Yesterday, the United Teachers of Los Angeles scores a big victory, and so did the teachers in five charter schools, who won the right to unionize.
For Immediate Release
May 22, 2020
Media Contact:
Anna Bakalis, 213-305-9654
PERB rules in UTLA’s favor, the union will now represent all educators at five Alliance charter schools
After a two-year legal battle, on Thursday, May 21, the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) certified UTLA as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of educators at the five Alliance charter schools that filed for union recognition:
Alliance College-Ready Middle Academy 5
Alliance Judy Ivie Burton Technology Academy High School
Alliance Gertz-Ressler/Richard Merkin 6-12 Complex
Alliance Leichtman Levine Family Foundation Environmental Science High School
Alliance Morgan McKinzie High School…
“Now that PERB has made it clear that we filed appropriately at our schools, we’re ready to sit down at the bargaining table,” said Kemberlee Hooper, a Physical Education teacher at Gertz-Merkin. “ I’m excited that we’ll have an equal voice in decision making, and I look forward to bargaining over issues like professional developments and a fair and meaningful evaluation process.”
Alliance has been fighting PERB certification since educators at three schools filed for union recognition in May 2018, with two more filing in 2019. But now with this decision, Alliance educators have prevailed after a two-year legal delay intended by Alliance to deny educators their right to bargain and to organize with UTLA. Alliance educators are ready to move forward. They urge Alliance to start setting a better example for their students and the Alliance community by respecting PERB’s decision and its own educators.
Particularly in this unprecedented time, it’s more important than ever that educators have an equal voice in decisions impacting their students, their schools, and their profession. Alliance educators simply want to sit down with Alliance as real decision-making partners and together decide what will make their schools the best place to work and learn.
Alliance educators look forward to bargaining at five union schools and are committed to organizing at all Alliance schools.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Good! That takes a great deal of incentive away from the profiteers. Now if only those schools were run by elected boards instead of profiteers, they would be public schools.
an essential goal for 2020 and any year to follow: intentionally take incentive away from the profiteers
It may also explain to some degree why unions have fairly tepid in their willingness to fight for public schools. If they can get membership from private charter schools, they expand membership either way, even if public schools and students lose out.
I wonder how long it will be before Alliance closes the schools. No profit-no school.
In slightly related news, I just turned on LAUSD’s television channel, KLCS, and saw that the school board had a zoom meeting this week. Finally! That hopefully means Superintendent Greedy Investment Banker’s emergency powers have been rescinded. That is good to see. Left on his own, Superintendent Greedy Investment Banker will bankrupt our classrooms. To sell online summer school, the shortsighted fool was spending emergency funds on ukuleles, for crying out loud!
I take part of that back: The ukuleles were donated. He’s still wasting money trying to make online education permanent.
And ahhh, it’s good to hear Jackie Goldberg asking questions about illegal price gouging in the huge contracts the superintendent recently signed without board approval.