LEU for JFT: Our Platform
By: Louisiana Educators United
Tags: Platform, Louisiana, Teacher Unions, Teachers Unions, Jefferson Parish

LEU FOR A BETTER JFT: MEMBERS RUN THIS UNION

Recognizing the need for new leadership, we are putting forth an energized slate of candidates for election to the Executive Council of Jefferson Federation of Teachers. We want to recommit JFT to being a membered-powered union that is dedicated to better treatment and better pay for all workers in Jefferson Parish Schools.

What is LEU?

Formed in 2018, Louisiana Educators United is an informal group, centered in Jefferson Parish, where activist teachers in Louisiana organize for better unions and better conditions for all students and teachers. During the coronavirus crisis, our weekly LEU organizing meetings became a stronghold for teachers to share, strategize, and organize as we faced the most challenging year of our careers. Without the support of union leadership, we led rallies in front of the JPS administration building that pushed back school reopening when Jefferson Parish Schools was dangerously unprepared. We forced leadership to meet more of teachers’ safety demands as the COVID-19 crisis unfolded in the schools of Louisiana.

Our slate is running for Jefferson Federation of Teachers Executive Council to re-energize JFT with new leadership and a new vision as we EDUCATE, ADVOCATE and ORGANIZE on behalf of all members. Candidates on our slate are emerging from the spirit of activism in Louisiana Educators United, and we are ready to bring that same energy to benefit our union.

EDUCATE

LEU for JFT’s goal is to work with all stakeholders to create a school system in which teachers and students can thrive. We are all career educators who see educating students as our most essential work. We believe a strong union leads the way to positive, equitable and inclusive schools.

LEU for JFT will create a Jefferson Federation of Teachers that is a powerhouse of information, including a robust website with FAQ sections, an informative and active social media presence, and fast responses to all phone calls and emails. Our goal is to educate all school workers about their contract, their rights, and how their union can help.

Most importantly, we want members to educate us. We will always listen to members.

LEU for JFT will open JFT offices to welcome members, extend office hours beyond the school day and increase availability of resources to members. We will use our resources to provide opportunities for teachers to educate each other and partner with Jefferson Parish families to educate the community about the issues in our schools.

We will offer support, committees and programming to meet the needs of all our members — elementary, middle and high school teachers, special education teachers, ELL and DLL teachers, paraeducators, guidance counselors, social workers, itinerant teachers, nurses, librarians, clerical workers, and cafeteria workers.

Our members have unique concerns and needs, and all our members deserve a union that recognizes and supports what they do.

ADVOCATE

LEU for JFT will advocate for better pay and better treatment for all members.

We will advocate for better working conditions and greater teacher autonomy. We will advocate for the end to unpaid overtime and unpaid labor during the school day. We will take back our planning periods from unnecessary cluster meetings and demand to be paid for both in-person and virtual professional development as is stated in our contract.

We will advocate for safe and up-to-date buildings with fully functioning heating and cooling systems that provide adequate ventilation. We will insist on proper plumbing and other necessary updates to make schools cleaner and safer.

We will advocate for sane schools, in which administrators at the school and the 501 level work to support and encourage teachers, not intimidate, harass or bully teachers. LEU for JFT commits to work systemwide to create beneficial, collaborative processes for professional development, planning, observations and teacher evaluation.

We will advocate for children by working to reduce class sizes and the amount of time devoted to teaching to the test and administering standardized tests. We will advocate for enrichment in the arts and music in our elementary schools. In middle and high schools we will advocate for vocational education, restorative discipline practices, the reduction of the number of administrators and security guards, and an increase in the number of social workers, guidance counselors, and school psychologists.

We will demand to be part of decision making processes about grades, curricula, instructional technology, leadership and all matters that affect our everyday work lives.

ORGANIZE

The most important work of any union is to organize the members. We need to build a strong union that appeals to all eligible JPS teachers and staff. Our goal is to substantially increase membership for the greater good of all. Recruiting, electing, training and supporting effective building representatives as our building-level frontline is the best way to build a responsive union members can rely on.

We need to be able to support and help elect members of the Jefferson Parish Schools board and other elected officials who are unapologetically pro-teacher, pro-students and pro-public schools. We need to organize with families because we know that teachers have their children’s best interest at heart. We need to organize with community groups and other unions that support teachers and share our goal of creating positive, equitable and inclusive public schools.

We must be able to back up our advocacy for better pay and better treatment. Every union must have a strike fund and be ready for the day when it is time to stand up for the rights of students, families and teachers. The next crisis will come and we have to be prepared.

We cannot be caught off guard as we were when the coronavirus crisis forced JFT members into unsafe, chaotic and traumatizing working conditions. Teachers were literally asked to risk everything to keep our schools open, and teachers’ voices were not listened to and not heard during the mismanaged transition to in-person learning.

Now is the time to organize for what is right: professional pay and professional respect. When you vote for our slate of candidates (LEU for JFT) you are voting so that going forward we will have a union ready to face crises big and small. Together, we will create a union that is ready to demand what we deserve after risking our lives and our sanity for our students in the 2020–2021 school year.