200 + members strong
La Cañada Teachers Association
The La Cañada Teachers Association, is the exclusive bargaining agent for the approximate two hundred teachers, counselors, school nurse, librarians, speech therapists, and school psychologists in the La Cañada Unified School District. We are affiliated with the National Education Association (NEA) and the California Teachers Association (CTA).
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Location
La Cañada Teachers Association La Cañada, CA 91011 Phone: (818) 851-1045 Email: lacanadateachers@gmail.com Send us a message
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text @lcta18 to the number 81010 They’ll receive a welcome text from Remind. If anyone has trouble with 81010, they can try texting @lcta18 to (619) 828-9004. |
LCTA’s Statement at LCUSD School Board Meeting on Tuesday, July 14th
July 14, 2020 I am speaking to you today on behalf of the 200 members of the La Cañada Teachers Association. We want to thank the LCUSD Administrative Team and School Board for all that you are doing to ensure the safety of all members of our learning community. Four weeks ago the La Cañada Teachers Association surveyed its members and approximately 70% of our bargaining unit members were eager to return to the school campuses and to begin the 2020-21 school year. At that time, we believed that with the use of PPE and social distancing was sufficient to keep everyone safe. During the last few weeks there has been a dramatic increase in active cases here in Los Angeles County. We surveyed members again and this time only 28% are confident in the plan to return to school campuses in August. Your dedicated and hard working teachers and staff are committed to providing the best possible education for the students of La Cañada. In order to do this, we need a working environment that is safe. Unfortunately, we do not feel that a safe physical environment is possible at this time. California Labor Code 6402 states “No employer shall require or permit any employee to go or be in any employment or place of employment which is not safe and healthful.” We are very appreciative of the great efforts that have been made towards securing safety. Unfortunately, the majority of teachers do not believe it is safe to return to school campuses even with a reduction in capacity to 50%. Some of the specific concerns that surfaced regarding safety include the poor ventilation and recirculated air in classrooms, lack of space to ensure 6 feet of social distancing, as much as 185 minutes in an enclosed space with shared air, safe arrival and dismissal procedures, and sufficient time and personnel to clean high touch surfaces. Just this week over 200 scientists have warned that airborne transmission of COVID-19 via aerosols is a concern. This is a good reminder that we simply do not know enough about this disease and it is not possible to guarantee a learning environment that protects the life, safety, and health of students and employees. We urge the School Board to delay the opening of the physical campus until a safe learning environment can be achieved. While we have safety concerns regarding the physical school campus at this time, your La Cañada teachers and staff remain committed to working together to provide a rigorous academic experience that challenges and engages all of our learners. We are confident that this can be achieved using a digital platform. La Cañada teachers and staff are also committed to returning to campus as soon as it becomes safe to do so. We too yearn for the day that we return to the collaborative, face-to-face learning that we love! We urge you to support a virtual learning environment for the beginning of the school year until we are confident that students and staff are safe when they return to campus. The sooner this decision is made, the more time we will have to prepare for an effective distance learning model. We look forward to and remain committed to working together to do what is best for our entire learning community. La Cañada Teachers Association Call to ActionJune 3, 2020
BITTERSWEET END TO 2019-2020 & EMERGENCY CALL TO ACTION We are amazing. Our members quickly pivoted to online distance learning on March 13th and we persisted with our students until June 1st. But, before we can applaud our victory, we have to look at what is happening right now. Who could have imagined at the beginning of 2020 that the school year would end like this with a widespread pandemic and the political and social unrest that plagues our nation? For our students, it is even more confusing, maddening, and overwhelming as they begin their summer of uncertainty. As we move into the summer, remember that we will need to provide students with a foundation of resiliency, perseverance, tolerance and grit, if not now, when we return to school in whatever form. We do not know what is going to happen tomorrow, next week, next month. One thing I do know, there is no going back to "normal." Now is the time to create a new normal. We are educators facing the potential of enormous cutbacks in a time when every teacher is needed. We are called to action to make sure to put our legislatures to the task. Make sure they hear you! Send an email, Tweet, call! This is not the time to be quiet. TELL YOUR LAWMAKERS WHAT TEACHERS & STUDENTS NEED! -Gayle Nicholls-Ali, VP Publicity 
May 14, 2020
A LOOMING FISCAL EMERGENCY
Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, state and local budgets will be under siege across the country. The scale of this economic crisis will quickly deplete any financial reserves states and localities built before the outbreak. THE NEED FOR FEDERAL AID Unlike the federal government, states are required to have balanced budgets, meaning that cuts are likely coming without federal help. While Congress has allotted various rounds of COVID-19 stimulus, it has yet to fund states and local governments at the levels needed to avoid crippling public services. WE CAN BE PART OF THE SOLUTION Our members of Congress need to hear from us! Congress needs to step up and do the right thing for our students and educators by allocating resources to state and local governments. Specifically, Congress should provide $175 billion for the Education Stabilization Fund to distribute to states. We cannot afford a generation of students subject to underfunded classrooms due to this pandemic. Contact Your Representative We have to campaign hard to save our schools and our jobs. CTA is asking its members to call congress today! To get more information, please visit educationvotes.nea.org. If Congress hears from enough educators, we can secure federal funding for public education. Contact your representative today! Call 1-855-977-1770 and CTA will connect you directly to your member of Congress. If you can't get through, email or Tweet. Thank you for your support of public education! How to get your voice heard. Find your representation. https://www.govtrack.us/congress/members/CA#representatives 1-Call. Enter your zip code or address to find the designated representative. Leave a message. 2-Email. Find your district and click on the link to send a message. 3.Tweet. Click on the @ and tweet away! What do you say? Support providing at least $175 billion for the Education Stabilization Fund to distribute to states. Support $2 billion for the E-Rate program to close the homework gap. federal_covid-19_call_to_action-_final__1_.pdf March 2020 (CovID-19 Update)3/31/20
Download and read the MOU. 3/27/20
Check your email to read the MOU. It is in today's Zoom invite. 3/26/20
Distance Learning in the time of Covid19 Hello LCTA! Download the entire message from Sue here. 3/24/20
Meetings will be conducted online using Zoom. We will not be recording meetings, minutes will be taken. If you have never used Zoom video conferencing, you can learn how to join a Zoom meeting. 3/23/20
We have created the following doc to house questions, concerns, or other issues regarding Distance Learning: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1cj1HJiqtGBV21dNq3P1IJPRFwsMWhcItgHQNkX9yAUE/edit?usp=sharing Please post any questions you may have in this doc by site. Feel free to help other members if you feel that you can answer their questions. Remember to contact your site reps for support or send an email to lctacontact@gmail.com. Thanks, LCTA Leadership |
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La Cañada Teachers Association is a proud chapter of the California Teachers Association and National Education Association.
