Steve Zimmer, a 17-year-veteran teacher in Los Angeles (he began via Teach for America), was recently elected President of the LAUSD school board.
In this speech to the AFT, he describes the many millions spent to defeat him.
I have known Steve for a few years, and I have always thought of him as soft-spoken. He is definitely NOT soft-spoken in this video. He goes after the billionaires who hope to privatize public schools, and he fights back, with a roar.
He unapologetically defends teachers. He is a firebrand fighting for collaboration.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Glad you’re finding your voice, Steve. And you’re welcome.
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Wish it had happened earlier…and that you had chosen Monica Ratliff as your VP. She has worked assiduously for students and public schools, and she has had trial by fire at the LAUSD BoE, and always done an outstanding job as with questioning Jaime Aquino about the iPad fiasco, yet you chose a brand new member instead. How come?
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To assuage his right wing deformer buddies. Zimmer always talks a lot of stuff and, along with the rest of this deformed board, votes to terminate innocent teachers and for the creation of more charters. Different guy, same message.
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Steve…you never do answer my, and many others, questions. Hope you do answer this one about why you did not choose Monica Ratliff to be your VP?
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Today, 41 local school districts from 4 southwest Ohio counties, joined forces to battle the avalanche of regulations that have made teachers’ jobs impossible. The announcement was made this morning, at a press conference covered by local media. Cincinnati’s CBS affiliate, channel 12, was one of the stations that reported on the event.
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Linda, I also posted on this today in greater detail but on Daine’s TFA post. It is a great story of resistence. I hope other superintendents join with these. Also notice that Ross is deep trouble.
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I hope Zimmer is the firebrand he seems in this instance, I don’t believe he is from past practice. Zimmer is a politician with designs on higher office and that’s ok if it’s his thing. Things won’t change on this school board, you’ll see.
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Thank you so much, Steve, for defending teachers, like myself, who are bewildered by toxic changes all around us. It is in my prayers that these toxic policies go away in order to keep the younger teachers in an already very difficult job. I am coping only because I am so close to retirement. My job has become unbearably stressful to the point that I am not willing to put my family and myself through it anymore. Sadly, I count the days. I never was the type of teacher who counted the days. No one loved teaching any more than I did. I still dearly love my students, and I will give them 1000 percent until the last day I walk out of my school for good. My husband and I are grateful that no more of our extended family are teachers. We are relieved that they took our word that our profession is broken as it is now. I still pray and hope that things change to keep our young teachers in the classroom. Teachers will always have our highest respect. Thanks, Steve, for standing up for us! 😊😊😊
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This video goes well with Education Inc.
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To Ellen Lubic
I am sorry that I am quite confused because LAUDS BoE President Steve Zimmer’s speech about “”our voice”” did not reflect on the action from Sup. Cortine who intentionally frames conscientious teachers in LAUDS teachers’ jail.
Would you, Ellen Lubic, be kind to explain to me and some other readers like me to understand LAUDS BoE President Zimmer’s position, duty and responsibility versus LAUDS Superintendent Cortine’s position, duty and responsibility regarding all Teachers in teachers’ jail like world-class Teacher Rafe Esquith?
Please accept my heartfelt thanks in advance for your precious time to educate me.
Respectfully yours,
May King
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May, I suggest that you and any other readers who have not been following the problems at LAUSD which have been written about here for over two years, go the Ravitch archives and look up LAUSD, Steve Zimmer, Monica Garcia, Tamar Galatzan, Richard Vladovic, Bennett Kayser, Monica Ratliff, Eli Broad, John Deasy, Ben Austin, Ramon Cortines, parent trigger law, Vergara lawsuit.
An hour’s reading will catch you up better than I can in just a few paragraphs. Also you can find articles on K12 News Network, Schools Matter, Chalkface, Down with Tyranny, Hemlock on the Rocks and other education sites. Look particularly for articles by Robert Skeels, Cynthia Liu, Karen Wolfe, and myself on google as well.
Thank you for showing interest, for LAUSD is a reflection of the mischief and high crimes and misdemeanors being perpetrated nationwide.
