Paid Advertisement Our school system is in crisis, and our teachers have identified the critical challenges affecting our classrooms in Los Angeles. We all agree that teachers deserve fair resources for our teachers and students wages and benefits, as well as manageable without devastating the finances of the class sizes; that students deserve additional District. This must include resolving supports such as nurses, librarians, and the issue of the District’s unsustainable counselors; and that these challenges pension liabilities. disproportionately affect our low-income students. We also agree on the need to We urge Governor Newsom to intervene now secure increased investments for public and help find a solution, and to increase education in Los Angeles. funding for public education, building on initial investments he has proposed in his This crisis cannot be solved by the Los first budget. Angeles Unified School District alone. LAUSD is on the brink of fiscal insolvency— Our foundations, nonprofits, and businesses a stark reality that has been acknowledged stand united. Together, we must advocate by Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas and for more funding to public education in other elected officials, UCLA Education California for years to come. The children Professor Pedro Noguera, President of our city are counting on us. The time for Obama’s former Secretary of Education Arne collective action is now. Duncan, the Los Angeles County Office of Education, several forecasts commissioned by multiple LAUSD superintendents, and by the Los Angeles Times.[1] We urge the teachers union and the school district to reach an agreement and avert a strike—and to put their collective efforts toward securing [1] Report of the Independent Financial Review Panel to the Los Angeles Unified School District, November 10, 2015. Fred Ali, President & CEO Antonia Hernandez, President & CEO Robert K. Ross, President & CEO, Weingart Foundation California Community Foundation The California Endowment Edward J. Avila, President Mickey Kantor, Partner Miguel A. Santana Project Restore Mayer Brown, LLP Maria Salinas, President & CEO Bishop Charles E. Blake George David Kieffer, Partner Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce West Angeles Church of God in Christ Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP John Semcken III, Senior Vice President Kathleen Brown, Partner Michael Lawson, President & CEO Majestic Realty Co. Manatt Phelps & Phillips, LLP LA Urban League Michele Siqueiros, Board Chair Elise Buik, President & CEO Andy Lipkis, President Alliance for a Better Community United Way of Greater Los Angeles TreePeople Steve Soboroff, President Sean Burton, CEO Cindy Miscikowski, CEO Los Angeles Board of Police Commissioners CityView The Ring Group Matthew A. Toledo, CEO Professor Geoffrey Cowan Thomas Priselac, President & CEO ProVisors University of Southern California Cedars-Sinai Health System Ronald R. Gastelum, President & Chairman Water Conservation Partners *Titles & organizations listed are for identification purposes only #UnitedForEducation.