Tonight (before the Oscars) I spoke at the Mark Taper Auditorium in the Los Angeles Central Library. It was a magnificent event, led by Alex Caputo-Pearl of the United Teachers of Los Angeles.
The library is an elegant building that has been renovated. The auditorium is gorgeous. The audience was wonderful. The event was videotaped so I hope to post it here. I noticed that many big contributors to the privatization movement (Richard Riordan, Bill Gates) also contributed to the Public Library. Do you think they see a contradiction between supporting a great public library, free and accessible to all, while undermining public schools?
It was thrilling to be sponsored by UTLA. This is a union that is fully woke and fighting to save public education and make it far, far better.
First comes the March 3 election, where four seats on the LAUSD board are up for grabs. UTLA is vigorously supporting Jackie Goldberg, George McKenna, Scott Schmerelson and Patty Castellanos.
Then comes a major funding referendum next November where UTLA and other educators are asking voters of California to tax major corporations whose tax rates have not changed since 1978. The tax for the Communities and Schools defending would raise $12 Billion a year, half for social services for children, and half for schools.
UTLA boldly went on strike in January 2019. They have now purchased highway billboards to shame the corporate Privatizers. They are a brave and militant union.
I was thrilled to see so many LA friends and meet new ones, especially the East Side Hispanic parents who have created a neighborhood organization to fight privatization. I also enjoyed seeing our own commenter Left Coast Teacher, who is tall and very handsome. And it was great to see blogger Sara Roos (Red Queen in LA) and many more LA allies.
I love this union! They are truly leaders of the Resistance!
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Love to all our brothers and sisters in the UTLA !
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Second that, Bob! And thank you.
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Sorry I couldn’t get there today, Diane. But would like to expand on the coming ballot measure which ameliorates the long time bad Prop 13 in California which strictly limited property tax on homes and commercial property and which decimated funding for our public schools since Howard Jarvis got it passed in 1978.. This ballot measure is dedicated to raise money for public schools would affect ONLY COMMERCIAL PROPERTY TRANSACTIONS, and will NOT affect private dwellings. Huge developments are taxed at this minimum when sold, which is unfair…so if this passes, the sellers tax at sale would be raised to represent Fair Market Value. This tax funding would be earmarked specifically for our public schools. Billionaire developers like the new owner of the LA Times, and like Eli Broad, would finally have to pay a fair tax. They have been protected by their lobbyists in the past when attempts to do this were rejected.
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Yay, Diane. Great news.
You rock.
Love UTLA’s Billboard.
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Great news! California is such a wealthy state. It is a pity that the powers that be have allowed the public schools to be left behind. Prop 13 was a tool for leaving the schools behind. I am sure all of Silicon Valley will be fighting any changes that will make them pay their fair share of taxes.
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I am so happy to hear that the Hispanic parents are organizing to fight privatization. Organizing for resistance is generally a skill with which they are not familiar. Perhaps they have learned that in this country, it is often the “squeaky wheel that gets the oil.” It is a lesson in how democracy works.
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People are trapped in failing libraries. Don’t public library patrons deserve the same reading choices as people who have their own private libraries? People deserve choice. Taxpayers should subsidize private corporate boards to oversee charter libraries where, instead of high priced books and overpaid librarians with their Cadillac benefits packages, iPads and Chromebooks provide personalized reading. That will be a game changer in making libraries overcome reading achievement gaps, and will end inequality of all kinds.
On a more serious note, that was a thrilling afternoon. It was invigorating meeting Diane. She talked about how she came up with the term ‘Disrupters’, about charter scandals, about Martin Luther King… It was a memorable and enlivening event. I am so thankful to have been there. And she makes me blush. Make sure you read Slaying Goliath!
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Your library analogy is spot on and hilarious, LeftCoast! Thank you!!!
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As we speak, my daughter is trapped in a failing swimming pool. I drove on a failing road to get her here on time, and stopped at a faiing red light lest I be rammed by some member of the great unwashed in the blood.
I need a voucher of about a buck fifty so I can buy a country club membership. and live in Rolling Terrace, where everybody looks like me and will stop at a stoplight.
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Swimming pools are small. Some people are trapped, swimming in the waves of a failing ocean. We need to take this issue up to scale. Privatize the planet.
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Thx 4 all u do
Just thx
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