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Teacher jail stArted under Cortines and was expanded under Dz and the BOE validated and voted in 99.9 per cent of the cases to terminate teachers. The relationship between the Superintendent and the BOE, they are in lock step with one another.
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The words teacher jail may have started under Cortines but it exsisted long before.
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Diane and I must respectfully disagree on Steve Zimmer.
Steve Zimmer’s distasteful narcissism is on full display in this speech. So much of what Zimmer claims is a complete rewrite of history.
Zimmer talks like he is Caesar Chavez or Joe Hill.
In reality, Zimmer is the timid deserter soldier who only speaks up only when other people have fought his battles and shed their blood. When there are no more bullets, Zimmer will always “bravely” speak out and make some self-aggrandizing speech like this one in front of AFT.
To this audience, he talks about his epiphany of those who sought to destroy public education, “This will not stand.”
Well it did stand.
It stood for years with Zimmer’s silent acquiescence to the corporate policies that dictated the dark years under former Supt. John Deasy.
In this speech, Zimmer claims, “I could not raise my voice against the millions of dollars of corporate interest.” Well, yes he could have, but Zimmer was too afraid to.
Time and time again he backed down and pointedly DID NOT speak up.
Any researcher out there…please go back and review all Steve Zimmer’s public comments in support of Supt. John Deasy during those years. His obsequiousness suck-up-edness is appalling. If someone could try to find some moment of spine this man exhibited when IT REALLY COUNTED FOR SOMETHING…ANYTHING?!?! then please post it here.
When Zimmer voted to back Deasy, U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan congratulated Zimmer and all the board for their wisdom saying, “LA is absolutely going in the right direction.”
Support of teachers and their education concerns? Zimmer completely dismissed the agonized cry of the teachers of LAUSD who believed that the students should have a superintendent who championed their causes through education policies.
The sad, ugly, tragicomedic plight of teacher Rafe Esquith is not unique to Steve Zimmer. Over the many years of teacher jail,and the purging of hundreds of teachers, Zimmer BOASTED his steadfast bravery by saying he fired EVERY SINGLE ONE with no pause of consideration as to the justness of John Deasy’s and LAUSD’s case against them.
Again, EVERY SINGLE TEACHER who went before him to plead their case was proudly fired by Steve Zimmer and will be used in future campaign promotion for the man.
As to his huge concern about corporate influence at LAUSD, Zimmer couldn’t even muster up any interest in the initial IPad planning that has made LA a laughing stock. He did not do his basic due diligence and everyone now pays the price for that folly.
As a LAUSD National Board Teacher, I, along with so many of my colleagues, watched with horror as Deasy implemented his ant=education agenda. It was one thing to have so many of the educational and academic intelligentsia on our side—but those folks have zero political power. Only Zimmer and the Board were OUR voices who could have argued for a different course. And Zimmer and the others let us down because of his deafening silence.
This spring, when Zimmer’s “good friend” Bennett Kayser was being pummeled by the ridiculous Charter School Group The “Parent Teacher Alliance in Support of Rodriguez, Galatzan, Vladovic, and McKenna for School Board 2015”, he made a widely circulated video denouncing the tactics of this group.
School Board Member George McKenna demanded his name be removed from this group and they did so becoming “Parent Teacher Alliance in Support of Rodriguez, Galatzan and Vladovic for School Board 2015” Board President Richard Vladovic did not ask for his name to be removed because Vladovic embraced the Charter Support and tacitly endorsed their statements by never renouncing them.
Kayser lost to the Charter School Reformer, but Vladovic’s self preservation instincts proved correct: He won..
After the election, Zimmer hailed Vladovic for his steadfast integrity and had no problem with Vladovic being associated with that loathsome group. In typical Zimmer fashion, he stays quiet when there is any potential cost to him or political allegiance.
Whatever honor and integrity Zimmer says he demonstrates is only honor and integrity Zimmer himself says he demonstrates. Ipso facto.
I am hoping some thoughtful progressive educator from the left challenges him for his seat and a true recognition of Zimmer’s record can be debated among the voters.
