MAYA AND HER CREW
Maya Decker, former Past President of Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers, tells Sandy Asper about the scary but brilliant beginning of the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers.
In a world where courage is hard to find, this is Maya's story told by Maya Decker.
My recollections/ruminations about N-MFT’s origins in answer to your questions. (March, 2012)
During the 1968-69 school year there was widespread dissatisfaction among N-MUSD teachers with N-MEA’s management-controlled leadership (administrators were also members, and served on N-MEA grievance appeal committees). Some of us contacted the California Federation of Teachers president, Raoul Teilhet, for help in establishing an AFT local in Newport-Mesa. As a student working on my education credential at Cal State L.A in early 1968, I had been impressed with his speech to my class about teacher union representation. With CFT’s help, over the next several months a core group worked on recruiting members for our new AFT local. Sal Delgado and Chuck Canniff were the most effective in eventually signing up 22 teachers.
We held our first membership meeting in May of 1969 to adopt our Constitution and By-laws, and hold election of officers. Three of the new officers taught at Corona del Mar High School: President, Charles Canniff, Vice-President, me, and Sal Delgado as either Secretary or Treasurer.
During that spring and the next school year, we would meet most Friday’s to review the events of the week and discuss strategies for keeping teachers informed. We worked together to write the newsletter that we named the Harpoon inspired by the fact that the superintendent, John Nicoll, was such a whaling enthusiast as well as being a justifiable target of the teachers’ frustrations. CFT staff helped us run off mimeograph copies that would then be picked up for delivery to schools the next morning by our very effective Pony Express system since we couldn’t us district mail distribution.
Some of my CdM colleagues did express their concern to me that as a first-year teacher, I was vulnerable to management reprisal. One of the defenses we employed was to encourage everyone who was a member to always wear their AFT pin. I also worked hard to do the best job possible in the classroom so they wouldn’t have any classroom issues to attack me with. (You’re right, Sandy, it is scary. But the alternative leaves us with schools that are staffed with teachers who don’t speak up when arbitrary injustice occurs. It also leaves us with students who can’t be inspired because they are taught by people who are dispirited , and have no self respect.)
We had to work for the next seven years under the legal constraints of the Winton Act (supported by CTA) which had been specifically designed to keep teachers from having the power to negotiate with management on a level playing field. During that time we worked on gaining more and more members in order to increase our number of representatives who could sit down and talk with management about what should be in our employee contract—known as Meet and Confer. Representatives from N-MEA also served on that council. Since it had been legislatively designed to rigidly control teacher influence, we not-so-affectionately referred to it as Meet and Defer.
In 1976, after years of much pressure and political activity by AFT locals all over the state, the Rodda Act was passed giving California’s teachers the right to bargain collectively with management for wages, hours, and working conditions. It established the whole legal mechanism that would protect teachers’ right to organize members in their district and represent them. Since there were two competing organizations, a representation election had to be held to determine which agency would represent N-MUSD employees. Out of close to 1,300 eligible voting certificated employees in the district, N-MEA won by 47 votes in that 1976 election. Their old habits and weak representation over the next 3 years allowed N-MFT to challenge and win the right to represent in 1979.
N-MFT was very lucky to have Paul Jordan as its chief negotiator for our first contract that reflected AFT philosophies. The whole ordeal was a very contentious process for which the District hired an outside professional negotiator; none other than Ken Hall, the director and founder of School Services of California, which is used by management in districts up and down the state. A wary administration didn't want to give an inch to AFT negotiations demands.
The previous contract had minimal protections in evaluations, transfers, job postings, safety conditions, and grievance procedures. We engaged in months and months of meetings on evaluations and transfers alone.
The safeguards of District conduct contained in those pages were hard won and therefore need to be carefully protected from erosion. Continued vigilance in that regard is best served if every teacher reads and understands the contract.
This is not just Maya's story, nor the story of only the Newport Mesa Federation of Teachers, but is in many ways the story of all unions in this country. To not have the NMFTwould mean that teachers would have to rely on the sole judgement of administrators and trustees, some of whom would not have the children's or teaches interests at heart....recent example: Jeffrey Hubbard.
NEW BOOKS BY SANDY
Sandy
Sandy Asper is still wondering what she's going to be when she grows up after 40 years of teaching in junior high school where she was affectionately called "The Great White".
Constantly looking for relevance with an irreverent attitude, she has written one hilarious book on dying, YES, THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT I MIGHT DIE...SOMEDAY (A LIGHTHEARTED WORKBOOK).
Sandy and Bruce (the bemused spouse) have three children and six grandchildren, two of whom have illustrated her three "Grammy" books: My Grammy is a Surfer, Grammy is a New York Cab Driver, and Grammy is a Rock Star.
THE BOOK!
This book will definitely not be the usual book on death and dying. In fact the preponderance of information will be about after you have left the scene. The hard and fast evidence is that you (and everyone else on earth) will in fact die. The good news about this unalterable fact is just that; everyone has to do it. That means that all the good-looking, rich and fun-loving people whom you now currently hate, will have to do it too. Another comforting thought is that there have certainly been a number of people who have died very successfully before us, and so we won't be alone in this experience. This is not going to be a book about religious or philosophical beliefs, unless of course you want it to be, because this is your book. It is meant to be a rather lighthearted approach to what will be the inevitable eventually.
If done correctly, this book should encourage those weak-hearted individuals,that would be almost all of us, who would rather live in denial right up until the last second, to make a couple of plans. In that way those who are in charge of the remains will have a clue who they are burying, or throwing to the winds.
Call me crazy, but when I die I would rather choose how it's all going to go, at least one last time.It would be just swell to save those relatives and friends all those crabby hours, and bad decisions regarding my funeral, memorial service, wake, or whatever else I want to have happen to me after I bid adieu...
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Grammy Books
CHECK OUT KRISTIN COLE SELLERS' ILLUSTRATIONS
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CHECK OUT MARY DOROTHY ASPER'S ILLUSTRATIONS
(click on the picture)
CHECK OUT KRISTIN SELLERS AND MARY ASPER'S ILLUSTRATIONS
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