The strike by UTLA garnered national attention, and it is now over.
Less attention went to the strike by the teachers at the Accelerated Schools, a small charter chain whose teachers are unionized. The board has refused to meet the teachers’ demands for job rights and has threatened to close down the charters rather than give in to their teachers.
This is a short video about the charter teachers’ strike.
MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Ed Gutierrez, 213-595-7949
Accelerated Schools Strike Enters Second Week
Employer Says They’d Sooner Close the Schools Than Settle on Teachers’ Demands
Tuesday marked the beginning of the second week at The Accelerated Schools’ teacher strike, where about 80 educators represented by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) are engaged in California’s first charter school strike. The Accelerated Schools are not affiliated with Los Angeles Unified School District and are not part of UTLA’s recent settMEDIAlement. Negotiations are at a standstill and teachers remain out of the classroom and on the picket line.
Accelerated teachers are seeking basic due process and job security rights already covering more than 90% of educators in Los Angeles county public schools. Their demands follow the recommendations of a state-appointed fact finder. Negotiations broke down again Tuesday when Accelerated Trustee Leonard Rabinowitz declared that the board would sooner close the schools than meet workers’ demands. Teachers say that decision-makers’ indifference has deepened a divide that is harming students and the surrounding community. The employer’s latest refusal follows the employer calling the police on parents and students who sought to enter the school premises to discuss teachers’ issues with CEO Johnathan Williams.
UTLA will hold a press conference tomorrow morning to update the community on The Accelerated Schools strike and to demand the Accelerated CEO and the Board of Trustees meet teachers’ demands.
What: Accelerated teachers, parents, and UTLA President Alex Caputo Pearl will hold a press conference to provide an update on the Accelerated teachers strike
When: 8:30 am, January 24
Where: The Accelerated School, 4000 S. Main St. Los Angeles 90037
Who: UTLA President Alex Caputo Pearl, parents, students and striking Accelerated teachers
Diane Ravitch's blog 
This situation says it all. You can compare it to Wal-Mart closing a store rather than pay their workers a decent wage or allow them to unionize. …sinful and souless…
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exactly right
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That’s OK public schools take in all kinds of students and teachers! Come on over and enjoy the victory with the LA teacher of Public Schools – the real schools not the scab schools who work for a buck tree eighty
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Let them close…more money for public schools. The uncertified, Charter teachers can bargain with the UTLA as they seek the education to become certified teachers to transition into true public schools.
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The Accelerated Schools are not affiliated with Los Angeles Unified School District. Why?
Will they simply just reopen another group of charters with a different name but the same principals behind the scenes.
There are very few workers who would work for less under worse conditions if given the opportunity to earn more. Are we assuming that the majority of the employees/ teachers are not certified? Many could be certified but not able to get a Job in the district; as would be the case on Long Island where these teachers may be working in NYC. I as a union supporter have a problem
with blaming workers for the situation they find themselves in. Especially these workers who have chosen to organize.
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I’m not blaming the workers….AT ALL. Just offering that if the Accelerated schools should close, that money can go back into the public school district and the public school system would have to hire more teachers to accommodate these children. Maybe the union could help those uncertified teachers to become certified if they wish to continue to teach in the public school system.
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LisaM
I am sure most would jump at the opportunity.
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Good to see that charter board is putting students and families first. Rather than pay their teachers a fair wage with basic due process rights, they would prefer to close schools and disrupt the students and their families. Yet another indication of how the charter sector “prioritizes” students.
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When I saw the video link, I was even more horrified. Those charter school teachers should become certified and teach in public schools … better for them and the kids.
Is Leonard Rabinowitz a real estate baron? Does anyone know?
There are Accelerated Learning Charter Schools everywhere. OMG.
Thanks, Diane. You are remarkable and I so appreciate you and your work.
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Accelerated Schools and Walmart have this in common. When the workers vote to unionize, Walmart closes that U.S. store and everyone is fired.
What’s interesting is that in China, Walmart has no choice. Every worker belongs to a labor union in China because that’s the law, but the labor unions are not as strong as most US labor unions
Walmart has 424 retail stores in China and 19 wholesale stores.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/752119/china-walmart-store-number/
“Xi Jinping tells China’s trade union to put workers first, but will it take any notice?”
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/2173824/xi-jinping-tells-chinas-trade-union-put-workers-first-will-it
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Naming a bunch of schools “Accelerated Schools” is weird.
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They must have been late to the feeding frenzy, so they probably missed all of the best misleading titles that are all intended to manipulate easy to fool parents who were looking for a magic pill to help them educate their child without much effort on the parents part.
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Thanks, Lloyd. Those names for charter schools are “marketing” labels.
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