LAUSD deserves someone who stands up for what is right AT THE TIME HEROISM MEANS SOMETHING–and not as part of a fantasy retrospective of what courage should have looked like at the time.
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Geronimo,
I don’t live in LA so I don’t claim to have superior wisdom about events there. I was glad to see Steve denounce the corporate assault on public education. I don’t know whether he was sincere. I hope so. The same elite is still very powerful.
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Though you don’t live in L.A. Diane, you can’t claim not to know about the program to eliminate senior teachers through the use of false charges and teacher jail. Many teachers have written to you and told you their stories. Geronimo raises very important points. Zimmer gave a good speech before United Teachers Los Angeles in 2013 where he talked tough saying that any one who comes for teachers has to go through him but since then LAUSD has lost 5,000 veteran teachers and Zimmer has said and done nothing to stop this.
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Thank you, dear colleague Geronimo, for once again speaking truth and telling the story as it really is, and not as a fantasy, a myth, to create a hero out of ashes and hyperbole. We in this LAUSD battle follow all the political shenanigans. Zimmer should be recalled rather than re-elected. He is culpable, as Geronimo says, for so many innocent teachers damned to teacher jail, for so many mismanaged charters being validated by his vote to embed them, by the horrors of the iPad, Miramonte, MiSiS scandals, and all the lawsuits resulting from the vast mismanagement of this district which endlessly wastes taxpayer money by hiring outside law firms. He voted with Deasy almost every time. He will face election again, and Anderson should not be a factor, but he should have either a proven respected teacher, or a parent leader, to run against him.
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Well said, I totally agree. As I said before with this board, different man, same program.
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I loved his speech. I’d like to know what he’s going to do about Rafe Esquith. From comments, it appears that there is an ageist policy of removing senior teachers on trumped up charges. Unless there’s something we don’t know, Rafe is a high profile and egregious example of this.
I hear the anger and disillusionment of the LASD teachers on this list. I am reminded that filling big shoes is a process and an evolution. Support for him will rise or fall in relation to his acts. I’d like to see where Zimmer goes from here. Meanwhile… Rafe Esquith?
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As a recent veteran of the LAUSD wars (particularly involved in Repairs Not iPads), bravo, Geronimo, for your spot on perspective and being fearless in expressing it.
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A thoughtful progressive educator from the left could not win this seat. Zimmerman watches his step or he would not be elected.
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So why has Steve Zimmer done nothing to make public the removal of thousands of LAUSD teachers at the top of the salary scale without any due process of law, if he is so opposed to the privatization of public education? What attorney Mark Geragos is uncovering in defense of teacher Rafe Esquith has gone on for years…and Zimmer didn’t know?
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Agree Lenny, and of course everyone who wants to know what LAUSD is all about, read Perdaily. Lenny has it all chronicled.
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Esquith will return to the classroom unless he decides otherwise however hundreds of teachers that have gone through this character assassination and false accusations will not be so lucky. These practices by LAUSD need to stop immediately and retribution paid to these damaged teachers. Too bad their union does nothing but collect dues.
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One of a few former TFA’ers who saw the light. Gary Rubenstein is another.
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Let me retract my support of Zimmer. I’ve seen the light and it doesn’t look too good. Kind of dim, dark, and dreary.
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It can “look good” if the purposeful corruption of public education for profit and the further dumbing down of America finally is addressed in a competent and honest legal forum, where LAUSD and districts like it around the country can no longer sweep this illegality under the carpet with no consequences.
The good news is that these folks have made no attempt to hide what they do, so that if we can ever get them in an (honest) court, the public will finally be outraged by what has been going on with no consequences or general public awareness of the continued destruction of students, teachers, and their families as a completely avoidable consequence.
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I work in Zimmer’s district. He tried to convert my school to a span school, forcing us teachers to reapply or get bumped into the sub pool, just like all the teachers forced to reapply when John Deasy and the Board, including Zimmer, converted their schools to magnets and charters in other parts of LA. Fortunately, our union chapter chair united the parents and other homeowners in the community against Zimmer to defeat his efforts this May.
stopcommuterschool.com
Zimmer secretly threatened revenge against our school, from what I was told. Whether or not that’s true, I don’t know, but our beloved chapter chair (an outstandingly good teacher) fled back home to New York in June.
