Members 35,000 (2013) Website utla.net Founded 1970 | Headquarters California, United States | |
Full name United Teachers Los Angeles Key people Alex Caputo-Pearl, PresidentCecily Myart-Cruz, UTLA/NEA VPBetty Forrester, UTLA/AFT VPJuan Ramirez, UTLA Elementary VPColleen Schwab, UTLA Secondary VPArlene Inouye, UTLA TreasurerDaniel Barnhart, UTLA Secretary Office location 3303 Wilshire Blvd., 10th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90010 Affiliation California Teachers Association Similar Green Dot Public Schools, Service Employees Internatio, Palisades Charter High Sch, Garfield High School, Granada Hills Charter H Profiles | ||
United Teachers Los Angeles is the main representative of certified, non-administrative staff in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Prior to 1970, primary and secondary school teachers in Los Angeles were chiefly represented by a local of the American Federation of Teachers (called the Los Angeles Teachers Alliance, LATA) and the Associated Classroom Teachers of Los Angeles (ACT-LA) which was affiliated to the National Education Association. There were other smaller teachers unions active before 1970 that also merged into UTLA. Over a dozen different organizations merged to form UTLA.
The first broad federation of Los Angeles School District teachers was the Affiliated Teacher Organizations of Los Angeles, formed between 1930 and 1932.
UTLA is very active in the political sphere of California, especially since Proposition 13, which severely limited the amount that public schools can receive from property taxes. This shifted the burden to the state and increased the competition between state funded groups. The union has also advocated strongly against school voucher programs and attempts to break up the school district.