Teachers in LA are rumbling about a strike. While "The Mayor and the Admiral" (and wouldn't that make a great sitcom) bicker over who's in charge of what, the United Teachers of Los Angeles have brought back former UTLA president Wayne Johnson.
Current president AJ Duffy, despite having enabled mayoral control, is talking tough about his demand for a 9% raise (and for you NYC teachers, a "raise" is when you get more money for doing the same job). And Johnson may be the right person:
"He was a toughie. He was very, very, very tough," recalled former school board President Roberta Weintraub, who negotiated with Johnson in 1989.
"There was no question we were outflanked. He didn't back down on anything. He's a tough negotiator. He was a firebrand at that point. What I remember is he was a very strong negotiator, someone determined to get what he wanted to get - at any cost."
On this coast, the entrenched, patronage-ridden Unity-UFT is not only unwilling to fight--they don't even want to ask for better working conditions or raises that beat cost of living.
Thanks to Schoolgal
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