The union endorses Zimmer. Why? I do not know.
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93% of targeted teachers are at the top of the salary scale and/or about to vest in lifetime health benefits and/or disabled. For each of these teachers forced into early retirement or forced out on bogus fabricated charges LAUSD saves approximately $60,000 and that’s in just the first year they are replaced with a fresh out of college “teacher” on an emergency credential. And Zimmer knows nothing about this?
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Steve Zimmer is not the enemy. As one of seven elected School Board members of a very large and diverse school district, he has to engage with a lot of different people–in the community, in the schools, at the central office, and on the School Board. Do I wish he had been a stronger voice for teachers and for due process for teaches? Of course. Has he made some miscalculations along the way? Yes. Has he disappointed those of us who have supported him in his election campaigns? Undoubtedly.
But consider: These last few years have been very tough for public education. We had a chronic budget crisis that only started to let up in the past year. We had a superintendent bent on implementing every flavor of the month that came along while cutting school sites past the bone. And it was awfully tough to resist the public hysteria over teacher “predators” and the siren song of charter schools.
Now that Steve is school board president, let’s see how he guides the process of choosing a new superintendent. I hope he has learned a lesson or two from that other liberal icon, Barack Obama, and is able to find and install an actual educator who will defend public education in Los Angels, and not a game player in service of the rich and powerful. Let’s help Steve to find the right path, shall we?
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Yes. Well said. Let’s give him another chance and help guide him on the right path toward selecting a superintendent who really cares about education instead of herself–cautiously, considering his past. One can only wear two faces for so long, after all.
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If “wearing two faces is standard operating procedure at LAUSD, what are you willing to do after “giving one last chance” to Steve Zimmer and again nothing changes. This continued indulgence of corrupt fools is literally destroying the lives of my predominantly minority students. When is it enough?
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Unless one plans to mount a recall campaign (in favor of what alternative, exactly?), Steve Zimmer is and will be school board president for now, and will be in charge of selecting the next superintendent. We must continue to advocate for and pressure him to do the right thing. Clearly some of us have less confidence in him than others. I appeal to all readers of this blog to continue to fight for what is right and not surrender to cynicism. At the end of the day, I’d rather have tried and failed than to have given up and not tried at all. By all means, Rafe Esquith and others must continue to pursue all possible avenues to achieve justice for falsely accused teachers. One struggle, many fronts.
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Brad…you words are conciliatory but how do you intend to reach Zimmer and help guide him when you are afraid to even use your name here for fear of being eradicated by the BoE he leads? How can any of us reach his ‘better self?’ I approached him last year at a small private meeting and he invited me to join him with a few other bloggers in his office to discuss LAUSD and his role. When I called and emailed for an appointment (with three other very visible and respected bloggers), he never responded although he had promised me he would get back to me. He is a master at this kind of dodging.
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Ellen,
You’re being too hard on poor Steve Zimmer. When the LAUSD Board voted for my dismissal based on clearly fabricated charges, after I had reported my school was graduating and giving high school diplomas to students with low elementary school English and Math test scores- prior I had taught for 25 years without a mark against me- Zimmer abstained. Shouldn’t I just be pleased as punch that he didn’t vote for my dismissal?
When Diane Ravitch was on The Tavis Smiley Show many months ago, she eloquently pointed out that tenure wasn’t a lifetime job. Rather, it just gave you due process rights. However, what somehow never got mentioned is that even teachers with tenure are being removed by the thousands from coast to coast without any due process of law.
So why doesn’t one of the most knowledgeable voices on what is going on in the unequivocal privatization of public education for money talking about what she must know?
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Hi Ellen,
I don’t get why I have to repeat myself to you. I have presented my personal bona fides previously on this very blog. I guess I’ve just had a different experience working with Steve Zimmer than you have. Perhaps we will have to just do a “good cop/bad cop” approach when dealing with our very busy school board members.
