The United Teachers of Los Angeles have voted to authorize a strike. The union has been negotiating with Superintendent Austin Beutner, a former investment banker who has no experience in education.
I sent the following message to the teachers of Los Angeles.
I am writing to my friends who teach in the Los Angeles Unified School District to encourage you to stay strong in your demands for smaller classes and the resources your students need.
Your working conditions are your students’ learning conditions.
You should not be expected to pay out $1,000 or more from your salary for school supplies.
I am astonished that one of the cities with the greatest concentration of wealth in the world is unwilling to pay what it costs to educate its children.
John Dewey wrote more than a century ago: “What the best and wisest parent wants for his children, that must we want for all the children of the community. Anything less is unlovely, and left unchecked, destroys our democracy.”
The billionaires who have declared war on public education and who are funding the California Charter School Association would not tolerate overcrowded classrooms, obsolete textbooks, and crumbling buildings in the schools their children attend. They should not tolerate such conditions in the public schools of Los Angeles that other people’s children attend, people without their wealth.
They want the best for their children, and they should demand the best for all children, and pay for it.
Please fight against “school choice,” an idea that was first launched by segregationists in the South to block the Brown decision in the late 1950s. It is now the favorite cause of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who wants to replace our nation’s democratically-controlled public schools with a menu of “choices,” none of which are as good as public schools.
In California, as elsewhere, charter advocates oppose accountability and transparency. Furthermore, charters have been characterized by scandals and fraudulent financial practices, a result of their lack of oversight and accountability.
Charter schools should be subject to the same laws, rules, and regulations as public schools if they want to give themselves the name of “public schools.”
Your superintendent Austin Beutner came to the job thanks to a takeover bankrolled by the charter lobby. He has never been an educator, and you will have to help him understand the importance of teacher professionalism, of reducing class sizes, and of public education in a democratic society. He just doesn’t get it.
Public schools are, have been, and will continue to be the foundation stone of our democratic society. If we lose it, we put our democracy at risk.
Fight for your students. Fight for public education. Fight for the teaching profession. Fight for a better future for the children and for our society.
Your friends across the nation are watching and will cheer you on!
Diane Ravitch
I am among the cheerleaders. The billionaires who fund the charter industry have no real interest in education.
Parents in L.A., please join the picket lines and support your teachers and children! I would if I could.
Is UTLA actually worthy of teachers’ trust? The union has consistently undermined its members for years now and they’ve done little for the massive dues they collect. With casualties mounting and students left without basic supplies, there is clearly something amiss with our local, state and national unions, who have consistently proven they are corrrupt, in league with the billionaires and motivated by many things besides an altruistic devotion to students and the social progress they deserve access to in our public schools. What kids learn instead is that because they’re poor they have overcrowded classrooms, Dirty often unsafe campuses and the police presence that implies they are probably criminals.
They know San Marcos HS and middles schools on the West side don’t have pass through metal detectors as they enter schools. Thy know the swill they eat at lunch isn’t the same as the rich kids, who get to choose subway and other popular but semi healthy options. When I taught my students couldn’t drink water from the fountains, which were disgusting anyway, because the pipes were tainted. We had nearly 4000 kids crammed into a school built for 2000 50 years ago. Some of the restrooms were closed. The oil refineries puked pollution into the sky all day long. With more than 70% of the kids in the city born with asthma and the high percentage of learning disabilities caused by environmental horrors, the poor children of Los Angels are set up to fail.
Noting UTLA does is design to change that. The district and the union treat children like pawns, and their attitudes about teachers are mercenary and oppressive.
Being treated like a low rent sub human is how teachers in the trenches are rewarded for their hard work and sacrifices. I easily spent $1000 a year and more because I was committed to my students. My long days and the nights I surrendered to grading, developing lessons and learning myself didn’t count for anything. UTLA and LAUSD burned me and many other dedicated teachers and they are never going to stop unto teachers, the real power holders, embrace solidarity beyond this broken system.
What a great letter of encouragement to strengthen the resolve of the Los Angeles teachers! Our country is in a dark place when elected representatives turn their backs on the needs of our children. In a democratic republic billionaires should not be able to buy our educational policy. The people of Los Angeles should rally around their teachers fighting for democratic public education and an equitable investment in all young people.
Well said, Diane! Beautiful, eloquent, moving! Bless you.
Well written as usual, Diane. Thank you. There is no one I’d rather have in my corner. Matter o fact, lemme thank you with Some DAM poetry: