This is a video of my brief remarks at the UTLA rally at Alexander Hamilton High School in Los Angeles on January 16. Hundreds of teachers, parents, students, and supporters picketed that morning in support of UTLA’s just demands for smaller classes and additional resources for nurses, counselors and other staff. The rally also spoke out against the proliferation of charter schools andprivatization. Teachers and students alike tied the diminishing resources in public schools to the expansion of charters and thepoerful, billionaire-funded California Charter School Association. The day before, on January 15, 50,000 people rallied against charters in front of the CCSA headquarters.
This is my summary of yesterday’s stirring rally. The spirit of the Resistance is strong!
UTLA is making history!
The fight goes on.
The whole world is watching.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Thanks for this work in support of teachers, and thanks to the students, parents, and others for showing up and supporting the strike.
Well done.
Here’s the YouTube of your speech:
STRONG words.
You are fantastic. You show such love and passion about making public schools better and eliminating the forces that want to destroy. Way to GO!!!
Many thanks for your support and activism on behalf of public education. Picketing teachers need to know that others support their cause. They greatly appreciate the honking of passersby and support by notables such as yourself.
Loved it! Wish everyone could hear you.
Diane,
Thank you. Your speech is right on. You were fabulous.
Thank you!!! You are the best.
Political office holders and seekers now need to face the fact that their stance on charter schools can make or break their election: Candidates’ stances on charter schools were THE deciding factor in the elections of California’s new governor and state superintendent of education; it is also THE central focus in the current race for Mayor of Chicago that is to be decided on February 26, and it is a core central focus of striking Los Angeles teachers. Democrats can no longer count on the votes of public school teaches who have been betrayed by Democrats from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, both of whom promoted private charter schools at the expense of genuine public schools. Even the general public, and especially parents of public school children, have caught on to the lie told by Democrats and Republicans alike that charter schools are “public” schools just because they recruit public school children. And the courts are catching on, too: The state supreme courts of New York and Washington have ruled that charter schools are private schools because they are operated by private boards that are not elected by the public. Democrats are going to have to make a choice: Do they support genuine public schools and thereby anger the billionaires who back charter schools, or do they continue to support charter schools and thereby lose the votes of their traditional teachers unions and their members? The results of California’s elections show that even when billionaires spend tens of millions of dollars to promote pro-charter school candidates, they can be overwhelmed by the votes of angry teacher union members and parents. And in today’s close elections, losing even a percentage of support can result in an election loss. The writing is on the wall for Democrats on the issue of charter schools, and they had better learn the details of the issue and take a stand. No wishy-washy positions will sway angry voters.
This is information on a fundraiser email from Bernie.
….
Bernie Sanders
Carol –
There is something happening in Los Angeles that you need to know about and that we all need to do something about.
Today, for the first time in 30 years, more than 30,000 Los Angeles public school teachers are on strike fighting for smaller class sizes and decent wages, for nurses, counselors and librarians in their schools, and against a coordinated effort from billionaires on the right to make money privatizing public education.
Public education is fundamental to any functioning democracy, and teaching is one of its most valuable and indispensable professions.
So how is it that the top 25 hedge fund managers in this country make more money than the combined salaries of every kindergarten teacher?
How is it that the billionaires of this country get huge tax breaks, but our teachers and children get broken chairs, flooded classrooms and inadequate support staff in their schools?
That is what a rigged economy looks like.
In the richest country in the history of the world, our teachers should be the best-paid in the developed world, not among the worst-paid.
So I stand in solidarity with the United Teachers of Los Angeles. Because a nation that does not educate its children properly will fail, and I applaud these teachers for leading this country in the fight to change our national priorities. Today, I am asking you to do the same:
Add Your Name: Tell the striking teachers in Los Angeles that you are following their struggle and stand in solidarity with them. We will make sure your messages of support get to these teachers.
But what we really need in this country is a revolution in public education.
What we accept as normal today with regards to education, I want your grandchildren to tell you that you were crazy to accept.
And in my view, that conversation starts, but does not end, with early-childhood education.
That is not just my opinion. Research tells us that the “most efficient means to boost the productivity of the workforce 15 to 20 years down the road is to invest in today’s youngest children.”
So it is not a radical idea to say that we need to provide free, full-day, high-quality child care for every child, starting at age three, so that they will be guaranteed a pre-kindergarten education regardless of family income.
That is common sense.
But in the twenty-first century, a public education system that goes from early childhood education through high school is not good enough.
The world is changing, technology is changing, our economy is changing. If we are to succeed in the highly competitive global economy and have the best-educated workforce in the world, I believe that higher education in America should be a right for all, not a privilege for the few.
That means that everyone, regardless of their station in life, should be able to get all of the education they need.
Today in America, hundreds of thousands of bright young people who have the desire and the ability to get a college education will not be able to do so because their families lack the money. This is a tragedy for those young people and their families, but it is also a tragedy for our nation.
Our mission must be to give hope to those young people. If every parent in this country, every teacher in this country, and every student in this country understands that if kids study hard and do well in school they will be able to go to college, regardless of the income of their family, that will have a radical impact on primary and secondary education in the United States—and on the lives of millions of families.
That is what we can accomplish by making public colleges and universities tuition-free, because every American, no matter his or her economic status, should have the opportunity for a higher education. And, at the same time, we must substantially lower student debt.
But getting there will take a political revolution in this country, and a radical change in national priorities.
Instead of giving huge tax breaks to billionaires and profitable corporations, we must create the best public educational system in the country. Instead of major increases in military spending, we must invest in our kids.
And today, the most important step in that direction starts with standing in solidarity with the teachers in Los Angeles.
Add Your Name: Tell the striking teachers in Los Angeles that you are following their struggle and stand in solidarity with them. We will make sure your messages of support get to these teachers.
Through our support for these teachers, we have a chance to reaffirm our support for quality public education and the right of all children to receive the best education possible.
Thank you for standing with them.
In solidarity,
Bernie Sanders
carol: Thank you for sending this in its entirety (I’d mentioned it in an earlier post). Good last sentence in his 2nd paragraph.
Now, as he has done with health care, talking about the 1%, & all the other important points in his platform, he must also list abolishment & stoppage of charter schools & privatization, & repeat this mantra over & over & over again. His method has been successful w/the healthcare movement & free college tuition (In NY & IL, at least).
It’s the opposite of “if you repeat a lie over & over, people will believe it to be the truth.” In this case, if you repeat the TRUTH over & over & over again, it WILL be heard, & something will be done.
Posted it on FB.
This is beautifully said. So succinct and powerful!
Thank you!
Some good, even if temporary, is coming from all the strikes that teachers are having. How unfortunate it has to come to this before states realize that teachers are important, and that educating children matters.
……………………………………
States race to prevent teacher strikes by boosting pay
BY REID WILSON – 01/19/19 08:28 AM EST
State legislators across the country are planning big pay increases for teachers in hopes of avoiding politically perilous strikes that embarrassed officials in several states last year.
The push for higher salaries in many states comes from an unlikely source: Republicans who have been reluctant to spend state money, especially on employees who belong to Democratic-leaning unions…
Studies have found that teacher pay has decreased over time. What was once a profession in which workers earned more than similarly-educated peers in other industries has now become a job in which those workers earn less than people with other types of jobs.
A September report from the center-left Economic Policy Institute found the average weekly wages of a public school teacher decreased, when adjusted for inflation, between 1996 and 2017, while weekly wages for college graduates in other fields rose.
The recession has made things worse, too: By 2016, half of states were still spending less on education than they were before the recession began.
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/426030-states-race-to-prevent-teacher-strikes-by-boosting-pay