”
it chooses. During the past three years the District has utilized
this right to impose their restructuring in a chaotic, hazard fashion,
with each mini-District scurrying to enact superficial
redesigns that have left whole school communities filled with
frustration.
The proposed contract language will enable teachers to collaborate
with other stakeholders to design and determine the focus of each
SLC. This language honors seniority rights and is consistent with
current contractual rights. Every member is provided with multiple
opportunities for involvement in an SLC as a member of a Design
Team, a volunteer at the initial staffing of the SLC and later, as an
applicant to the SLC of their choice. This proposed language provides
all members with the opportunity to define the leadership roles
in their specific SLC, to become leaders, to select their leader(s) and
to review, renew or replace their leadership.
While the national spotlight of “accountability” has never shined
brighter on our schools our national and state leaders have only
offered the public unacceptable methods of reform such as Vouchers
and Charter Schools as the means of improving our schools. It is
unfortunate that true reforms, such as the nationwide movement
toward small learning communities are expected to be the panacea
for all the ills of the system. People have argued against SLC’s
because of systemic issues such as class size and lack of resources.
SLC’s have never claimed to address all of the challenges we face.
However, SLC’s do address personalization, democratic decisionmaking,
significant autonomy and the potential for control over
resources, curriculum and assessments.
True reform must be led by teachers. The UTLA SLC Task
Force was formed two years ago to halt the impending train wreck
of the District’s runaway reforms. The language this committee created
became our negotiating position when approved by our Board
of Directors and House of Representatives. The District’s SLC proposal
consisted of one paragraph. Through UTLA’s efforts the contract
language expanded to three pages that gives us a voice and
leadership role in SLC’s. Membership on the Central Committee
will put us in a position to create this reform rather than have it dictated
to us. We must be leaders in this critical reform movement.
We need this language because it supports UTLA’s vision of autonomy
for SLC’s.