I am sending $200 to Steve Zimmer, president of the board of the Los Angeles Unified School District. Each time Steve runs for election, the billionaires target him for defeat. So far, despite the millions spent by the billionaires, Steve has prevailed. Steve started as TFA, but became a career teacher. He ran for the school board after 17 years in the classroom.
Please send whatever you can afford.
“Dear Diane,
I am running for re-election to the School Board on March 7th, and we are facing an important campaign deadline. We will formally launch our campaign and website early in 2017. But I wanted to reach out to you now as we approach this critical funding deadline on December 31st at midnight. I need your support like I’ve never needed it before.
As you know, we have made important progress in LAUSD over the past eight years. We weathered the worst budget crisis ever to face this district, made real and measurable improvement in key indicators of student outcomes, dramatically expanded equal access to arts education, and most critically, raised graduation rates to the highest level in the history of our public school system.
LAUSD is simply a better school district today than it was eight years ago.
But I know there is much, much more to be done, including expanding our reforms to all our schools and fighting for adequacy in public education funding. I need your help to continue this important work – I hope I can count on your support for my campaign. I need your donation today.
I face a difficult challenge this election, one more daunting than four years ago. In an effort to gain control of the School Board, the California Charter Schools Association (CCSA) together with a few Corporate Reform Mega-Investors has recruited three wealthy candidates to oppose me in this election. They will have limitless funding to promote a very different agenda for public education, including creating a false narrative about crisis and failure in our public schools that belies all our progress and insults the efforts of our amazing teachers, school leaders, and families.
I need you to help me tell the true story of what can happen when we work together for our kids. Please take a few minutes to contribute to our campaign before the deadline on December 31st. Here is a link to follow for credit card donations before December 31st.
Thank you for supporting public education in Los Angeles. Together, we will keep building the positive momentum for our kids and their schools.
All my best,
Steve
Paid for by Steve Zimmer for School Board 2017 FPPC ID #1384608, 249 E. Ocean Blvd., Ste 685, Long Beach, CA 90802. Additional information is available at ethics.lacity.org.
PO Box 27164
Los Angeles, CA 90027
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
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Are donations to be sent to the Long Beach address? I will gladly give, but need to know where to send my contribution. What about online donations? Once an address and/or link is confirmed… I will post in CA-BATs. Thank you.
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I hope the nomination of Betty DeVos for education secretary will be a useful tool in this election. Making connections between the CA Charter School Association and corporate funders who support her agenda to privatize and infuse her personal religious beliefs into public education should give pause to any reasonably concerned citizen who still believes in the concept of democracy.
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Hi Diane–
This race is a very tough one.
I appreciate that you have taken a position on Steve Zimmer and are calling for his re-election..
Being a teacher in LAUSD under Steve Zimmer, however, has been an exercise in aggravating frustration.
Zimmer gives speeches. Impassioned ones at that.
But his speeches often don’t match his actions.
If one READS his letter of appeal you published here, sadly, there aren’t any really specific reasons that Zimmer has offered up to vote for him, save CCSA’s opposition.
Why is that?
Zimmer only offers broad platitudes that appeal to the readers of this blog. The day-to-day Steve Zimmer and his past record offers a much more tepid portrait.
Zimmer doesn’t have much to run on when you take in account his limp opposition to John Deasy (and in fact, often a big supporter of his tenure), his capitulation on teacher rights (a powerful force in purging hundreds of teachers from LAUSD’s ranks), and an outspoken advocate for the charter schools’ existence and voted for almost every single charter petition that came to the board.
When educators were crying out to end John Deasy’s reign at LAUSD, Zimmer stood with the other Education Reform advocates to extend his contract.
If the argument goes that Steve Zimmer is the least corporate-y of all those running for his position, than yes, he is. In these dire days, that might be enough to warrant support.
I get that.
I completely understand the pragmatism of endorsing Zimmer over the billionaire backed candidates. This is the calculation that all the Progressive voters in his district will have to make. It is, however, disingenuous to credit Zimmer for taking any bold, “Profiles of Courage” action while serving in LAUSD.
I might endorse the fantasy Steve Zimmer in his own head, not the flesh and blood one that is running for re-election in District Four and has an actual record one can look up.
I would gladly offer my $200 donation to a real Progressive who would give people a candidate who would fight for a different vision of Public Education than what Steve Zimmer has offered us; one more in line with Leftist policies and pedagogies.
As much as I want LAUSD to be that beacon for both its students and my own kids, maybe Steve Zimmer is the best we can hope for–at least for now.
Politics are never truly clean and it is hard to be a purist. I get that–but it would be extraordinary to have a candidate run against the billionaires who could effectively argue how much s/he DIFFERS from the policies that are funded by the rich, dark money charter advocates instead of campaign to the voters how much s/he actually ALIGNS with many of those other candidates’ views’.
Thanks for hearing me out.
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Geronimo– why don’t you run for LAUSD School Board . It’s easy to criticize when you are not walking in that person’s political shoes.
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Ginster….Be sure to read what all of us in LA wrote here today before you pass rude judgment on Geronimo who has taught in the district all these years that Zimmer has been on the dysfunctional BoE. You might want to search Diane’s archives for much more info on Zimmer and his cohorts, and who colluded with Deasy and Broad.
Donations will be needed by candidates who are true believers in public schools who are not funded by the charterizers and the unions.
I suggest everyone do their homework on ALL the candidates, and who is funding them.
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Geronimo,
Is there anyone running against Steve Zimmer whom you prefer? Or just more charter shills?
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I completely agree with Geronimo (whose sentiments are about the same as my union area rep — Zimmer’s area), and have direct, personal experience fighting Zimmer on collocation and iPads, but am weary (as is the union rep) of speaking the truth about Zimmer publicly when the opposition is completely in bed with privatization and the Broad toads. We must bite the bullet — again, again, again — and support the lesser of two evils. I would run for Board against Zimmer if he hadn’t long ago secured the financial support of the union. But he’d did. And we do: We have to support Steve and hope he can change.
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“He’d did”? Dangded autocorrect.
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Must add that I am in agreement with Geronimo whom I have known and worked with re LAUSD and their many problems, for the past four years. Also with Left Coast Teacher whose classes are so lucky to have such an erudite dedicated educator. Both of these outstanding LAUSD teachers are reporting correctly on Zimmer.
I have often giving Steve the benefit of the doubt, and each time, I am disappointed in his lack of interest and lack of responsiveness to others of the public and his constituents, and his terrible long term voting record on the BoE.
I don’t know who The Ginster is, but his/her snide comment above is uncalled for. Geronimo is a lifetime teacher in the district and has done so much for LAUSD and his many students.
I hope Diane also endorses some other candidate that those of us who are ‘hands on’ in LA, recommend to her and to NPE, particularly who are running with minimal funding against the highly funded candidate who LOVES Eli Broad and Charter Schools. That will be a telling race for more than the upper crust West Side.
I am looking carefully at lifetime teacher Lisa Alva, a first time candidate, who is running against the pernicious Monica Garcia, who lies and manipulates in her district. Garcia is the one who helped orchestrate the Oct. 29, 2013 street theater stunt with United Way, Parent Revolution, and Eli Broad and his buddies and lawyers, to get the BoE to extend John Deasy’s contract despite the $1B iPad fiasco that almost threw the district into bankruptcy. She should never be allowed into the Board Room again, nor should anyone vote for her for anything. She is a disgrace.
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Well, what is a charter shill? Someone who votes for all the charters. Steve has voted for almost every charter that has come before the school board.
As a vocal Los Angeles public school advocate, I am having a hard time convincing myself to put energy into supporting Steve Zimmer, too. The biggest help to support public education in Los Angeles might be to devote energy and resources to the candidates who are trying to unseat reform queen Monica Garcia–Carl Petersen and Lisa Alva.
I worked on Steve’s campaign last time. He fought us as we worked hard to point out the problems with the “iPads are a civil right” campaign. He supported Deasy. He ignored our petition this year to reject LAUSD’s TFA contract (which garnered 1000 signatures in a few days) and literally laughed us off while other California districts backed out of their agreements. Most recently, he led the charge to open a new school for a housing development of affluent professionals who don’t want to send their kids to the existing schools that will now suffer even more.
So how exactly are we supporting the fight for public education by supporting this candidate?
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Monica Ratliff was on the Board for a minute and she’s already running for City Council (and shilling for Big Charter bucks now). Why hasn’t Steve moved on? I wish he would leave. But we’re stuck with this candidate. Again. Again. Again.
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Also…the new Supt., Michelle King, who Zimmer lauded in order to hire her, has rolled over for the Eli Broad ‘Great Public Schools Now’ charter schools. Her appearance, and also Ratliff’s, at the recent Pacoima street theater, again with bussed in actors from all over the county (paid for by our taxation) clearly spelled out their support for charter schools. So far the only consistent BoE member to oppose charters seems to be Schmerelson.
Yes, Lefite…Ratliff is now just one more politician. This is a personal shock and sadness to me, since I worked hard to get her elected.
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LCT, who should I support instead of Zimmer?
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I intend to vote for Zimmer. I don’t like it.
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Suggest an alternative
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I’m a teacher. At this point, it’s Steve Zimmer for Board.
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The election’s in March. That’s too short a time for alternatives. It’s been on the back burner for some time now. The Tweeter in Chief has had the attention.
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Yes…Karen tells it like it is…and she is a parent in Zimmer’s district, and is also our west coast ‘Leonie’…she is the tireless parent who attends all BoE meetings and works at improving and saving our public schools.
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Karen,
Who will you support in Steve Zimmer’s district
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I think a national call for public education support in Los Angeles is better focused on beating Monica Garcia than keeping Steve. That will make the biggest difference on the school board. If Steve Zimmer is the savior of public education in the Trump era, we are all in trouble.
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Karen: I wish UTLA understood what you are saying. I made the same argument to them months ago and they are still refusing to get involved in the race. At a Q & A at the end of a showing of Killing Ed, their Treasurer stood up and bragged about their efforts to fight charters and had how they had, therefore, already endorsed Zimmer and Imelda Padilla in District 6. When I asked about fighting against Garcia the response was that they can’t get involved in every race. Since Garcia is the LAUSD’s face of privatization, those concerned taking the fight to the Ed “Reform” movement should consider District 2 to be The Race.
I am the only candidate in the District 2 race who has consistently confronted Deasy’s Teacher Jail, a program that has continued under Zimmer and King and for which the District faces a $1 Billion lawsuit. I have also brought the fight directly to individual charters, helping to expose Fehte’s financial shenanigans at El Camino and forcing Granada to end its policies of charging students for graduation gowns and punishing students whose parents had opted them out of state testing. My campaign literature unequivocally supports the NAACP’s call for a moratorium on new charter schools. I was directly involved in helping Scott Schmerelson in replacing Garcia’s ally, Tamar Galatzan, on the Board.
In short, I can be the Board member that Zimmer calls for in his speeches. Given Geronimo’s assessments, which I believe are dead on, I will also push Zimmer to make sure that his actions match his speeches.
http://www.changethelausd.com/press_release_carl_petersen_is_a_candidate_for_lausd_s_district_2_in_the_march_7_2017_election
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They told me they don’t think Garcia can lose. Smells fishy if you ask me.
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LeftCoastTeacher: UTLA said the same thing about Tamar Galatzan. Luckily there were some in the Valley who went rogue and ran their own campaign which forced her into a runoff and then a loss.
I know the odds that I am facing in the race, but my family and I are willing to make the sacrifices needed to make sure that Garcia is made to answer for her attacks on both public education and special education. UTLA has claimed that they do not have any money to put in this election. They should at least put in the weight of their name and access to teachers who can provide a ground game.
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Hi Ellen, Karen, and Geronimo:
It is very sad that candidates in LAUSD are charter shills. Please recommend “The” candidate who really supports Public education and fights back privatization.
I really trust Dr. Ravitch’s intuition. However, I would not waste my donation on charter shill like Steve Zimmer.
Happy New Year to Dr. Ravitch, Ellen, Karen, Geronimo, LeftCoastTeacher, and all bloggers in this forum and this website. May God bless all of you with health, happiness and success. May King
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Happy New Year to you.
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Hope the new year brings you happiness, May.
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Sadly, the comment by Geronimo is accurate. Perhaps Mr. Zimmer will learn a lesson from the recent presidential election. As we are now hearing more and more, Hillary Clinton’s middle of the road policies and failure to effectively reach out to the disadvantaged, opened the door to the likes of Donald Trump. Of course, there was no doubt that Hillary was the best choice, as is Zimmer, but he might want to consider that the same middle of the road tactic may not work to his advantage this time around.
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The school board race bears little resemblance to the presidential campaigns. Hillary Clinton had a thirty year record of public service with results that showed her able to stand up for the less fortunate in absolutely any political environment. Zimmer’s record shows support for charters and for TFA.
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Yes, Hillary had a record of public service as you describe. That was pointed out in great detail in Michael Moore’s “Trumpland” documentary. However, that record was not enough to overcome the opposition. The point I am making is that Hillary was not able to sell her record of public service to certain segments of the electorate. Zimmer has also espoused many anti-charter sentiments, but has not yet made these part of his platform. Perhaps he should consider distancing himself even more from his corporate-backed opponents by standing up for the majority of LAUSD students who are enrolled in traditional schools. The point here is that there are always risks based on which segment of the electorate a candidate caters to. Each candidate will have to make that decision on their own.
The candidates I will support are those that stand up for their beliefs regardless of what one may consider to be “political” correctness.
So far, Carl Petersen, a candidate opposing Monica Garcia in District 2, has followed his conscience in guiding his platform and put “political correctness” on the back burner. I hope we see more of this as the campaign season progresses.
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If Los Angeles real reformers have any hope of unseating Garcia, they should settle on only one challenger.
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Political consultants say the way to unseat an incumbent is to have as many alternatives as possible in order to pull more than 50% of the votes away from the incumbent. That’s how Carl Petersen helped get reformer Tamar Galatzan unseated. He took thousands of votes away, and then during the runoff, he threw his support behind Scott Schmerelson. He campaigned for Scott and brought his voters with him. im glad both he and Lisa Alva are running against Garcia. That’s the race that will make the biggest difference in Los Angeles.
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I am always thrilled to have this important debate which is long overdue. We know who Public Educations enemies are. We have a harder time discerning its friends.
Except for the iconoclastic exception of Scott Schmerelson, all of LAUSD (like blue California) are Democrats. All the Education Reform board members are Democrats.
The distinction then becomes who are the Progressive Democrats and who are the Corporate Democrats.
Look, I would vote for President Obama for a third term even though on the issue of public education he has been abysmal.
I can’t be a single issue voter when the US President controls so many other aspects of my life that I also value.
Because Steve Zimmer is exclusively about public education and not also climate policy, I have more leeway to analyze, judge and speak out on his effectiveness in this area.
Zimmer has indeed been a large target of the forces aligned with Ed Reform Big Money. One would think his record would reflect that animosity. It does not.
Zimmer is clearly a centrist. It is this centrist position he is going to run on this spring. There may not be a better candidate in District 4 to support. Fine. But all of us have challenged Obama’s Education notions and actions and have called him out forever on the mistakes he has made throughout his two terms.
The Corporate Democrats of California are DEFINITELY not friends of education and share too many GOP Education values.
All I’m saying in relation to District 4 is that I wish Zimmer was a different Zimmer or that a Progressive was running against him.
The most important race in LAUSD is Monica Garcia’s District 2. There is no clearer representative of Big Business Education ethos than Garcia and Progressives need to put all their efforts into her defeat. If there was a face of Eli Broad/John Deasy/and every other GOP education agenda, it is this dispiriting Democrat.
As for Steve Zimmer, there will be a series of debates. I hope that Progressives in the audience challenge Zimmer to explain his past and CURRENT support for decisions that are antithetical to ideals expressed on this blog and Progressive Education notions. Currently, I remain unmoved and voters will have to weigh for themselves whether Zimmer’s espoused values match his past actions when making their decision.
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I stayed out of this discussion up to now. Zimmer has been a disaster for schools, teachers and education. He is of a class of politician that many describe as corporatist and centrist but he truly has no program other than his own political career. Please read and take to heart what Geronimo, Ellen Lubic, Carl Petersen and others have written.
Melvoin will be a disaster but will he be more of a disaster than Zimmer? Melvoin is younger and richer but just as corporatist and career oriented but it won’t cost L.A. teachers any money to elect him. We can count on receiving nothing in return for our contributions to Melvoin or to Zimmer. He has shown us who he is.
I actually worked to elect Zimmer last time but I’ll be sitting this one out. UTLA is scaring its members into donating to its political action committee in order to elect the “teacher-friendly” Zimmer and this is expected to cost $1 million. This is money that will never be used to defend teachers or teaching in any effective way.
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