Mark Latno was teaching at Figueroa Elementary School on the day his colleague was shot in the head. He recalled that a loud explosion echoed throughout his second story classroom, that his students jumped up quickly and ran to the window, and that a fifth grade student knowledgably proclaimed, "It's a gauge."

Latno has worked in "the toughest of the Los Angeles Unified schools." Since 1986, he has done what he loves: substitute teaching.

"I have worked through fires, floods, earthquakes, and a riot," Latno said.

But Latno no longer works in those tough schools on a daily basis. In fact, he rarely works at all.

On June 30, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) President A.J. Duffy and LAUSD Superintendent Ramon Cortines signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The MOU granted the 1,800 recently pink-slipped teachers seniority over 5,000 substitute teachers when competing for substitute placements.

"This stabilizes schools and provides crucial continuity for students who have built relationships with these teachers," Duffy told The Los Angeles Times. "It also helps keep the next generation of teachers in the LAUSD system, so they can be rehired once openings are available."

In doing so, however, the MOU gives new teachers seniority over substitutes teachers that have worked in the district for decades.

"Now, they've placed all these beginning teachers in front of me and taken my seniority. And it just is not fair," Latno said.

And Latno is not alone.

Cliff Olin taught at LAUSD for 11 years. He transferred to the Culver City district to teach in a multilingual classroom. When the commute began too cumbersome, he decided to reapply for a job at LAUSD. There were no jobs to be found. So, Olin has been subbing for the past one and a half years.

As both a teacher and a substitute teacher, Olin has seen both sides of the spectrum. "You shouldn't be favoring one group over another. To be fair, you should sacrifice among all the teachers, not just toss out thousands of them," Olin said.

Many members of UTLA agree with Latno and Olin.  The UTLA House of Representatives voted to rescind the MOU on October 7. According to a memorandum sent from Duffy to Cortines on October 14, Duffy is "obligated to reopen these negotiations as soon as possible."

UTLA Substitute Teacher Association Chairman Dave Peters is challenging Duffy. Peters claims that the MOU is invalid.

"Duffy threw us under the bus with the acquiescence of the board members and the superintendent," Peters said. "As the president, Duffy is not a dictator. We have a democracy. He did not involve me in the negotiations as it says in the constitution. He did not abide by the constitution."

But, many substitute teachers do not want to place their careers in the hands of the UTLA bureaucracy. On October 27, they held a protest outside the school board meeting room. Six members of the protest addressed the board during the public comment portion of the meeting.

Chanting, "Cortines and Duffy cut a dirty deal, substitutes' lives ruined for real," the small gathering of protesters blocked the doors to the meeting room. In fact, several of the substitute teachers lied down in front of the doors.

The theme of the protest was a "die-in." Taking the idea from war protests, the substitute teachers hoped to emphasize that they are struggling to survive since the decrease in their work.

At the climax of the protest, all the substitute teachers lied on the ground with their signs plastered against their chests and white lilies in their hands.

"This is a human sacrifice," substitute teacher John Walsh told the LAUSD School Board. "Teachers are being starved to death."

Despite the symbolism of their demonstration, the substitute teachers are faced with the grim reality of their situation. For many, the work has decreased by more than 50 percent. Peters, for example, has seen an 84 percent drop in his income.

A common worry among the protestors is the prospect that they will lose their health insurance if the MOU is not reversed. Substitute teachers need to work 600 hours or 100 school days to qualify for health benefits.

While fear is prevalent in the crowd's faces, so is anger. The LAUSD substitute teachers are members of the UTLA. All feel abandoned by the leadership of their union.

"To me, the job of the union is to defend every worker that's a dues-payer, not to cannibalize on the most vulnerable people, which the substitute teachers are," said Carl Vrooman of the L.A. Worker's Voice.

In spite for their fear for their own livelihoods, several of the substitute teachers stated that concern for their students inspired the protest.

"The school district did not propose a way for all the people to keep their jobs and to keep the low class sizes. They decided to lay off all those teachers instead of being more creative. There are a lot of bright people there. They could have thought of some way that wouldn't have impacted the students, Olin said.