United Teachers Los Angeles, the union that represents L.A. Unified’s instructors, announced Thursday a 91 percent vote of no confidence against school district Superintendent John Deasy.

“We need to share with the school board our belief that, in many ways, the educational program is not on the right track,” said union president Warren Fletcher at a news conference to announce the vote results.

Less than 60 percent of the union’s 32,000 members voted at school sites on a ballot that had two questions. One question asked teachers whether they have confidence in Deasy’s leadership. The responses: 16,040 voted no; 1,647 voted yes.

Fletcher said teachers are upset that Deasy’s reforms are creating an environment in which teachers aren’t being treated as education professionals. “The excessive reliance on testing, the excessive reliance on what we in the teaching profession call ‘phony reforms,’ are taking the focus away from what teaching and learning are really about and are harming the district,” Fletcher said.

The teachers’ union hasn’t had a sympathetic majority on the L.A. Unified school board for six years. A largely pro-union board member, Steve Zimmer, fended off a re-election challenge last month. And a pro-union candidate is in a runoff next month. “This isn’t about political capital,” said Fletcher, “it is about making a better LAUSD.”

Teachers also approved a road map for the school district called “An Initiative for The Schools L.A. Students Deserve.” The plan calls for reducing class sizes, ending excessive student testing, and restoring funding to adult education and early childhood education. That initiative was approved by 77 percent of teachers who voted. Union leaders said they will present this plan to the school board at a later date.

Click here for the full story.