Reclaim the School Board: Elect Defenders of Public Ed School Board Majority Hangs in the Balance in 2020 Elections
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Award-Winning Newspaper of United Teachers Los Angeles • www.utla.net Volume XLIX, Number 1, October 18, 2019 Reclaim the School Board: Elect Defenders of Public Ed School board majority hangs in the balance in 2020 elections. UTLA has endorsed a powerful team to take back the LAUSD School Board from pro- privatization forces in 2020. All four of our endorsed candidates walked the picket lines JACKIE GOLDBERG with educators, parents, and students during DISTRICT 5 our historic strike to defend public education. UTLA Jackie Goldberg is a longtime teacher Endorsed and legislator committed to championing public education and holding the charter industry accountable. Patricia Castellanos is an LAUSD parent means we must win all four seats to have the and founding member of the Reclaim Our team we need. We need allies on the board Schools LA coalition, which helped organize to build on our contract wins and: communities to support our strike. Send more resources to our PATRICIA CASTELLANOS George McKenna is an advocate for un- schools to lower class size and derserved students and for increased funding hire more nurses, librarians, DISTRICT 7 for schools and special education. counselors, psychologists, and social workers. Scott Schmerelson is a longtime LAUSD educator who knows how important it is to in- Protect public education from vest in school staff and protect the board from privatization and policies undue corporate charter industry influence. that would rate schools as failing and then hand them The school board election is March 3, with over to charters. mail ballots dropping February 3. With four out of seven board seats up for election, our Safeguard our healthcare, future hangs in the balance. None of the seats which is up for negotiation currently held by people bankrolled by priva- in 2020 and subject to school tizer money are on the ballot this round, which board approval. GEORGE MCKENNA DISTRICT 1 Take action for our team Are you in one of the voting Build our political power for the March districts? Chapter chairs have rosters 2020 primary elections by signing up that indicate if you are registered to for UTLA’s Political Action Council of vote in one of the four board districts Educators at www.utla.net/pace. on the ballot. Check the roster and Gear up for our field cam- then sign the UTLA School Board pe- paign: We’ll be reaching out to tition and commit to supporting our voters one on one in the coming candidates. months. Talk to colleagues about Now is the time to join PACE: joining together for precinct walks SCOTT SCHMERELSON Billionaires can’t teach our kids — and and phone banks. they shouldn’t be able to buy our elections. More on endorsements on page 5. DISTRICT 3 United Teacher • for the latest news: www.utla.net October 18, 2019 United Teacher President’s perspective PRESIDENT Alex Caputo-Pearl NEA AFFILIATE VP Cecily Myart-Cruz AFT AFFILIATE VP Juan Ramirez Our strike shifted the narrative: Now, we win more ELEMENTARY VP Gloria Martinez SECONDARY VP Daniel Barnhart From organizing for the School Board to considering Bernie Sanders TREASURER Alex Orozco SECRETARY Arlene Inouye By Alex Caputo-Pearl Our strike’s bounce effect Goldberg, in five short months since her EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Jeff Good UTLA President Far beyond the above, our strike con- election to Board District 5, has powerfully tinues to bounce, with profound positive shifted the balance of power on the board. BOARD OF DIRECTORS We keep seeing the positive impacts of impacts. Consider the following from the We have endorsed Patricia Castella- NORTH AREA: Karla Griego, Chair (Buchanan ES), our strike. Take a moment and feel pride last month: nos in Board District 7. This seat is being Mark Ramos (Contreras LC), Rebecca Solomon (RFK in your days in the rain on the picket line. • Governor Newsom signed Assembly vacated by Richard Vladovic because of UCLA Comm. School), Julie Van Winkle (LOOC Liason) Lisa Bennett is a special education bills 1505 and 1507, the first major term limits. As an open seat, it will play SOUTH AREA: Maria Miranda, Chair (Miramonte ES), Aydé Bravo (Maywood ES), L. Cynthia Matthews teacher, UTLA chapter chair, and an regulation on charter authorization in an outsized role in forming the balance (McKinley ES), Karen Ticer-León (Tweedy ES) LAUSD Teacher of the Year. She teaches decades. of power on the board. Paty has been a EAST AREA: Adrian Tamayo, Chair (Lorena ES), at Van Gogh School, one of those closest • LAUSD has complied with our first- friend and leader in labor/community Ingrid Gunnell (Salary Point Advisor), Yolanda Tamayo to the Saddleridge fire. Lisa and others ever class-size caps in the vast majority movements in LA for 20 years, having (Lorena ES), Gillian Russom (Roosevelt HS) across the San Fernando Valley were in- of classrooms, with our Class Size Task worked