The United Teachers of Los Angeles is getting ready to strike. As the second largest school district in the United States, this will be a national event.
This ad was placed in the Los Angeles Times.
UTLA is striking not only for fair compensation, but for smaller classes and a moratorium on charter schools, which currently drain $600 million a year from the district’s public schools.
If it happens, the strike is a perfect time for those who want to run for the Democratic nomination for President to show “Which Side Are You On?” Republican candidates (if there are any willing to challenge Trump) can join the picket line, if they are on the side of teachers and public schools.
Will Elizabeth Warren join the picket line? Will Bernie Sanders? Will Joe Biden? Will Kemala Harris? Will Corey Booker? Will Amy Klobuchar? Will Julian Castro? Will Beto O’Rourke? Will any aspiring candidates join the picket line and show their support for teachers and public schools? This is a chance for them to show who they are and also to meet teachers and learn about the needs of schools.
UTLA Publishes Mega LA Times Ad: ‘We Will Strike For Our Students’
UTLA publishes trifold ad that outlines what LA Teachers are fighting for and how parents and the community can support educators and students as we gear up for a potential strike. It features original art by Ernesto Yerena that can be used as a poster. Feel free to share the Facebook post here.
From the LA Times ad today:
A strike is not something we take lightly. If we are forced to strike, it will be as a last resort after almost two years of fruitless contract negotiations and allegations of unlawful behavior from our employer, the Los Angeles Unified School District.
We will engage in whatever talks are possible to avoid a strike, but the district must be willing to spend from its record-breaking $1.9 billion in reserves to support our students, and must engage our full package of proposals rather than dismiss them.
We know there are tough decisions ahead for the more than 600,000 students and their families impacted by a strike. While every family will make their own decision on whether to send their child to school in the event of a strike, having many parents and allies on picket lines will be powerful and transformative.
For many years, the district has been starving our schools of necessary resources and prioritizing the unregulated growth of the charter industry over our neighborhood public schools. Superintendent Austin Beutner is doing this right now as he has contracted with firms that have advanced privatization in other cities. Meanwhile more than 80% of LAUSD schools don’t have a full-time school nurse. There is only one counselor for every 945 students. LAUSD has among the highest class sizes in California.
Overtesting of our students is crowding out instruction in arts, music, ethnic studies, and science. California ranks 43 out of 50 in per-pupil funding, yet the district refuses to use its more than healthy reserves to immediately fund our classrooms.
Making progress on these issues is the only way we can provide all students, not just some, with the schools they deserve.
If LAUSD fails to engage meaningfully in our proposals and we are forced to strike, we will strike for our students.
Sincerely,
United Teachers Los Angeles
For more info, go to
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Yes, demand that Democratic politicians go to LA and walk the picket line. Push them to show which side they are on and why they deserve our votes in 2020. Obama promised to walk the picket lines and never did, installing the infamous Arne Duncan instead to privatize public schooling. No candidate should be supported who fails to stand explicitly for public education and against the charter decimation of the public sector.
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Obama went to a hoity toity private school, Punahou. He has no clue about the value and power of a public education. I think Obama’s notions about education might have been different, had he attended a public school.
When will we have the joy of actually having a Secretary of Education who understands and values public schools and our public school teachers? Teachers are Wayfinders, not technicians pushing that screen on students.
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The Comfy Shoes
I’ll don my comfy shoes
Become a picket walker
But later did refuse
Cuz O was just a talker
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While I agree with UTLA about the needs of the LAUSD I am under the impression that the union cannot legally negotiate for the students.
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A fine point to make. The union does not really negotiate for students. The union negotiates for us teachers, and we teachers (with the support of parents) are the ones standing up for our students. So, indirectly, the union is fighting for the civil rights of children. It’s because teachers care about students that this strike is imminent.
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The power of a general strike makes many things possible which before seem distant or even illegal; lack of power makes even what’s legal seem impossible.
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The Corporate Blue Dem
And who will help me plan the strike?
Not I said the Corporate Blue Dem
And who will help me walk the line?
Not I said the Corporate Blue Dem
And who will help me celebrate the win?
I will said the Corporate Blue Dem
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Fishy Promises
Whose side are you on?
Management or teacher?
The politician s song
Has flopping dock-fish feature
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Here is the LA Teachers top negotiator:
https://www.lataco.com/who-is-teachers-unions-negotiator-arlene-inouye/#nws=mcnewsletter
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[…] where the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) is in the midst of a serious struggle. As the UTLA spelled out in a recent ad, it is not only striking for fair pay, but smaller class sizes and a moratorium on charter schools, […]
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