From the United Teachers of Los Angeles:
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Anna Bakalis, 213-305-9654
Kim Turner, 213-305-9316
UTLA Strike Press Advisory
* United Teachers Los Angeles, the nation’s second-largest teacher union local, with more than 33,000 members and thousands more supporters, is poised to lead one of the largest teacher union strikes in the nation’s history, beginning Monday.
* For planning purposes only. Times subject to change, will update media as needed with new info.
* UTLA will provide daily strike updates and briefings which will preview actions for the next day.
* UTLA will stream most events live on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 13
• 4 PM PRE-STRIKE NEWS CONFERENCE
Where: UTLA building, 3303 Wilshire Blvd, LA 90010.
What: UTLA Strike update and planning
Who: Alex Caputo Pearl (UTLA President), Arlene Inouye (Bargaining Chair), and UTLA leaders, joined by parents, students and supporters
MONDAY, JANUARY 14
• 7:30 am: PICKETING & NEWS CONFERENCE
Where: John Marshall High School, 3939 Tracy St, Los Angeles, CA 90027
Who: Alex Caputo Pearl (UTLA President) and officers
Randi Weingarten (AFT President)
Lily Eskelson-Garcia (NEA President)
Arlene Inouye (UTLA Officer and Bargaining Chair)
VISUALS: Teachers, parents, students and supporters picketing with homemade signs
• 10:30 am: RALLY & MARCH
Where: City Hall to LAUSD headquarters
Start: Grand Park, Spring St. in front of City Hall, downtown LA
End: LAUSD headquarters, 333 S. Beaudry
• 2:30-3:30: PICKETING (media availability)
Where: Marianna Elementary School
Who: Teachers, parents and students
VISUALS: Picketing with homemade signs
• 5 pm: NEWS CONFERENCE
Where: UTLA building, 3303 Wilshire Blvd, LA 90010.
Who: UTLA leaders, students, parents and supporters
What: UTLA will give an update on the day’s developments and plan for the next day
For more information, go to the following:
https://wearepublicschools.org
https://www.instagram.com/utlanow/
https://www.facebook.com/UTLAnow/
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Will Trump and the GOP send in their racist thugs to confront the teachers?
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I found this article to be spot on.
Five Forces Driving the Rise of Fascism in 2019: https://truthout.org/articles/five-forces-driving-the-rise-of-fascism-in-2019
1. Surveillance
2. Mega-Monopolies
3. Migration Xenophobia
4. Attacks on Education: “The best defense against fascism is an educated population with the ability to think critically.”
5. False Equivalencies
While depressing, I found hope. The last paragraph:
“It’s time for us to seek out solace in community and liberation in activism. We can move beyond the fascist threat. Our movements can gain momentum. The complacency of the Obama years — where things slowly got worse while a brilliant, personable orator captivated our hopes — are over. Rather then foolishly trust the old Democratic Party to fix the problems it was complacent in making, we’re hitting the streets with a level of vigor not seen in over a generation. Let’s keep at it. The forces driving fascism are strong. We have to be stronger. Historically, anti-fascism always triumphs in the end. Let’s do this quickly.”
So, HOORAY for the UTLA Strike. Teachers one more time are first responders and courageous, caring, and most dedicated. These teachers are striking for the kids first.
If trump and his racist thugs literally assault teachers verbally and physically, well … they show who they are and KARMA will get them.
Go UTLA. So proud of you teachers.
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classroom teachers are in the trenches and fox holes. They are our front line troops to save not only the public schools but our Constitutional Republic.
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I’m the UTLA rep on my middle school campus. I am scared. I haven’t slept well. I haven’t eaten much since my stomach is in knots.
I’ve told my students that we are fighting for them, for their class sizes, health and wellbeing, and the survival of public schools in LA.
I’ve told them that they are a part of this, too. They must step up and take charge of their own education without an adult pushing them. To keep up with their studies and not fall behind. And if they have to come to school, they need to help the administrators that support us by not trashing the school or wreaking havoc.