for SCOPE and LAANE, and WEST AREA: Erika Jones, Chair (CTA Director), Georgia having walked the picket lines with us. Flowers Lee (Saturn ES), Noah Lippe-Klein censed by LAUSD’s flat-footedness in Force working with the few schools that (Dorsey HS), Larry Shoham (Hamilton HS) responding to the fire. Schools should need assistance. She is a parent of an LAUSD student in CENTRAL AREA: Stacie Webster, Chair (West Vernon ES), have been closed and should have re- • There are fewer Prop. 39 charter co- San Pedro, and grew up in Carson—both Kelly Flores (Hawkins HS), Tomás Flores mained closed until they were rigorously locations than any time in the past six critical battlegrounds in District 7. She (West Vernon ES), Claudia Rodriquez (49th Street) cleaned and the air quality improved. years. was a student at Catskills Elementary, the VALLEY EAST AREA: Scott Mandel, Chair (Pacoima LAUSD needs a plan, developed with school that captured the city’s imagination Magnet), Victoria Casas (Beachy ES), Mel House • More than 80% of schools reporting on (Elementary P.E.), Hector Perez-Roman (Arleta HS) stakeholders, for fire safety in the future. the UTLA Chapter Power Survey state in its victorious struggle to keep GANAS VALLEY WEST AREA: Bruce Newborn, Chair (Hale Lisa, her co-workers, and parents, their Local Leadership/Governance charter from opening. Paty co-founded Charter), Melodie Bitter (Lorne ES), Wendi Davis working with UTLA staff, used structures Councils are functioning. Reclaim Our Schools LA, the community (Henry MS), Javier Romo (Mulholland MS) they built in the strike to organize a protest • LAUSD has exceeded the number of coalition that organized nightly protests HARBOR AREA: Steve Seal, Chair (Eshelman ES), at Van Gogh. Using cluster connections at Monica Garcia, Austin Beutner, and bil- Karen Macias (Del Amo ES), Jennifer McAfee secondary counselors to be hired as a (Dodson MS), Elgin Scott (Taper ES) strengthened during the strike, educators result of the strike. lionaires’ houses during the strike. ADULT & OCCUP ED: Matthew Kogan (Evans CAS) and parents from eight surrounding schools • Health and human services providers This crucial campaign has begun. Read BILINGUAL EDUCATION: Cheryl L. Ortega (Sub Unit) attended the vibrant action on less than and special education teachers are on more on the cover and contact your chapter EARLY CHILDHOOD ED: Teri Harnik, Cleveland EEC 24-hour notice. It was packed with media. the UTLA/LAUSD Task Force demand- chair to see which board district you live in, Read more on the protest in the box on page and sign your commitment to vote for our HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES: ing information to prepare for reopener Mallorie Evans (Educational Audiologist) 3. Olivia Cortes, vice chair at Frost Middle bargaining. candidates if you live in 1, 3, 5, or 7. Talk SPECIAL ED: Lucía Arias (Sub Unit) School, said, “It made me so proud to be at • The LA School Board finally started col- to your chapter chair about volunteering. SUBSTITUTES: Benny Madera Van Gogh in solidarity with so many other lecting over-allocation fees from under- PACE CHAIR: Marco Flores schools.” Randall Pollack, chapter chair at enrolled co-located charter schools— Time to lead nationally: Considering UTLA RETIRED: John Perez Frost, said, “Simply put, our students saw they owe more than $6 million from Bernie Sanders democracy in action today.” not using space they were given. Donald Trump supports privatizing AFFILIATIONS During the action, the crowd applauded • The LA School Board is set to kill Nick schools, is undermining unions, and is American Federation of Teachers National Education Association LAUSD School Board Member Scott Sch- Melvoin’s school rating system. attacking the communities of our students. merelson, who criticized LAUSD’s poor • What Bernie Sanders started with his We must defeat him in 2020. STATE & NATIONAL OFFICERS judgement during the fire. Bonds with endorsement of the Schools and Com- The Democratic Party will not beat CFT PRESIDENT: Jeffery M. Freitas Schmerelson had been deepened during munities First state funding measure Trump if it continues to attack its own base. CTA PRESIDENT: E. Toby Boyd CTA DIRECTOR: Erika Jones the strike, as he pushed LAUSD to settle. has taken off: candidates Pete Buttigieg, By supporting underfunding of schools and CFT VICE PRESIDENTS: Arlene Inouye, John Perez, Juan Ramirez Everyone is ready to work for his reelec- Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, and Eliz- unregulated growth of charters, Democratic NEA PRESIDENT: Lily Eskelsen Garcia tion in March 2020. abeth Warren have now endorsed it. Party leadership has attacked its own base AFT PRESIDENT: Randi Weingarten Also in the West Valley, another LAUSD • Our longtime allies in the Chicago AFT VICE PRESIDENT: Alex Caputo-Pearl of people of color and working-class people. NEA DIRECTOR: Mel House Teacher of the Year was building from the Teachers Union, who inspired the By supporting unregulated growth of a momentum of the strike.