UTLA criticizes possible deal to keep Romer as district advisor

As teachers prepared to rally Wednesday to protest stalled contract talks, their union leaders criticized contract extensions for senior school district officials as well as a possible consulting contract for former Supt. Roy Romer, who retired last month.

One rally took place in the southwest San Fernando Valley; another was held just west of downtown at the headquarters of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Both were well attended.

The featured prop for the late-afternoon event, in the hands of many demonstrators, was a flashlight to “shine your light on district waste.”

The union also brought along two movie premiere-style searchlights to round out the metaphor, and shined them on the central administration building. Speakers downtown addressed a spirited throng of more than 2,500 from atop a truck/bandstand.

In an interview, union President A.J. Duffy accused the district of protecting entrenched bureaucrats and squandering money that should go to classrooms and teachers. He took direct aim at a possible consulting contract with Romer, which the school board discussed Tuesday in closed session.

Duffy also criticized the rehiring earlier this year of more than 30 senior managers with two-year contracts that took effect July 1. With Romer intending to retire, such contracts should have been limited to six months or so, he said, allowing the new schools chief to “pick his own team.”

“It’s the same old, same old. Why did they hire the entire senior staff back again?” Duffy said. “And we’re concerned that the district would hire Romer back. Are we going to have two superintendents?”

But new Supt. David L. Brewer III supports “tapping the experience and historical perspective” of Romer, said Don Davis, Brewer’s chief of staff. Under Romer, he said, the district began offering multiyear contracts to attract top talent and provide continuity.

The union has demanded a 9% salary increase and smaller classes; the district has offered 3% and a more limited class-size reduction. An earlier, separate pact over health benefits raised the compensation package by 1.5%.

Negotiations are playing out against the backdrop of school board elections in March. The backing of United Teachers Los Angeles has been critical in previous elections. UTLA is withholding the possible endorsement of incumbents until January, to pressure officeholders on the contract talks.

Three-term incumbent David Tokofsky will face one less challenger than anticipated. Luis Sanchez, who heads an Eastside nonprofit, said Wednesday that he would drop out and support Yolie Flores Aguilar, chief executive of the Los Angeles County Children’s Planning Council. She lost a close election against Tokofsky in 1999.

“She has a better chance of beating David Tokofsky,” Sanchez said. “And to beat David we cannot split the Latino vote.”

Tokofsky’s Latino-majority District 5 stretches from Eagle Rock to the cities of southeast Los Angeles County.

howard.blume@latimes.com