Official Letter
Official Letter
Dear County and District Superintendents:
California Labor-Management Initiative Summer Institute
Partnership and teamwork are critical to closing the achievement gap in California’s schools and districts. Fulfilling the promise that public education delivered to me—that all students, no matter their background and no matter their challenges, can succeed with a great public education requires all educators to work together in deep collaboration. Since the launch of the California Labor Management Initiative (CA LMI) (http://cdefoundation.org/cde_programs/clmi/) the CA LMI has sought to advance continuous improvement and make labor-management collaboration an integral part of improving public schools and advancing equity in California.
The CA LMI convenes public school leaders and facilitates exploration and sharing of research and best practices through peer learning networks and trainings to build deep enduring cross-sector union-management partnerships in California public schools.
That is why I invite you and your labor-management team to register for the California Labor Management Initiative Summer Institute, June 25-26, 2019, at the San Diego Marriott Hotel Mission Valley.
The Summer Institute is an opportunity to convene with your labor-management team to learn from other districts, share insights, and plan your work for the coming school year. You will be joined by Andy Hargreaves (http://andyhargreaves.weebly.com/biography.html), author of Collaborative Professionalism, Uplifting Leadership: How Organizations, Teams and Communities Raise Performance; and, Professional Capital: Transforming Teaching in Every School(with Michael Fullan). Education Week listed him among the top 10 scholars with the most influence on U.S. educational policy debate.
The conference will feature concurrent workshop sessions and presentations by school districts that have made significant strides by making collaborative partnerships a priority over the past few years.
June 24 will be a pre-conference day for districts and team members new to the CA LMI to become oriented with the work and take their initial steps toward developing labor-management partnerships prior to the Summer Institute programming.
The CA LMI is proud to present the Summer Institute with a strong coalition that includes the California Department of Education, Californians Dedicated to Education Foundation, Association of California School Administrators (ACSA), California Federation of Teachers (CFT), California School Boards Association (CSBA), California School Employees Association (CSEA), the California Teachers Association (CTA), and the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association (CCSESA).
To foster continuous improvement in public schools, the CA LMI focuses on building the collective knowledge base for supporting local labor-management collaborations in California. Emerging research (http://cdefoundation.org/staging/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Cornell-Rutgers-Working-Paper-10-13-17.pdf) is showing the powerful impacts of these collaborative partnerships on student achievement and staff retention.
Registration Process: All interested school districts in California are invited to attend the Summer Institute. If you and your colleagues have an interest in learning more about the benefits of labor-management partnerships, we hope you will attend, even if you have no prior experience with this approach. Please register by June 1 at https://bit.ly/302rEAH [NOTE: the preceding web page is no longer active].
Please forward this invitation to your School Board President, Certificated and Classified Union Presidents and other key staff you would like to participate.
If you have questions about the Summer Institute, please contact Ed Honowitz at 818-321-6741 or via email at ed@cdefoundation.org.
I hope this convening will give your district team the opportunity to begin building or improving future collaborative activities and will connect you with peer districts, school board leaders, superintendents, and union leaders to share your experiences. I know that by working together we can create schools where all students have the support and learning environments they need to overcome challenges and accomplish great things.
Sincerely,
Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction