United Way of Los Angeles strongly supports the demolition of public education. (A reader pointed out that this stance is not typical of other United Way organizations. This post is about the United Way of Los Angeles.)
In 2011, United Way-L.A. partnered with the National Council on Teacher Quality (see Mercedes Schneider’s series about NCTQ, whose board includes reform luminaries such as Michelle Rhee and Wendy Kopp) to produce a report calling for tougher teacher evaluations based on test scores. Who knew that United Way was expert on the subject of education? Wonder how they reacted to the suicide of Rigoberto Ruelas?
Here is a conference the United Way is sponsoring, right before the Los Angeles school board election, featuring mayors best known for closing public schools, battling the teachers’ union, and giving public money to private entrepreneurs without accountability. You will hear no complaints at this event about how billionaires corrupt democracy by buying state and local school boards.
If you want to know how to reform the nation’s schools, why not ask the mayors of some of the lowest performing districts in the nation? Newark has been under state control since 1995. Chicago has had mayoral control since 1995. Los Angeles is not likely to learn much from either of them.
Mayors Cory Booker, Rahm Emanuel and Antonio Villaraigosa Headline United
Way of Greater Los Angeles’ Education Summit Market Watch
2/19/13
LOS ANGELES, PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — Three of the country’s leading
“Education Mayors,” Cory Booker (Newark), Rahm Emanuel (Chicago), and
Antonio Villaraigosa (L.A.), will gather for the first time to discuss the
challenges of urban education reform at the United Way of Greater Los
Angeles 2013 Education Summit on February 27th from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the
Los Angeles Convention Center. Through frank conversation among some of
education’s most progressive, if controversial figures, the Summit will
address the greatest obstacles to improving our schools, particularly those
that have chronically struggled. All 1,200 seats are sold out.
The Summit will honor Mayor Villaraigosa for championing education reform.
Looking ahead to the future of L.A. education, the event will feature a
panel discussion with the five top mayoral candidates to share their visions
for improving our schools. Eric Garcetti (invited), Wendy Greuel, Kevin
James, Jan Perry and Emanuel Pleitez will debate pressing education issues,
including teacher evaluations, school choice, budget cuts, the relationship
between the District and UTLA, and parents’ roles in schools.
“Given that we’re heading into a local election March 5th, it’s important to
hear from our potential leaders about their plans for addressing the immense
challenges facing our schools,” says Elise Buik, President and CEO of United
Way of Greater Los Angeles.
“This Summit is an opportunity for everyone who cares deeply about education
in L.A. to learn from one another, and to confront the complex issues that
demand our attention,” says LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, one of the
event’s featured speakers. Other speakers include philanthropist Eli Broad
and school board president Monica Garcia.
The Summit will also include two breakout sessions with key education,
business and community leaders about improving education in high-poverty
areas. One session will focus on how businesses can impact struggling
schools. The other session, whose panelists include UTLA President Warren
Fletcher, will investigate how innovative practices can strengthen teaching.
This is the second Education Summit that United Way of Greater Los Angeles
has held at the Convention Center. The first was in 2011 and featured
keynote speaker U.S. Secretary of Education, Arne Duncan. United Way has positioned itself as a
leader in the fight to improve education for all of L.A. County students.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Wish we would picket them outside. Of course, the security will be enormous.
This is sad… the United Way agencies should be standing shoulder to shoulder with public schools since we presumably provide services to the same families, children, and communities-in-need… Someone must have made a large donation to get them to host a conference that bashes the work we should be doing together…
“This Summit is an opportunity for everyone who cares deeply about education
in L.A. to learn from one another, and to confront the complex issues that
demand our attention,” says LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy, one of the
event’s featured speakers.”
Well, that certainly includes you, Diane. I’m sure your invitation will arrive any day now.
lol!
So, public school advocates: how do you know who your friends really are? It’s easy!
YOU DON’T HAVE ANY.
By the way, I guess United Way is yet another organization that has plenty of corporate money flowing in and doesn’t need any of mine.
Why be surprised? The UW, like many organizations, depends on corporate donations, especially since the federal and state governments are struggling under corporation-demanded austerity. And I’m sure that most of the senior management at UW aren’t interested in losing pay or perqs.
Let’s face facts–Until we can break the huge and growing wealth disparity in the US, we are all at the mercy of those who hold the money. And those who hold the money are waging war on public spending to further their control over society. I doubt few charities will be able to stand up to the pressure to conform.
No more donations for United Way.
Remember this post pertained only to United Way of Los Angeles.
Actually, Diane, United Way is involved in corporate reform in Philadelphia. The teachers union here is rethinking their annual giving and considering doing that through another organization.
Well over a year ago we started a group called Occupy United Way in response to their complicity with corporate edreform. Of course, their biggest donors are the same plutocrats pushing deforms everywhere else. We call this complicity of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex the ‘fund to advocate paradigm.’ These orgs essentially become public relations firms for their funders ideological and business needs, while providing said donors with a nice little tax write off.
The group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/occupyunitedway/
Manifesto: https://www.facebook.com/groups/occupyunitedway/doc/138875589550895/
On Ms. Buik: http://echopark.patch.com/blog_posts/united-way-elise-buiks-myopic-one-percent-policies
Piece on the fund-to-advocate paradigm which discusses just how much money Broad and Gates give to the United Way: http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2011/06/nctqs-lausd-reports-highly-questionable.html
United Way is one of the WORST run charities in the world, spending lavishly on senior executive compensation, including perks like private jet transport and opulent offices, and they ‘give’ relatively little to actual front line charities… Small wonder their identity with the corporate right and the fraud of ‘reform’ in education…
If people knew how corrupt UW is, they would CEASE their donations immediately…. unfortunately there are corporate Dem’s and Republicans who keep them funded, milking and bilking low information donors at the bottom of the wealth ladder to do so…
Please, folks, first remember that each United Way is locally managed. I work with the United Way of Greater New Haven, and we are partners in the City of New Haven’s groundbreaking School Change Initiative, lauded by Randi Weingarten. The city has worked closely with the teacher’s union to create a path to real school success. It’s an exciting place to be, and the early results of our work are encouraging. Other local United Ways are also doing some very good work supporting school reform efforts. As for the parent organization, known as United Way Worldwide, keep in mind that much of what is repeated about UWW comes from an anonymous email that has been circulating for years that outlandishly overstates the case or just plain makes things up. And while some United Ways rely on corporate contributions, for many of us our primary funding source is workplace donations — that is, working people, who just want to see work being done in their communities to make people’s lives better, Our local leadership, for example, is focused on wage disparity and closing the opportunity gap. If you are taking issue with the policy of a local United Way, it would be more productive to reach out to their leadership directly.
I’d like some phone numbers and email addresses at United Way. This seems like one problem it would be wise to fight.
Teachers’ Unions have historically campaigned among the schools to encourage teachers to give their “Fair Share” so that we look good in the media. Perhaps we should start there to protest until the Red Feather, ( or what it is now called), stops publicly advocating Rheeformy “stuff”. Stop pushing the teachers into donating.
We have Regent Bennet in NY whose job prior to reforming education was running our United Way charity-fund raising group.
Does that make him and “educator”? This morning’s News reported a lengthy interview with him. He failed every velcro ball the interviewer lobbed at him….I’m older than he is, so he can’t claim “Age’ as an excuse for his ignorance.
In fairness to Our local United Way, I don’t know how they stand. Perhaps they are wisely keeping quiet.
United Way has for years been structured so as to “allow” corporate bigwigs to “lean” on their subordinates for contributions. Now with “Citizens …” a ruling from the U S Supreme Court, the pressure to give to UW has slightly relaxed as the corporations can now spend freely for political purposes.
If anyone can safely avoid ( without putting their job in peril) contributing to UW, please send instead to any group that supports a free, equal, public school education for all, and a head start for those in our country who need such support. There are many! I’m sure Diane has a list somewhere on this blog.