Author Archives: educatorsforademocraticunion
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“EDU” website under construction
VOTE EDU and ask your friends to friend us on Facebook
We are in the final days of this election. Take a few minutes to help spread the word. Recommend your friends friend EDU on Facebook
Here are the instructions:
– from your FB page
– search for Educatorsfor A DemocraticUnion (sic)
– from the Educatorsfor A DemocraticUnion page, click on Friends
– click on Suggest Friends button (towards lower right)
– select all your UESF friends.
REVOLUTIONS HAVE BEEN WON ON SOCIAL MEDIA – we can win this election with everyone’s support!
Are you seeing our FB posts? – please SHARE our FB posts…don’t just LIKE them! (Like them too!)
This election is all about exposure and getting people to vote!
Traditionally UESF has a very low vote turnout even thou there are so many disgruntled members. We need to remind people there is an election and make sure they vote!
Ballots:
- No ballot mailed to your home?… call UESF 415/956-8373 and request a replacement.
- Organize a voting day at your site, after a staff meeting or during a UBC meeting.
- Remind folks to sign the outer envelope or their vote won’t count!
- Remind folks to vote the FULL EDU SLATE!
- DONT MAIL A BALLOT AFTER MAY 11 without putting a stamp on it.
- HOLD ONTO all ballots after May 15. Email or text me to arrange a for ballot pick-up at your site and safe delivery to UESF!
Everyone’s support is needed to get EDU elected! Together we can do this!
VOTE THE FULL EDU SLATE!
Executive Officer Candidates | Executive Board Candidates |
President: Lita Blanc | Substitute: Anna Slavicek |
Executive Vice President: Darlene Anaya | Paraprofessional: Francis Walsh |
Secretary: Lisa Gutierrez Guzman | Middle School: Heidi Avelina Smith |
Treasurer: Tom Edminster | High School:
Andy Libson Ellen Yoshitsugu |
SF Labor Council
Darlene M. Anaya Lita Blanc Tom Edminster Lisa Gutierrez Guzman |
Elementary:
Magdalena DeGuzman Cynthia Lasden Pablo Portillo Marci Ryan |
SPED: Julia Kim | |
At Large: Larry Orloff
Derrlyn Tom |
EDU ALSO ENDORSES: Frank Lara (Elementary) and Norman Zelaya (At Large)
It’s Time to Cast Your Vote — for EDU!
The UESF internal election is on! You should have gotten your ballot at home. This election is about exposure and getting members to vote! Here’s how you can help EDU win!
VOTING & BALLOTS
1. Remind UESF members they got a ballot send to their home:
• do an all-call at your site
• post to your Facebook page
• send out an email (never use sfusd.edu email addresses)
2. If ballots are not received by Monday 5/4, call UESF 415/956-8373 for a replacement.
3. Remind folks to sign the outer envelope or their vote won’t count!
4. Organize a voting day at your site, after a staff meeting or during a UBC meeting.
5. Talk to your friends about voting the FULL EDU SLATE! Encourage them to look at the UESF website for our bios or contact us for more info. www.uesf.org/elections
MAILING AND PICK UP
1. Ballots must be received by May 18, 5pm.
2. Do not mail ballots after May 11; with the presorted stamp they take longer to arrive.
3. Organize a ballot collection for your site and let me know in advance. We can pick up ballots on May 17 and May 18th to deliver them to make sure each one gets counted.
VOTE THE FULL EDU SLATE!
Executive Officer Candidates | Executive Board Candidates |
President: Lita Blanc | Substitute: Anna Slavicek |
Executive Vice President: Darlene Anaya | Paraprofessional: Francis Walsh |
Secretary: Lisa Gutierrez Guzman | Middle School: Heidi Avelina Smith |
Treasurer: Tom Edminster | High School:
Andy Libson Ellen Yoshitsugu |
SF Labor Council
Darlene M. Anaya Lita Blanc Tom Edminster Lisa Gutierrez Guzman |
Elementary:
Magdalena DeGuzman Cynthia Lasden Pablo Portillo Marci Ryan |
SPED: Julia Kim | |
At Large: Larry Orloff
Derrlyn Tom |
EDU ALSO ENDORSES: Frank Lara (Elementary) and Norman Zelaya (At Large)
Ballots Are Arriving – vote EDU!
