Demonstration Teachers Share Info & Wait for Admin to Negotiate

UCLA Lab School Demonstration Teachers’ Continuing Concerns

Working conditions at UCLA Lab School continue to pose obstacles to providing an excellent inquiry-based education to ALL students. The absence of a contract and administrative support impede our ability to fulfill our progressive mission of teaching and learning, research, and public engagement. A robust contract, covering a full range of topics, would alleviate many workload issues, help attract and retain qualified Demonstration Teachers, and improve school climate.

Below are some ongoing concerns:

• There are 6 administrators for our school of approximately 450 students. This is a top-heavy number and demonstrates the school’s commitment to hiring administrators rather than Demonstration Teachers who work directly with students. Four of the seven teaching teams from Primary through Upper are currently incomplete. Administration claims that a teaching apprentice can perform in a classroom the same way that a Demonstration Teacher does. We disagree.
   
• Children still aren’t receiving the same amount of time with Music, P.E., and iSTEAM Specialists, as they did pre-COVID. This is due to the elimination of a Specialist position and the increase in the number of students at the Primary and Intermediate levels. This increase in student numbers, without a plan for hiring new Demonstration Teachers and providing necessary teaching spaces, impacts students and teachers daily.
   
• The reduced Specialist time also impacts essential teacher planning time. Daily planning time for teams and levels ensures that instruction continues to be rigorous, equitable, engaging, inquiry-driven, and well-articulated throughout the grade levels.
   
• We still do not have a nurse on campus to care for our community during an ongoing time of great need. The most recent principal message (9/23) reports one will soon be on campus. While we are glad the administration has heard us on this, it is important to enshrine the presence of a qualified nurse on campus in our contract. In Demonstration Teachers’ proposals, we included language that requires a nurse on campus.
   
• There is a lack of parity between the Dual Language Program and the English Language Program. None of the three new administrators speak Spanish fluently or have experience working with Dual Language Programs. A resource specialist was hired to serve the needs of students in the English Language Program but a Spanish-speaking resource specialist with experience serving a Dual Language population is still needed in order to support ALL children equitably.
   
• The library is no longer supported by a full-time library assistant. Every other Specialist has at least one Teaching Assistant or co-teacher. This leaves the librarian responsible for teaching information literacy and other lessons; purchasing, cataloging, and processing books for the library collection; and circulating and shelving books. Over 26,000 books were either checked out or looked at in the library in the 2021-22 school year.
   
• UCLA Lab School also has not filled an Information Technology (IT) position to manage and support operations and academics at our school. The IT team has always ensured that the portal, Magnus, PikMyKid, computers/ laptops/ iPads/ technology in the classroom are functioning and accessible.
   
• A lack of Teaching Assistants poses a safety issue for children while they play on the yard. The Teaching Assistants should not be asked to manage large groups of children without a safe ratio of adults to students (1 adult to 25 students). Extra support is needed so Teaching Assistants can support all learners, including neurodiverse children.
   
• There are almost NO substitutes for either Teaching Assistants or Demonstration Teachers who are absent due to illness or other issues. This can disrupt teacher planning and student learning. Our proposals include language that would require UCLA Lab School to pay our substitutes at least the same amount as substitutes in LAUSD. This will attract high-quality substitutes. It will also prevent Demonstration Teachers from being pulled from their own classrooms and students to cover other Demonstration Teachers when they are absent.
   
• Tremendous demands continue to be placed on Demonstration Teachers at UCLA Lab School. We have not had a raise since July 1, 2019. Dual Language Demonstration Teachers have not received an additional payment recognizing our special skill set and our workload since February of 2020. UC Management has not offered a compensation package that would cover even one year of inflation.

Our contract expired nearly three years ago. Students and Demonstration Teachers would all benefit from a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that is specific to the lab school and addresses many of the above issues. The Unit 18 contract that covers lecturers does NOT address the specific needs of our teachers and our young students. Geffen Academy and Preuss School UCSD both have robust MOUs that ensure the needs of students and teachers are met.

Ways Lab School Families Can Help UC-AFT Demonstration Teachers

• Let administration know that you support your children’s teachers. Working conditions are learning conditions.
   
• Contact administration and Superintendent of K-12 Schools Devin Dillon to ask UC Management to negotiate a robust contract on a wide range of topics with UCLA Demonstration Teachers. Geffen Academy and Preuss School UCSD have negotiated MOUs specific to their needs (44 pages long for Geffen Academy and 18 pages for Preuss UCSD). UC Management’s single proposal was less than 2 pages long.
   
• Visit and regularly read our posts to ucaft.org to stay informed about negotiations between Lab School Demonstration Teachers and UC Management. The 20 proposals that we presented to UC Management are posted. All flyers past and present will also be posted. Demonstration Teachers write these posts and they represent our perspective as your children’s teachers.
   
• Sign up for updates from UCLA Lab School Demonstration Teachers at http://bit.ly/LabSchoolUpdates.