They responded quite seriously saying, in essence, that they need to grow up a bit right now. And they thanked me – which brought tears to my eyes.
I know that this fight is over 20 years in the making, and is my chance to finally fight back beyond words. I know that the district and the billionaire owned corporate media and politicians will try to break me and the union.
But, I have the sense that this is about to blow the reformer game wide open for all to see. People are awake at last. That thought gives me strength and furthers my resolve.
Wish us godspeed.
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I taught from 1975 to 2005 and for a time I was a rep for the PUBLIC high school where I taught.
I was also very outspoken both with my mouth and with the pen for all the thirty years I was a classroom teacher,
My local protected me from the administration that wanted to get rid of me because of my mouth and pen. I never let any warnings from friends or the local that the district administration wanted to get rid of me stop me from speaking out. The Assistant Superintendent even put a black list together of teachers he wanted to get rid of and my name was on it. Friends warned me. That didn’t stop me either.
I learned a long time ago when I was fighting in Vietnam that the only thing to fear is fear itself. I survived to retire on my own terms. I was not forced out or terminated.
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Exactly right, Lloyd.
When you are not afraid, they can’t touch you.
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I respect and admire you, Lloyd. Thank you.
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Thank you and all UTLA teachers going on strike. We are all in your debt. You are setting an example by putting your foot down and refusing to be undermined and underfunded and disrespected. Public education needs you.
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Carrie,
Godspeed to you and your fellow strikers!
Please know that teachers across the nation are watching and hoping that you win!
Diane
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I support you and signed a petition and made a not too kind comment to your superintendent. I am a retired school teacher living in NW Indiana and I’m disgusted with what teachers have to endure. You stand up for what children need. Good luck!!!
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I’ve been in your shoes. It’s a tough decision, but remember united you stand; divided, you fall. Godspeed to you and the UTLA!
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Carrie,
Thank you! I’m a UTLA rep at a middle school too, and I know exactly how you feel. Me too!!! My students and their parents have been extremely supportive and, as always, inspiring. Still, the stress is immeasurable. I feel like I did the first time I got ready to stand in front of a class as a teacher, like the first time I laced up my sneakers in the locker room before a basketball game when I was a student. I have butterflies. I am stressed out, but at the same time, excited. This is bigger and better than playing basketball in front of a few hundred fans. This is the Good fight. This is history in the making. I can’t wait for tomorrow. Butterflies are beautiful.
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I have been watching the news a lot, keeping up with the government shutdown. Why is there almost no coverage of this strike in the media? I would think that a story like this would be of national concern.
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Charles, I hope you are not affected by Trump’s shutdown.
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No need to worry for Charles. The Pentagon and its contractors will never be affected by the complete destruction of the appropriations process. Congress can’t do enough to shower them with money.
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All citizens are “affected” by the shutdown. My wife is in real estate. She showed a property to a federal worker. Because the worker was furloughed, she could not come up with the deposit. My wife was unable to conclude, so she lost her commission.
Two of my friends are stuck at home with no paycheck. (They will be paid in arrears after the shutdown is concluded).
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You are mistaken. There are many contractors that have been sent home. These people will NOT be paid in arrears after the conclusion of the shutdown. Many are lower level staff, like janitors and food-service.
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well, who care about janitors and food service workers?
(I do. They are human beings like me)
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The shutdown is “rippling” through the Metro DC area (where I live) . There is much less traffic on the streets during rush hour. The coffee stands, and lunch counters and restaurants near the government buildings are laying people off. The people who work in the establishments that serve fed workers, are losing money, that will never come back.
My wife has lost at least one commission on a rental property, because the fed worker could not come up with the deposit.
This shutdown is clobbering this area.
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Just learned about this today. Sounds appropriate for our friends in L.A.
