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Above: Jesse Aguilar, CTA Board Member, and Gina Whipple, TAL President

Voting on the Tentative Agreement (TA) has now closed and passed with 97% in favor and 3% opposed. Thank you to all members who voted.

Thank you Ashley Keith for working hard as TAL's Women's Advocacy Chair. She will be coordinating events, the first being information on Maternity Leave. Stay tuned for details!

Congratulations again to our Lancaster Teacher of the Year Jamie Salcedo!

09/14/2026
Dear Members,

Today your bargaining team met with the district again to continue negotiations. We are pleased to announce that we have reached a tentative agreement (TA). The next steps are a General Meeting with members and then a vote on the TA by TAL members.

We have agreed to the following:

3.5% on-schedule salary increase retro to July 1, 2026 payable within 90 days of ratification by all parties
Add Step 20 to all certificated salary schedules (without a Step 20)
District and TAL will make a Request for Proposals (RFP) regarding medical insurance
District and TAL agree to form a committee to look at the current annuity provider to review annuity options
Remove language from Article X 10.2 to coincide with Article XXVI
Agree to clarify contract language in Article IX (4.3.2)
Add UTK class size to Article IX (1.4.4)
Add language to Supplemental Enrollment Support

The General Meeting will be Thursday, September 17 at 4:00. Here is the webex link. Please save all your questions for that meeting. We will not be responding to any questions before the meeting. Please share this information with any members at your site who may not receive emails from me.

Thank you for wearing your shirts and supporting the team; we are happy that it was a quick and cordial cycle!

Sincerely,
Bill Clark (chair)
Gina Whipple
Anna Hill
Amy Knipp
Wendy Perry
Joseph Whelchel

There will be a CTA members benefit meeting on Wednesday September 23, 2026 at 4:00-6:00 pm @ PV Boardroom.

Thank you members for supporting our bargaining team!

Questions about Prop 3? Click here for more info!

Counselors making things happen across the district!

Welcome new teachers to our district! We enjoyed meeting you at New Teacher Orientation on August 4th.

Above: Michele Montez, TAL President Gina Whipple, Angel Urbina

25-26 Teacher of the Year Jamie Salcedo, who was a top 25 finalist for the LA County teacher of the year!

New teachers - we are excited for you to join us!

TAL President Gina Whipple, LANCSD Director of Certificated Personnel Todd Coleman, TAL Secretary Wendy Perry, TAL VP Anna Hill

2026-27 School Year Calendars

***2026-2027 SALARY SCHEDULE***

Thank you for showing your TAL support!

The Equity Team needs your involvment! Contact Jen Patterson for more information!

Thank you new teachers for attending New Educator Weekend with Gina!

Looking good Lincoln, Piute, Miller, Sunnydale!

Lincoln, Sierra, and Discovery showing their support for our Bargaining team!

Tyler Heckathorn and Geri Vasquez showing support!

TAL provided lunch for Miller, Endeavor, and Sierra on October 14th.... more sites coming soon!

Thank you for attending our first Site Rep meeting. TAL appreciates you!

Gina with our 2025 WHO Award winners Jason Godde (FNA) and Ana Filomia (Sierra). TAL thanks you for all your dedication and work to make our union better!

TAL members supporting Education in Hanford, CA.

TAL President Gina Whipple and Miller staff getting their steps in for the Walking Challenge!

Top left: Richard Ryder, EN, and Jay Berckes, F&A

Top right: Mechelle Reynolds and Greg Day, F&A

Left: Jennifer Patterson, IT Coach

Did you know if you've made 120 payments on your student loan, you can apply for loan forgiveness (even if you haven't consolidated your loans)? Many of our members have had their loans forgiven! Our Local # is 0821, if you need it for the application. Click here for more information on PSLF, and here for TEPSLF (if you didn't consolidate your loans).

When you are assaulted by a student, you are REQUIRED to report it to law enforcement. Ed Code 44014 states:

(a) Whenever any employee of a school district or of the office of a county superintendent of schools is attacked, assaulted, or physically threatened by any pupil, it shall be the duty of the employee, and the duty of any person under whose direction or supervision the employee is employed in the public school system who has knowledge of the incident, to promptly report the incident to the appropriate law enforcement authorities of the county or city in which the incident occurred. Failure to make the report shall be an infraction punishable by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

(b) Compliance with school district governing board procedures relating to the reporting of, or facilitation of reporting of, the incidents specified in subdivision (a) shall not exempt a person under a duty to make the report prescribed by subdivision (a) from making the report.

(c) A member of the governing board of a school district, a county superintendent of schools, or an employee of any school district or the office of any county superintendent of schools, shall not directly or indirectly inhibit or impede the making of the report prescribed by subdivision (a) by a person under a duty to make the report. An act to inhibit or impede the making of a report shall be an infraction, and shall be punishable by a fine of not less than five hundred dollars ($500) and not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000).

CTA Conference Grants info here
NEA Learning and Leadership Grant info here.
NEA Awards for Teaching Excellence info here
Click here for CTA training/events
Click here for NEA training/events

If you have not designated your Beneficiary(ies) for your complimentary NEA Life Insurance, please do so here. You can also see the different levels of benefits included in this coverage.

For all other salary schedules, please look in the contract starting on page 70 or click here for the District website

Board Mtg. Agenda click here
YouTube live broadcast click here
Facebook live broadcast click here

If you wish to make a comment, you must attend in person and complete a speaker card and present it to the Deputy Superintendent or other district official prior to the start of the main public portion of the meeting. Your name will be called during the “Addressing the Board” portion of the agenda and you may come to the podium to address the Board.

Please Note: The main public portion of the meeting begins at 6:00 p.m. Unless you are commenting on a closed session agenda item, you will not be called upon until after 6:00 p.m.

What are Weingarten rights?

One of a union representative’s most important duties is guarding against employer intimidation, particularly during disciplinary investigations, where the employer may attempt to coerce employees into making incriminating statements against themselves or their colleagues. For union-represented employees, one backstop against coercive investigatory interviews is Weingarten rights.

Named for a United States Supreme Court case, NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975), Weingarten rights have been extended to public employees under California’s labor relations statutes. Simply put, an employee has a right to request a union representative in an investigatory interview when the employee has a reasonable basis to believe that discipline may result from the meeting. The right to a union representative applies to investigatory questioning that is written as well as oral. Weingarten rights must be asserted by the employee — the employer has no obligation to notify employees of these rights, and employees may choose to represent themselves if they wish. Keep in mind that Weingarten rights only apply to investigatory meetings that might result in discipline of the employee. They do not apply to other types of meetings with the employer, such as a meeting where an employer is merely notifying the employee of a disciplinary decision that the employer already made.

Once the right is asserted, an employee is not entitled to their union representative of choice. The employer may proceed with the investigatory questioning as long as another union representative is available at the meeting time. But if an employee’s preferred union representative is available, the employer may not insist upon a different representative.

Additionally, the union representative has the right to sufficient information about the nature of the employee’s alleged wrongdoing before an investigatory interview takes place in order to allow for meaningful representation.