Your ballot for UESF elections should arrive any day now. Please call the UESF office (415.956.8373) if you have not received yours by May 4. Here’s the EDU slate. When we win, UESF will be a union that stands up for you!
LITA BLANC, FOR PRESIDENT
DARLENE ANAYA, FOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
LISA GUTIERREZ GUZMAN, FOR SECRETARY
TOM EDMINSTER, FOR TREASURER
OTHER EDU EXECUTIVE BOARD CANDIDATES:
ELEMENTARY: PABLO PORTILLO, CYNTHIA LASDEN, MARCI RYAN, & MAGDALENA DEGUZMAN
MIDDLE SCHOOL: HEIDI AVELINA SMITH
HIGH SCHOOL: ANDY LIBSON, DERRLYN TOM, ELLEN YOSHITSUGU
SPECIAL EDUCATION: JULIA KIM
AT LARGE: LARRY ORLOFF
PARAPROFESSIONAL: FRANCIS WALSH
SUBSTITUTE: ANNA SLAVICEK
EDU is visiting schools – Have we been to yours?
EDU candidates have been busy….. talking with teachers and paras at schools at more than a dozen schools all over the district during the first few weeks of the campaign. Members are eager to hear what we would do differently if elected. “How will you address member apathy?” and “What will your approach to bargaining be?” are two questions that came up at many sites. Other educators want to know what the union can do to address concerns over special ed, testing and common core. Candidates will continue to visit schools for the next couple of weeks. Ballots will be mailed out to members during the last week of April. If you don’t have your ballot by May 4, call UESF and make sure you get a replacement. Make sure your vote counts and get your ballot in the mail!
To learn more…
Schedule a visit to your site. Please contact Lita Blanc alitablanc at gmail.com or Cynthia Lasden notengotia at gmail.com to arrange a site visit by EDU candidates.
A debate for contested officer positions will take place on Tuesday May 5th from 4:00-6:00 p.m. in the cafeteria of Civic Center Secondary School. Come here from EDU candidates.
Check out candidate statements and photos on the UESF website here.
Join EDU candidates for discussion and change our union!
UPCOMING EVENTS:
join candidates in discussion!
The UESF election campaign is off. EDU candidates are visiting school sites, and your site should have gotten our first EDU campaign piece, a glossy card. We need your help and participation in a number of ways:
1. SITE VISITS
Please contact Lita Blanc alitablanc@gmail.com or Cynthia Lasden notengotia@gmail.com to arrange a site visit by EDU candidates. We’d love to meet you to hear your concerns and questions Options include:
- Meet and greet at sign-in book
- Lunch time meetings
- After faculty or UBC meetings on site
2. Teachers 4 Social Justice (T4SJ) and Educators for a Democratic Union (EDU) potluck/discussion:
Thursday, April 23rd
6 to 8 PM: potluck & discussion
Redstone Building
2940 16th Street @ Capp ( between Mission & South Van Ness)
3. UESF candidate forum for contested officer positions:
May 5th
4 to 6 PM
location to be announced (check UESF website or EDU :see links below)
5. VOTING & BALLOTS
Ballots will be sent to your homes by the first week of May. The turn around time is short.
Please encourage voting at your sites and make sure members have received their ballots. The UESF office and election committee should be contacted if members do not receive ballots in a timely manner. (Double check with UESF now if you’ve moved recently!)
Ballots must be received by UESF by Monday May 18th.
Getting the ballots IN on time can be helped by:
- Early voting
- adding a STAMP (stamped First Class goes faster than pre-sorted) to the return ballot envelope.
- Collecting ballots from your school site and hand delivering them on May 18th
PLEASE consider organizing ‘day of” ballot collection for your site!!