Brad Jones
Venice HS
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Don’t you ever get tired of voting for the lesser of two evils, who usually becomes indistinguishable by their actions from the people you voted against. Read Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine- the goal is the privatization of government function- public education being a big part of government function- and the further dumbing down of America so that corporate run charters can take 40% of the approaching $2 trillion a year public school budget for their inflated vendors of goods and services- think credit default swaps and sub-prime for comparable scams
When thousands of teachers have been removed from their livelihood without the “verified” charges made under penalty of perjury required by law and Steve Zimmer, who has the legal standing to object remains silent, something is rotten.
I have sworn affidavits that Vladovic said in public that the LAUSD Board votes to remove tenured teachers based exclusively on unverified charges with literally no verified- sworn to under penalty of perjury- evidence of wrongdoing as many sections of the California Ed. Code and well-established case law require and without basic due process of law…but I should give Steve Zimmer another chance. “We was only following orders.” Sounds familiar…who said that?
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Thank you Leonard Isenberg for your POSITIVE evidence from Vladovic’s public announcement about LAUSD board’s vote to remove tenured teachers with UNVERIFIED CHARGES.
If all COWARD + submissive EDUCATIONAL AUTHORITIES just “”FOLLOW ORDERS”” which are created by bribery from business tycoons, then this typical “‘following order”” = lack of dignity, and lack of human conscience regardless of the position of being president or being a board member.
Those Nazi war criminals in Canada have used the same excuse of “”following order”” to pledge being NOT guilty to their INHUMAN killing innocent Jews.
In the same vein, all immigrants who DO NOT want to live in their homeland SHALL learn English and adapt to TRADITIONAL western culture (= humanity, civility, public attire…)
In short, all CONSCIENTIOUS teachers from both private and public sectors SHALL unite and stand up together in order to fight back any CORRUPTED administrators from DOE Secretary, Governors, Chancellors, Superintendents to Principals and Board of education, BY EDUCATING STUDENTS AND PARENTS about their civility rights.
I impatiently await for the result of the CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT from teacher Rafe Esquith with the support of three decades parents and students in Hobart community. Back2basic
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If Zimmer has had an ephipany since becoming President of this school board, show us now by releasing Esquith to his classroom and the hundreds of falsely accused teachers from teacher jail. Don’t tell me it’s impossible because they are abusers, they aren’t, at least according to the criminal justice system. Show us something now Zimmer that’s different from your past practices.
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When the district saves approximately $60,000 for every top-of-the-salary scale teacher it forces into early retirement one way or another, they are not about to stop unless compelled to do so in court. One must ask, where are all the city, country, state, and federal regulator agencies, e.g. district attorney, attorneys generals, Department of Education, that have and continue to turn a blind eye to LAUSD openly illegal activity?
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Dear Dr. Ravitch:
I am sorry to be honest with you that I also agree with teacher Geromino that I must also respectfully disagree on Steve Zimmer
Thank you Ellen Lubic, Paula, and Geromino for your precious time to educate me about Zimmer’s speech that is quite confusing.
If I did not follow this website, I would think that Mr. Zimmer’s speech is very convincing from his conscientiousness.
Oh well, in reality, whatever sounds amazingly, it is a trap from con artist.
Whatever requires patience, co-operation, mutual respect, and mutual contribution, it will be glorious result. For example: teacher Rafe Esquith’s classroom 56 and Hobart Shakespeare club.
It is very amusing that America has suddenly been swarmed with lots of DISQUALIFIED leaders in educational field for the past 15 years. This is seriously alarming for American people to prepare a VERY GOOD FIGHT in order to preserve DEMOCRACY or the joy of learning in a quality Public Education for all. May King
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Good question Lenny, perhaps they are sharing in the largesse the deformers are reaping from the privatization of public education.
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I don’t think it’s cynical to question a public figures record after he has failed up to a new position. That’s what you want, what you need from the public, involvement and oversight over public and private officials in government. Zimmer is a government official who, along with this PUBLIC BOE, has continually advocated for privatizing public education. I have a problem with thT as a taxpayer. If that’s cynical, your opinion, my right.
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Well. as a parent, I have noticed, once again, that I don’t see anyone speaking about the kids. We have suffered through six years of K-5 at an LAUSD public school (a “good” one–a science magnet with those experienced and dedicated teachers [not!]), and three years at an LAUSD charter school, where my child had a few excellent teachers, more absolutely atrocious and incompetent teachers, and horrendous, unrelenting bullying. My child, who has always had special needs that required MINIMAL accommodations and aid from the school/teachers, has been ill-served by both schools. Neither the “public” nor the “charter” schools were competent, responsible, or respectful. This year, his ninth grade year, has been the first year in which he has received an adequate education in a caring environment, with mostly competent, respectful, dedicated teachers. It is the first year that he has not begged me to home school him, he is getting good grades, has friends, and talks seriously about college. This little span charter, in STEVE ZIMMER”S DISTRICT, has been abused for three years as it’s gone from 6-9th, then 6-10th, and now 6-11th grade. It has never been provided the space that it is lawfully entitled to under Prop 39. It has only 260 students and serves a diverse population of 20% special education students and over 50% African American students (40% African American males), almost all with low and middle class incomes. Thanks to Zimmer, our kids have had to go to school in private facilities in churches that have not been even close to what school students are supposed to receive. The school this year (in a Baptist church), doesn’t even have grounds for P.E., so the kids run up and down the sidewalk for their mile run and walk to a park once a week to actually play games on a field. Forget about a cafeteria, auditorium, library, etc. We who chose this school live with these conditions, however, because of the TEACHERS, and the environment of inclusion and almost NO BULLYING; in addition to the school’s hard work at providing a college-prep curriculum and also electives like music, drama, language, etc. Still, thanks to ZIMMER, the school will have to close to move to the facility offered to us that is NOT IN OUR DISTRICT, is not even close to the community which serves the school, and is in the NUMBER ONE highest violent crime neighborhood (ranked by the Los Angeles Times). The African-American, Caucasian, Latino and other assorted, Asian, Indian, etc. parents are now faced with finding another school (there are no decent pubic high schools in our neighborhood–our local school is rated a “2” by GreatSchools), or figuring out how to make this new location, in another district, outside of our community, safe and secure for everyone. The eleventh-graders are heartbroken as they were to graduate this year. We have all done everything that we can—we attended the school board meeting as a school last month and the kids and parents soke to a heartless. bored, ZIMMER. We have made phone calls, written letters, and ZIMMER is the only school board member who has not returned ANY calls or answered ANY mail. He is supposed to represent our district, but his disdain for our parents and kids is palpable. We are not some sterotype of a rich, white, exclusive charter school. If we were, we would do what all of the rich, white people do, we’d enroll our kids in private schools. We don’t have that choice, though, and ZIMMER and people like him, have taken our one little choice we had, other than moving, which we may have to do next year. After living in this area since 1994 and paying taxes for all of those years, what we have received for our tax dollars is worse than nothing—it’s discrimination, disrespectful and blatant “to heck with you” from ZIMMER, who represents the school system for us. Like I said, we had a bad experience with a charter, too, one of the big chains that has a lot of corporate money behind it. Believe me, I can see both sides of the sick picture that is the Los Angeles school system; and it is ugly on both sides. There are some little jewels on each side, too—little jewels in a sea of refuse. Don’t be naive to think that either side is the “good guys.”–THEY ARE NOT! I have so much anger that I literally (not figuratively) feel sick to my stomach when I think of the lazy, apathetic, disrespectful slugs to whom my taxes still go. It is truly sickening. ZIMMER IS NO GOOD GUY, in my opinion. Sadly, my son has learned a lot about life, politics, people’s true motivations, etc. through the years from his school experiences. They were not those that I would have chosen, but I guess he is now a little more prepared to deal with the reality of the dishonest, corrupt, self-serving, money-hungry, full of B.S. around every corner world that is now the United States.
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