Teachers

Glendale Unified has tentatively abandoned its plan to lay off up to 125 employees - including teachers, nurses and counselors - after a round of negotiations Friday with its teachers union, which must still sign off on the deal. Officials cited a more optimistic budget proposal from Gov. Jerry Brown and a sense that the district would be able to pull out of its $15-million deficit by cutting costs elsewhere. “We're still going to make reductions, it just won't be with the teachers,” Glendale Unified Supt.

Just two weeks short of a deadline for attracting Glendale Unified 75 employees into early retirement to minimize the scope of layoffs later this year, district officials this week reported that just nine have applied for the offer. The incentive entails a teacher being paid 50% of their base salary over the course of five years, or the employee's lifetime, in addition to health benefits. Out of the pool of 1,290 employees that include teachers, nurses or counselors, about 350 are eligible for the early retirement plan.

The president of Glendale's teachers union, Tami Carlson, wants the city to pay $13,800 to fix a garden wall at her home that she claims crumbled to the ground due to a leaky fire hydrant. Carlson found herself in the spotlight in October when she refused to sign a federal grant application that could have funneled $40 million over four years to Glendale Unified because district officials refused to promise not to lay off teachers next school year. About two weeks before Carlson - along with union leaders at other districts across the state - refused to sign off on the application, citing concerns about federal requirements attached to the money, she came home to find the wall separating her and her neighbor's property broken.

Adrian Vega and Toni Deluca were driving home on a mid-April night when their car struck bicyclist Cameron Douglas. But the matter of who was driving the car was the topic of debate that took over a Los Angeles courtroom this week. Both Vega and Deluca are high school swimmers, aspiring Olympians and hopeful UCLA athletes, and each insisted they were not behind the wheel. Their testimony, in fact, was given on behalf of a Crescenta Valley student and a Louisville High student pretending to be Vega and Deluca during the semifinals of the Los Angeles County mock trial competition this week.

I disagree with your Nov. 3 editorial that found fault with the Glendale Teachers Assn. I praise them for their principled decision; it could not have been an easy one for them to make. Teachers are the invaluable asset in the effort to foster an informed society that can function in a fair-minded, civil and democratic manner. My 13-plus years as a Glendale Unified parent have been memorable. I have consistently witnessed the steadfast dedication, effective skills, creativity and resourcefulness of the dozens of teachers in our local elementary, middle and high schools who taught my sons on a wide range of subjects, from physical education to physics.

Glendale Unified school board members this week are slated to continue discussions over a district-wide policy change that could ease restrictions on students bringing wireless devices, such as smartphones and iPads, to class. The new policy being discussed could go even further by encouraging students to bring their own electronic devices to school under a recognition that electronics belong in the 21st century classroom. When and how electronic devices are used, however, will still be up to each school and teacher, officials say. And by that metric, policies can vary greatly by campus.

When Glendale Teachers Assn. President Tami Carlson approaches the podium at school board meetings, she likes to describe herself as representing “the best darn teachers in the state of California.” She means it. Still, there will be fewer Glendale teachers for her to serve next year as the district looks to address a $15-million structural deficit via a series of cost-cutting measures that most likely will include layoffs. Those measures will impact the individuals who lose their jobs, the teachers who remain behind, and, of course, the students.

With its teachers union continuing to withhold support, Glendale Unified faces the worst-case scenario of having to overnight its 70-page application for federal Race to the Top funds on Monday. The grant application for the highly competitive pot of federal money requires the union to sign off on it, but Glendale Teachers Assn. is withholding its support because district officials have refused to commit to no layoffs next school year. “We have rejected their counter offer,” said union President Tami Carlson.

Glendale Unified's Teacher of the Year doesn't really understand why she won the honor. “I don't see myself as being an outstanding teacher,” said Olivia Macaulay, who learned of the honor earlier this month. During a recent day in her Glendale High classroom, Macaulay's U.S. history students dressed up as Founding Fathers and hashed out how much power the U.S. government should have and where the capital should be located. On other days, they've represented various states trying to pass legislation.

With less than two weeks remaining until Glendale Unified officials must submit an application for a federal grant that could net up to $40 million, they have yet to reach an agreement with the teachers union over a provision that would require student test scores to be a factor in job evaluations. District officials said this week they are optimistic that a deal will reached with the union - which must sign off on the application in time for submittal before the Oct. 30 deadline. Glendale Teachers Assn.