A group of students has currently been working on establishing the Venice Student Union, which will be an independent union for the entire student body. Sparked by the recent movement of change among students (as was demonstrated with theMay 15 student protest) on the Venice campus, the new union will work to give all students active representation and negotiating power with teachers and the district to make changes that will benefit the student body.

"We are the school, this is our school," said senior Elliot Goldstein. He has noticed low school spirit among students. And by school spirit he doesn't mean spirit for football games or by running for student council--which he sees as a popularity contest. Instead, he and the rest of the union want to get students "actually caring about what's going on."

Goldstein said he wants students to "take education into [their] own hands and be a leader in [their] own school," which is what the union members hope to accomplish.

Many students see all different kinds of potential in the union. Junior Nick Ramsey is interested in the formation of the union because he wants to "create a sense of community and really feel like part of the school."

Junior Olivia Gauthier, an active union member, says she sees it as “a great way to have people from all different backgrounds and opinions to collaborate.”

“What I see in the VSU is that it’s there for the students’ voices to be heard,” said Junior Bennett Piscitelli.

"We need to barter on our behalf instead of sitting by while things change,"said Junior Brian Laffan, summing up one of the central purposes of the union.            

The union has many goals, including working with lawyers from the American Civil Liberties Union to excuse students that protested on May 15 by defending their First Amendment rights. If truancies aren’t cleared by June 20, the union will have a meeting with the National Lawyers Guild and the ACLU to figure out how to get them cleared. The union also wants to help teachers keep their jobs, which will help keep class sizes low. President Barack Obama gave LAUSD over $158 million earlier this year in order to avoid budget cuts. However, the district has decided to split the money to be used over the course of two years, thereby letting the issue of teacher layoffs and increased class sizes for next year remain.

"The bureaucrats keep their jobs, but our teachers lose their jobs," said Goldstein. The students spearheading the union feel this needs to be corrected, and plan on writing letters and creating a petition that will help teachers keep their jobs, he said.

Many students have already been attending the meetings to discuss the formation of the constitution, which outlines the foundation and basic tenets of how the union will behave and function.

The union is also trying to complete its establishment before the end of the school year, so that seniors will be able to graduate and leave the union leadership entirely in the hands of the rest of the founding members, so that it will be ready to function in full force come fall 2009. The union will be printing union cards and voting for leaders, which will be a council of 20, with five members from each grade.

The young union's attempts at making themselves heard at school haven't been very successful. When requesting announcements for the union meetings, the group faced resistance. Principal Lonnie Wallace didn't like the "wording" of the announcement they placed, and refused to allow it, said senior Brian Velez.

During an assembly on May 21, a few of the union proponents attempted to make speeches, but did not receive any respect from either the students or the teachers and administrators who were coordinating the assembly. The group had merely a few seconds before they lost the microphone.

For now, the only true means of communication the union has is through their Facebook group. They also have been holding meetings in room 138 during lunch and after school. However, Principal Lonnie Wallace has told Mr. Samuel Espinosa, whose room they used, that he may not allow these meetings to be held in his room any longer. However, Mr. Espinosa is not associated with the union in any way.

The union has been experiencing friction with Ms. Wallace, who is afraid that an independent union will lead to more student walkouts. Ms. Wallace wants the union to join the Associated Student Body, but many union members feel the ASB, better known as leadership, is ineffective at representing students who want change on campus and no difference would result from this. However, the union does not endorse any walkouts.

“We want to take the path of least resistance,” said Goldstein, when addressing the issue of gaining Ms. Wallace’s support.

The union has begun printing their own underground newspaper, called the Venice Posted, which they feel is important because legally it cannot be censored, said Velez. This will give them the media they need to say what they want, he said. The newspaper, which will also serve as a main source of communication among union members, will be distributed by hand on campus. It is also open to student opinion articles.