Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

2019 California Labor Management Initiative Northern California Network Convening

Partnership and teamwork are critical to the success of public schools and districts. Since its launch in 2015, the California Labor Management Initiative (CA LMI) has sought to make collaboration between labor and management an integral part of the continuous improvement of public schools in California. The CA LMI works with a strong coalition that includes the California Department of Education, the Association of California School Administrators, the California Federation of Teachers, the California School Boards Association, the California School Employees Association, the California Teachers Association, the California County Superintendents Educational Services Association, the California Collaborative for Educational Excellence, and numerous school districts statewide.

The CA LMI convenes public school management and labor association leadership to build deep and enduring cross-sector union-administration partnerships in California public schools. By exploring and sharing evidence-based research, professional learning methodologies, and best practices through peer learning networks, the CA LMI builds support and expertise among educators and administrators for local labor-management partnerships.

I am very excited to invite you and your labor management teams to the 2019 CA LMI Northern California Network Convening, September 25–26 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Napa Valley—American Canyon.

This is an opportunity to sit down with your labor management team to learn from other districts, share insights, and plan your work for the new school year. You will hear presentations from districts that have made significant strides by making labor-management partnerships a priority and learn together how to take substantive and collaborative steps forward in building labor-management partnerships.

The full agenda will be available soon. Portions of the two-day program will be split into parallel strands for school districts new to the CA LMI and those who have attended a convening in the past. New school districts will receive an overview of the CA LMI and the resource guidebook “Cultivating a Culture of Collaboration Focused on Student Learning” and can use this opportunity to start on the pathway to collaborative labor-management relationships. Continuing school districts will use their time to engage more deeply as a team with new tools to build trust and precision and explore how central offices and schools can improve organizational culture to focus on better outcomes for students and staff.

Registration Process and Details

All interested school districts are invited to attend, including those that have no previous experience in this work but have an interest in learning more about the benefits of labor-management partnerships.

When: September 25th, 9:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., and September 26th, 9:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. (optional coaching and planning time until 4:00 p.m.).
Cost: $100 per person. Breakfast and lunch on both days are included.
Where: DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Napa Valley—American Canyon. 3600 Broadway Street, American Canyon, CA 94503 (five miles north of Vallejo).

Register at https://bit.ly/2ZrzUNl by September 18, 2019 (Note: Registration is now closed for this event).

Please forward and share this invitation with your school board president, certificated and classified union presidents, and other key staff participating on district labor-management teams. Ideal groups include the superintendent, certificated and classified union leaders, and a school board member, with many districts also including key site-level staff and central office department leaders. We encourage you to connect with your local leadership to organize your labor-management team.

This Convening will help your district team build and improve collaborative activities and connect you with peer districts, school board leaders, superintendents, and union leaders to share your experiences. If you have questions about the event, please see the CA LMI web page at http://cdefoundation.org/cde_programs/clmi/ or contact Ed Honowitz at 818-321-6741 or ed@cdefoundation.org. I know that by working together we can accomplish great things for the students we serve!

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond