Teachers in Los Angeles will be marching on Saturday December 15 at 10 a.m. PST at Grant Park in downtown Los Angeles.
Teachers are negotiating with LAUSD and its banker superintendent for a fair contract that includes reduced class sizes; improving school safety by adding more school counselors and social workers. Fully funding schools so that all schools have librarians and other support staff. Less testing and more teaching. Ending the drain of privatization, which removes $600 million annually from the public schools.
UTLA is prepared to strike if necessary.
Please go to Twitter to see the gorgeous banners that L.A. teachers have made in case there is a strike. Teachers have the best artwork and the best songs.
I stand with UTLA and the teachers of Los Angeles.
To understand why teachers are ready to go out on strike, please read this article about “the looting of public education in Los Angeles by the 1% and their corporate shills.”
It begins:
LA PROGRESSIVE
Smart Content for Smart People
HOME
ABOUT US
ABOUT US / COPYRIGHT INFO
PRIVACY POLICY
TOPICS
ANIMAL RIGHTS
CLIMATE CHANGE
ECONOMIC JUSTICE
EDUCATION REFORM
ELECTIONS AND CAMPAIGNS
ENVIRONMENT
COMMUNITY CALENDAR
HEALTHCARE REFORM
IMMIGRATION REFORM
LABOR
LAW AND JUSTICE
LGBTQ
PROGRESSIVE ISSUES
SOCIAL JUSTICE / RACISM
THE MEDIA
THE MIDDLE EAST
WAR AND PEACE
AUTHORS
ALL AUTHORS
STEVE HOCHSTADT
CHARLES D. HAYES
DAVID A. LOVE
DIANE LEFER
DICK PRICE
JERRY DRUCKER
JOHN PEELER
JOSEPH PALERMO
TOM HALL
SHARON KYLE
SIKIVU HUTCHINSON
SCORECARDS
CALIFORNIA ASSEMBLY CRIMINAL JUSTICE SCORECARD
CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SCORECARD
EVENTS
LEFT COAST FORUM
EVENT CALENDAR
SUBSCRIBE
When the pro-charter LAUSD school board majority appointed investment banker Austin Beutner to superintendent earlier this year it effectively declared war on schools of color and communities of color. Nationwide, public schools have been gutted by the rising tide of charterization, privatization, high stakes testing, union-busting, civil rights rollbacks engineered by the Trump/DeVos Department of Education. Teacher walkouts have reverberated across the country as states slash public education funding and schools re-segregate to pre-Brown v. Board levels.
The cynical appointment of the grossly underqualified Beutner (a one percenter white male with no prior public school teaching or administrative experience) signified that the board was essentially handing over the District to these forces on a silver platter in a swaggering f-you to parents, teachers, and students who’ve seen their schools reduced to detention centers.
Resist!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Brave, smart UTLA–only a strike will stop the corporate looting of public schools, and only a mass strike will stop the looting of the public sector in general. We are battered. At my public college, budget cuts caused firing of janitorial staff–campus is filthy, littered, bathrooms smell and urinals as well as bowls are sealed off broken, unfixed lighting in classrooms and hallways, had to search for a well-lit classroom this term for my evening class, finally found one with only one broken fixture. Secretaries tell me the women;s bathroom has no towels. I’m sure the forced impoverishment of all things public while all things private get more lavish is a national phenomenon which the 1% can heartily celebrate this holiday season.
LikeLike
This is a war. It’s not a PR contest; it’s a war. With charters, testing, deprofessionalism and tech, the 1% are fighting to take everything from the rest of us. This is not about six versus seven percent raises. It’s about saving ourselves from destruction. We are (likely) going on strike to preserve public education in Los Angeles. We are going on strike because it’s the only way to be heard. We are going on strike because this is a war, not a game. Hope to see you tomorrow, Los Angeles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I will be there!
LikeLike
an inspiring call to arms!
LikeLike
I love L.A. It was great to see you all protesting the Destroy Public Education coterie. (Are my feet sore!) It was a clarion call for social and economic justice. Four more days, and we get confirmation of the fact that Beutner completely ignored us and that we will strike, the strike being a protest that cannot be ignored.
In Diane’s words: They have the money. We have the numbers.
LikeLike
Excellent turnout! The local news described it as “massive”! And my feet are sore too, but I had a blast.
LikeLike
As a civil rights leader once said, “My feet is tired but my soul is rested.”
LikeLike