Steve Zimmer knows what it is like to be targeted by the billionaires. He was outspent 4-1 or more in his last run for school board in Los Angeles. Nonetheless, miraculously, he prevailed.
Now board member Bennett Kayser is the target of the billionaires’ fury. They are spending millions to devote this gentle man and replace him with a charter operator.
Please watch Steve Zimmer’s brilliant endorsement of Kayser.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Would be nice to see him to use the same passion to back Scott Schmerelson in District 3. Unfortunately, Zimmer backed Schmerelson’s corporatist opponent in her last election. Maybe he’ll see the light this time.
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Better late than never. I guess his fellow board members are too busy covering their asses to support him.
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Empathy.
Courage.
Integrity.
Fighting for public education.
If you look at history HONESTLY–and not in the context of a political fundraiser speech–the entire LAUSD BOE has a lot to answer for in this department.
I hope Ref Rodriguez loses on Tuesday, but Rodriguez didn’t emerge out of a vacuum.
More on that after the election.
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Like.
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“What John Deasy tried to do to t
his school district.
He tried to bring public education DOWN.
And the MISIS crisis was NO accident.
That is… that WAS INTENTIONAL.”
STEVE ZIMMER
May 2015
————————————-
Thank you, Dr. Ravitch.
Steve Zimmer recently gave this speech
in support of fellow Board Member
Bennett Kayser’s re-election—
given at a Kayser fundraiser:
(try reading along with the transcript
BELOW, in the following post…
it’s so poetic you can set it to music)
What’s telling is how Zimmer has done “a total 180″
on John Deasy. Remember the days when
Zimmer would reverently refer to Deasy as
“a catalytic change agent” for schools and children?
(That “change agent” quote is from a radio i
nterview with someone (Adolfo?) that is somewhere
on the net… right after Zimmer’s & the Board’s
October 2013 Board vote to keep Deasy and
extend his contract.)
Well, Zimmer’s “catalytic change agent” gushfest
days are totally OVER apparently.
In this latest speech, Zimmer channels
Emile Zola (“J’accuse!!! J’accuse!!!) and boldly
claims that Deasy deliberately caused severe
“disruption”, and willfully wrecked any “stability”
in LAUSD, in order to further privatization, even
if that meant causing “real collateral damage to
real children EVERY DAY” in the process.
In essence, Zimmer argues, and makes the accusation that …
… corporate reformers’ / privatizers’ ultimate and ignoble “ENDS”– privatization and teacher union-busting—in the long run…
… JUSTIFY…
… the corporate reformers’ / privatizers’ strategic and ignoble “MEANS” —“real collateral damage to real children EVERY DAY”—in the short run.
That’s some pretty rough stuff.
In the middle of the speech, Zimmer concedes
that Bennett Kayser had tried to enlighten and
give warning to him about all of this, but
Zimmer says that he had long dismissed
Kayser’s dire forewarnings…
… until NOW., that is.
TRANSCRIPT TO FOLLOW IN NEXT POST
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Zimmer proclaims that… finally (!!!)…
he (Zimmer) gets it regarding what Deasy
is / was all about, and what his corporate
backers are all about.
Thank Jesus.
As promised, here’s the full transcript:
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
STEVE ZIMMER:
“This (election) is NOT just about Board District 5.
This is about the ENTIRE CONTROL and FUTURE of LAUSD.
“This is about CONTROL. Make NO mistake about it.
The control of the (LAUSD) school board hangs in the balance.
“And listen…. you don’t have to applaud on this line,
but you can.
— (CROWD LAUGHS)
“I have a lot of dear friends in the room,
and sometimes we have disagreed,
and sometimes we look at an issue,
we see it from a different lens,
and sometimes there are painful moments.
“That’s true for me.
That’s been true for Jackie (Goldberg) in her service.
That’s been true for Bennett.
“But the difference between the people
who believe that it’s ALL of us TOGETHER—
—that it’s ALL of us working together,
that… that… that our employees,
that our teachers are our greatest partners.
“NOT our enemies,
NOT … NOT… litigants to be challenged in court,
NOT … NOT…. people to be blamed for
the crisis that is facing our children,
but the VERY PEOPLE who can
lift our children out of this crisis.
“Even if we disagree on some issues,
the difference between
the folks like Bennett Kayser,
the folks like Jackie Goldberg,
Jeff Horton before her…
“ … the folks… the folks who have tried
to fight the fight over the years that
I am proud to associate myself with.
“The difference between THAT and…
“And what the folks who are
trying to destroy Bennett Kayser—
NOT BEAT Bennett Kayser—DESTROY him
AS A PERSON, not just as a political figure, but
DESTROY him as a person.
“The difference between…
we who believe that it’s ALL OF US together.
“and …
“those who believe that it’s ‘us against them’…
“It’s NIGHT and DAY.
“We CANNOT let them
take control of the school board
because if they take control of the school board,
they’ll have control of who becomes the
next Superintendent of this district.
“They’ll have control over the budget.
They’ll have control over the policies.
They‘ll have control over the schools.
“And it took us too long for us to realize it—
Bennett realized it WAY before I did,
and I give him credit for it EVERY day—
“What John Deasy tried to do to this school district.
“He tried to bring public education DOWN.
And the MISIS crisis was NO accident.
That is… that WAS INTENTIONAL, because
if you read their websites,
if you read what they’re trying to do…
“ ‘Stability’ is an ugly word.