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Just like a ship
Without a sail
(Without a sail)
Just like a ship
(Just like a ship)
Without a sail
(Without a sail)
But I’m not worried because I know
(But I know we can take it)
I know
(But I know we can take it)
I know we can shake it
(But I know we can take it)
I know we can take it
(But I know we can take it)
I sail for pleasure
(I sail for pleasure)
But I found pain
(But I found pain)
I look for sunshine
yes I did (I look for sunshine)
But I found rain
(But I found rain)
And then I look for my friends
(I look for my friends)
They all walked away
(But they walked away)
Trew all the sorrows
(Trew all of the sorrows)
You can hear me say
(You can hear me say)
Hey, hey, hey, I know
(But I know we can take it)
Just to know one thing, but I know
(But I know…) Sure gonna make it
I know we can shake it
(But I know…) ‘Cause we are proud people
I know we can take it
(But I know we can take it)
(Just like a ship without a sail)
(We did our work today)
(Just like a ship without a sail)
(We did our work today)
(Just like a ship)
Without a sail
(Without a sail)
Just like a ship
(Just like a ship)
Lord knows I don’t have a sail
(Without a sail)
Hey, hey, but I know
(But I know we can take it)
Hey, I know
(But I know we can take it)
I know we can shake it
(But I know we can take it)
I know we can take it
(But I know we can take it)
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Subject: Sign the petition! LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner: Tell LAUSD: Stop Starving L.A. Schools
I signed a petition on Action Network telling LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner to Tell LAUSD: Stop Starving L.A. Schools.
Los Angeles educators are fighting for every child in the city to have a safe and welcoming place for learning, and they’re fighting against the austerity measures for public schools that the Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent continues to promote, despite almost $2 billion in reserves.
Throughout the last year of bargaining with the district, members of United Teachers Los Angeles have fought to create a better future for our students. Yet LAUSD has refused to bargain issues that would give our schools a fighting chance.
LAUSD has even rejected improvements with little or no costs, including those to address declining enrollment. It is clear this is a part of the privatization agenda to starve our schools rather than reinvest in them.
Enough is enough. L.A. students and educators deserve better. That’s why UTLA members are preparing to strike, unless an agreement is reached before then.
Contact Superintendent Austin Beutner now and urge him to meet the demands of Los Angeles teachers, parents and students.
Can you join me and take action? Click here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/tell-lausd-stop-starving-la-schools?source=email&
Thanks!
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Done.
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https://www.forbes.com/sites/petergreene/2019/01/12/is-the-los-angeles-teacher-strike-a-different-kind-of-strike/#2da3e36e30e5
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This article makes it clear that the NEA and AFT should use this strike as a means of identifying which POTUS candidates in 2020 will support public education… or not. We don’t need another Duncan, which means we don’t need another neoliberal who is sold on the idea that privatization is the cure for public education.
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“Unthinkable” is a special project from The Atlantic, cataloging the 50 most norm-shattering moments of the Trump administration.
In an October 2016 editorial, The Atlantic wrote of Donald Trump: “He is a demagogue, a xenophobe, a sexist, a know-nothing, and a liar.” We argued that Trump “expresses admiration for authoritarian rulers, and evinces authoritarian tendencies himself.” Trump, we also noted, “is easily goaded, a poor quality for someone seeking control of America’s nuclear arsenal. He is an enemy of fact-based discourse; he is ignorant of, and indifferent to, the Constitution; he appears not to read.”
In retrospect, we may be guilty of understatement.
There was a hope, in the bewildering days following the 2016 election, that the office would temper the man—that Trump, in short, would change.
He has not changed…
What follows is a catalog of incidents, ranked—highly subjectively!—according to both their outlandishness and their importance. In most any previous presidency, Democratic or Republican, each moment on this list would have been unthinkable.
Read it here: theatlantic.com/unthinkable
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Opps. I clicked on the wrong blog article. Oh well. Enjoy it anyway.
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