WHAT’S AT STAKE?:
EDU stands for many things, including FULL DISCUSSION of educator and working condition issues. The current UESF leadership has done its best to NARROW and STIFLE full and informed discussion of issues, including
EDU activists have been key voices in holding UESF leadership to standards of transparency and have been important pressure on these and other issues:
- Bargaining accountable to members (elected, bargaining priorities set through democratic discussion) vs a Bargaining Team appointed by & accountable to the UESF President
- Wage and salary increases to help UESF members remain in San Francisco and working in the SF schools
- Resistance to the “testing regime:” unreasonable tests and test time taking over instruction
- Control over professional time
- Trying to restore the hours cut from T-!0/security aides
- Work day and salary issues for child development teachers
EDU stands for:
- Member empowerment and participation
- A democratic union
- Transparency and accountability
- Solidarity: within our union and in our community
- Building alliances for racial and social justice
- Resistance to the corporate attack on public schools & services
Ready for new leadership in UESF?
Dear EDU supporter,
Are you ready for new leadership in UESF? Now is the time! In May UESF will hold internal elections and Educators for a Democratic Union (EDU) is primed to take over the leadership of our union. We have the experience: EDU has been a consistent voice for accountability and transparency elected to the Executive Board, the UESF Assembly, and in our UBCs for over 6 years. Our union activists have been working with and for the union for many more years than that! We are running a slate who is already standing up for the change we desperately need.
EDU stands for leadership that will listen to, empower and advocate for our members (see our points of unity below). During recent contract negotiations, EDU leaders pushed to keep members informed – not in the dark — about bargaining. We challenged UESF leadership when they settled for modest raises and gains. But we were not in the majority. We are looking to change that, starting in May, and we need your support!
Here’s our slate for the Executive Board elections in May. When we win, UESF will be a union that stands up for you!
Lita Blanc, for President
Darlene Anaya, for Executive Vice President
Lisa Gutierrez Guzman, for Secretary
Tom Edminster, for Treasurer
Other EDU Executive Board candidates:
Elementary: Pablo Portillo, Cynthia Lasden, Marci Ryan, & Magdalena DeGuzman
Middle School: Heidi Avelina Smith
High School: Andy Libson, Derrlyn Tom, Ellen Yoshitsugu
Special Education: Julia Kim
At large: Larry Orloff
Paraprofessional: Francis Walsh
Substitute: Anna Slavicek
We need your support in order to run a vigorous campaign. We do not have the visibility and resources of the incumbents, so we must rely on grass-root support to get out our message to win in May!
Here are three ways in which you can support our campaign:
1.Set up a meeting with EDU candidates at your school. Send requests to edudemocraticunion AT gmail.com
2.Friend EDU on Facebook @ Educatorsfor A DemocraticUnion and invite your friends & colleagues to do so.
3.Forward this message with a personal note to your friends and co-workers.
Please do NOT use SFUSD email addresses: that is violation of UESF Election Rules, as has been past practice, and as we currently understand them.
If you have any questions about EDU or our campaign, please direct questions to: edudemocraticunion AT gmail.com
EDU stands for:
We’re off and running!
When: Thursday, March 12 at 4:30 pm
Where: Glen Park Library, 2825 Diamond Street
Check with your co-workers and come prepared to schedule an April site visit to your school.
Check out our platform as voted on at our last EDU meeting:
OUR VISION
1. MEMBER EMPOWERMENT AND PARTICIPATION
• Encourage democratic debate and discussion at UESF meetings
• Continue to fight for better wages and working conditions for paras
• All UESF members can vote at assembly meetings, not just UBC members
• Ensure an independent parliamentarian – not UESF president – presides
• Elect the Bargaining Team (not appoint)
• Elect – not appoint – members to lead Para, SPED, Elem, Middle, HS
2. TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY
• Transparency in Bargaining: Prioritize on-going communication to and
from members during bargaining
• Post or send agendas and minutes to all UESF meetings in a timely manner
• Ensure budget transparency and accountability for UESF staff and officers
3. RACIAL AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
• Actively participate in coalitions for housing and immigration rights, the
struggle against police violence and other social justice movements
• Advocate for legal separation between schools and law enforcement
• Carry out work actions or strikes over school closures or relocations
• Report regularly to members on SF Labor Council meetings and activity
4. RESISTANCE TO CORPORATE ATTACKS
• Oppose outsourcing to non-union workers and consultants in SFUSD
• Mobilize members to support schools that refuse to test
• Work for progressive taxation