“ ‘Disruption’ is what it is about.
“But WE know
WE the teachers
WE the principals
WE the school workers
WE KNOW
WE THE PARENTS
WE KNOW that disruption causes
REAL collateral damage
to REAL children EVERY DAY!
“And Bennett and I have been
about trying to re-STABILIZE and
re-HUMANIZE our schools.
“And at the end of the day,
we are about an ALL-kids agenda—
ALL kids, NOT SOME kids.
“And if you go to a door, and if you’re on a phone.
and people say,
“ ‘Why should I care?‘
“ ‘Why should I vote?’
“PUBLIC education is about
EVERY CHILD that comes to the
schoolhouse door—those who are the most gifted,
and those who have the most DIFFICULT
of challenges that are facing them.
“What makes public education PUBLIC education is
that it’s EVERY child that comes to the schoolhouse door,
and no one, NO ONE—NOT ME, NOT anyone else—
has been a better champion of that than Bennett Kayser.
“That said…
the MOST reprehensible,
the most DISGUSTING thing that they have done
is to somehow challenge—that while
Bennett has struggled, and continues to struggle
valiantly, publicly, VICTORIOUSLY
against Parkinson’s disease,
they have SOMEHOW THOUGHT that it is okay
to suggest… to suggest that somehow,
because of this struggle, he is incapable of serving.
“Every … ANY one of us could go to a neurologist
some time over the next year,
and come out with that diagnosis—ANY ONE of us.
“And thank God we have Bennett Kayser to
show us that this is NOT a death sentence,
that it’s NOT a way of having to fade into
the background,
that you can serve with pride,
with integrity,
with intelligence
with capability.
“And DAMN THEM, DAMN THEM
for questioning that!
Damn them for questioning that!
“Don’t let that win!
“Because I’ve known Bennett for over 20 years,
but in our private conversations…
what he now knows is that there is a new
empathy for what our children with
the most challenges face.
“THERE IS NO ONE MORE APPROPRIATE
to serve on the Board of Education.
than someone who INTIMATELY
and PERSONALLY understands those challenges
because he will NEVER turn way from them.
“So these next three weeks, Bennett…
these next three weeks…
they are about you, but they are also about
the future of public education
in this country, and in this city.
“We will NOT let this stand, Bennett,
and we WILL stand by you.
“But the last thing I want to say, Bennett, is….
“Thank you for your courage, for enduring this
on behalf of all of us, and most especially
on behalf of all the children who need you
the most.
“Thank you, Bennett!”
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
Here’s where you can donate on-line to Bennett’s campaign:
http://www.bennett2015.com/donate-online.html
Here’s his website in general:
http://www.bennett2015.com/
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Again try reading along with
the transcript above while
watching the video…
it’s so poetic you really can
set it to music…
Also, he apparently gave
this speech totally “off-the-cuff”,
with no cards, teleprompter,
or speech cards to read from….
Impressive!
You really can’t fake something like
this—to pull it off the way he did,
Zimmer really must have had
to feel and believe it in his core.
Here it is again:
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Truth, right can prevail when,if enough people work for it.
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Do you really think that this is just a choice between the good, true and righteous on one side and the venal, false and evil on the other? Such manichean concepts are only to be found in fairy and bible stories, not among politicians.
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Lord Acton says it best (in the 19th century) about politicians and the wealthy, powerful elite: “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority; still more when you superadd the tendency of the certainty of corruption by authority.”
When the Supreme Court passed Citizens United, that was the superadd Acton was talkign about.
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Thank you Steve Zimmer for standing by Bennett Kayser, one of the few on the LAUSD Board who has consistently asked the tough questions. Thank you for finally telling the truth about Deasy and the designs of the De-formers.
I wish I lived in Kayser’s Board District so I could vote for him!
Unfortunately, I live in Dr. Vladovic’s District, and have had to put up with horrible and shameful vitriol toward his opponent, Lydia Gutierrez, from the same billionaires who are backing Ref Rodriguez’ and Tamar Galatzan’s campaigns. But, the worst attacks against Lydia Gutierrez seem to be initiated from Vladovic himself and the two unions that are supporting him, UTLA and SEIU. The lies and attacks foisted upon Gutierrez are just as bad as those leveled upon Kayser. Vladovic was one of the biggest supporters of Deasy and all of his misdeeds. I understand, then, why the Charter folks and billionaires are supporting him. But, why are the unions supporting him? He only began to stand up for the rights of educators once he realized that he had viable opposition from someone who might be able to oust him off of the Board of Ed. And, then, the attacks began!!!
LYDIA GUTIERREZ is a PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHER, who wants to serve the public. She wants to bring greater transparency to LAUSD’s budget and she OPPOSES the DEVELOPMENTALLY INAPPROPRIATE Common Core State Standards and accompanying high-stakes tests. As a First Grade Teacher, she knows first hand the damage the CCSS has caused to her students. Yes, she is a registered Republican, but she is definitely NOT a member of the Tea Party (even though she agrees with them — and with Diane Ravitch — on the Common Core). And she most certainly does not deserve to be portrayed as an extremist and sunk into a cup of boiling hot water (that’s the despicable image portrayed of her on the attack flyers sent to my neighborhood!!!). LYDIA GUTIERREZ has dedicated much of her life to serving children and she will continue to do so as a Board member.
PLEASE VOTE FOR BENNETT KAYSER, LYDIA GUTIERREZ, AND SCOTT SCHMERELSON!!!
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