Change The LAUSD

“The strike that nobody wanted is now behind us”

- Austin Beutner

For six days Los Angeles teachers and an overwhelming majority of students stayed out of LAUSD schools. Instead, many walked picket lines in front of the schools where supportive parents honked their horns and donated coffee. Tens of thousands attended rallies downtown, sometimes in the pouring rain. The resulting contract was approved by teachers, but not without some vocal apprehension as both teachers and parents wondered if enough was won for the sacrifice that was made. Who actually came out ahead in the final agreement and who lost?

Winners:

“Students and families are counting on our schools to stay open”

- Austin Beutner

By making the decision to keep schools open during the strike last week, Superintendent Austin Beutner and the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) School Board lost over $125 million in revenue from the state. This decision was made despite the LAUSD’s own admission that they could not keep all students safe during a strike and a warning from the union representing principals that the situation in the schools had become “dire.”

“I'd have to fail him.”

- LAUSD Board Member Scott Schmerelson

On Beutner’s handling of the labor dispute

Either Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent, Austin Buetner, is a pathological liar or he is utterly clueless. He began last week by telling the press “that about 3,500 people were taking part in pickets at the schools”. Meanwhile, tens of thousands gathered in the pouring rain to march from City Hall to the District headquarters. He has insisted that “students [were] safe and learning,” during the strike while the union representing his principals stated that “Everything is not copacetic at all of our schools. Some schools have over 200 students with [just] one credentialed person.” His statement that “the safety and wellbeing of our students, families, and employees is our top priority” is eclipsed by the fact that District lawyers told a court that the health and safety of students with special education needs would be jeopardized if the teachers who serve them were allowed to strike.

“The messages we are required to send [home to parents] are inaccurate and untruthful. Everything is not copacetic at all of our schools. Some schools have over 200 students with [just] one credentialed person.”

- Juan A. Flecha, President
Associated Administrators of Los Angeles

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) could have shut down the schools when their teachers walked off the job and then made up the missing days after the strike was over. Instead, they kept the schools open and encouraged parents to send their children into an environment where they admitted they might not be safe. To make matters worse, the School Board weakened the rules regarding background checks for volunteers just as the strike was about to begin.

“[If there is a strike] these students’ health and safety would be in jeopardy. They could get hurt, hurt themselves, or hurt others.”

- Exhibit A in LAUSD Court Filing

With their teachers set to walk out of their classrooms, the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) needs bodies. In order to get the upper hand in a strike, the District will need to keep their schools open and to do that they only need to meet one requirement - they must keep the adult to student ratio below legal limits. The students do not actually have to be learning anything, they just have to be in the school collecting ADA (Average Daily Attendance) revenue from the state.

Unfortunately for the LAUSD School Board, District officials have not been able to hire enough substitutes who are willing to cross the picket line. Therefore, they used a long-running complaint about the onerous process that parents face when offering to volunteer on campus to force a vote to make it easier to get bodies on campus during the strike. While the Board at first rejected the change, Superintendent Beutner convinced them to take another vote. Before they did, I made public comment on this issue:

“If I asked my teachers in my old school for help, they wouldn’t worry about it. They worried more about their pay.”

- 4th Grade Charter School Student

Jose, a fourth-grade student at a charter school, was so nervous as he spoke before the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) School Board that he was fighting back tears. The tension in the gallery was thick as the audience held its breath for the young boy. Board President Monica Garcia intervened and suggested that he take a deep breath. The founder of his charter school gave him a reassuring hand on his shoulder. She also had an ear to ear smile on her face.

Some were left stunned that the school board voted to allow volunteers into the classroom without full background checks. The board initially said no to the idea, but changed its position Tuesday ahead.

"I would've thought the district would have learned its lessons from Miramonte and the millions of dollars you paid out in claims," Carl Petersen, who has two special-needs daughters within the LAUSD, said, referring to a LAUSD elementary school teacher convicted of sexually abusing students. "This is one of the reasons we have financial problems."

Read the Full Article HERE

“Privatizing forces have appropriated the language of civil rights and social justice movements, while simultaneously gutting our schools of resources and selling our schools away to corporate-run charter companies.”

- Reclaim Our Schools LA

As noted by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) School Board members in their joint statement dated August 21, 2018, “students and their families will bear the brunt of a strike action.” Many parents of the hundreds of thousands of students who attend District schools are scrambling to make arrangements for their children knowing that if schools remain open, LAUSD lawyers have admitted that “the health and safety of students” would be threatened and a normal academic program will be impossible to maintain. Students who depend on meals delivered by the schools are especially vulnerable as the district has not stated how these programs would be handled if schools are forced to close.

Carl Petersen who has two special-needs daughters within the LAUSD, addressed the board over the issue.

"I would've thought the district would have learned its lessons from Miramonte and the millions of dollars you paid out in claims," he said, referring to a former LAUSD elementary school teacher convicted of sexually abusing students. "This is one of the reasons we have financial problems."

"They look for short-term results. And right now the only thing they have on their minds is how to staff those schools and keep them open."

He calls the board's decision a disaster waiting to happen.

"Unfortunately some kid is going to pay the price," Petersen said.

Read the Full Article HERE

Watch the video HERE

“The school district has failed. They have a specific obligation to the children, and they failed it,” parent Carl Petersen told CBS2. “They’ve had, what is it, two years now, in contract negotiations, and they don’t want to settle.”

Read the Full Article HERE