Change The LAUSD

“You will be our President when you read this note. I wish you well. I wish your family well.”

- George Bush to Bill Clinton

January 20, 1993

My birth as an activist occurred during the presidency of George H.W. Bush. As the GOP gained traction in their attempts to overturn Roe vs. Wade, I spent many Saturday mornings protecting access to women’s health care clinics as mobs of anti-abortion protesters tried to shut them down using physical force. Often standing by my side were members of the activist LGBTQ+ community who exposed me to the personal side of their fight, which at that time included an AIDs epidemic that was unchecked.

“It is our goal to provide every family with an enjoyable and memorable visit to Sesame Place, and we are proud to offer specialized services to guests with autism and other special needs.”

- Sesame Place

As parents of two daughters on the autism spectrum, my wife and I have made it a priority to make sure that they are not hidden away from the world. Jeopardizing our own sanity at times, we have worked through their challenges to include them on family adventures. When successful, we have been rewarded with the joy of watching our daughter dancing and singing along at her first Queen concert. On the other side of the spectrum, I’ve also sat outside an auditorium trying to calm down her overly stimulated sister.

“Remember the attack on Merry Christmas? They’re not attacking it anymore. Everyone’s happy to say ‘Merry Christmas,’ right? Merry Christmas! That was under siege. You’d have these big department stores that say ‘happy holidays.’ They say where’s the ‘Merry Christmas?’ Now they’re all putting up ‘Merry Christmas’ again. And that’s because only because of our campaign.”

- Donald Trump, July 2018

It may have only been July, but the President had Christmas on his mind. Moving on from his war against contracting STDs, Donald Trump declared that he had personally saved Christmas. The holiday was no longer “under siege.” Now pass the suntan lotion.

“We are living at a time in our nation when democracy and true representative government is being attacked and eroded at every level of leadership”

- LAUSD Board Member Scott Schmerelson

It has been almost three months since the LAUSD School Board rejected Board Member Scott Schmerelson’s “Providing a Voice and a Vote for the Constituents of Board District 5” resolution. As a result, the seat vacated by Ref Rodriguez has remained empty as the LAUSD careens towards a teacher’s strike. One-seventh of the LAUSD’s stakeholders have had no voice while Superintendent Austin Beutner is working on a secret plan to make another attempt at reorganizing the District’s bureaucracy. Parents had no one to turn to as yet another under-regulated charter school within Board District 5’s boundaries closed down in the middle of the school year.

“I will be staying on in my position as Councilmember until the end of this year and will remain laser-focused on continuing to represent my district as I have always done.”

- LA City Councilman Mitch Englander

Ignoring the responsibilities that he accepted by running for re-election, Mitch Englander announced last month that he would be “vacating [his] Council seat as of December 31, 2018.” While promising that he would stay “laser-focused“ on the needs of his constituents during his remaining time in office, it seems that he has neglected to perform one very important task since drafting his announcement to the community; it seems that a formal letter of resignation has not been submitted to the Los Angeles City Council. Therefore, they have been unable to schedule a special election for the community to select his replacement.

“Salary: 6% on-schedule raise, including 3% retroactive for 2017-18, plus 3% raise for 2018-19”

- LAUSD

The LAUSD has already signed contracts with their other major unions that “included raises totaling about 6%.” It was, therefore, unclear why the District’s initial offer to the teachers was to only raise their salaries by 2%. This seemed to be especially insulting after Board Members received a raise of at least 174% and Superintendent Austin Beutner was given a contract with a base salary of $350,000 after his supporters initially told the Board that he was willing to work for free.

“I’m not done fighting for working families who voted for a president that would stand up for them and instead got a President surrounded by Wall Street millionaires and socialites.”

- Richard Ojeda

While the victory in the midterm elections was not as definitive as some had expected, the Democrats did secure a majority in the House of Representatives and with it a much-needed firewall to Trump’s policies. Assuming the Democratic caucus stands firm, additional deficit-exploding tax cuts for the 1% are off the table. Legislative paths towards criminalizing abortion, legalizing discrimination against LGBTQ+ Americans and repealing Obamacare have also been blocked.

For the many who have been endangered by Trump’s bigoted policies, the ability to finally play defense should provide some sense of relief, but it is not enough. Since they did not gain a majority in the Senate, Democrats have no way to block Trump’s judicial appointments. This will certainly result in the judiciary being stocked with judges whose sole qualification is a willingness to engage in judicial activism to push a conservative agenda. We cannot rely on the courts to protect the historic progress that our country has made in the last half-century of civil rights battles or to provide the check on the Executive Branch that our Constitution mandates. Have no doubt, the condition of our country will worsen in the years ahead.

“We stand with our teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), in calling for a real investment in our neighborhood public schools, so that all students have an equal opportunity.”

- Northridge East Neighborhood Council

The Northridge East Neighborhood Council (NENC) is one of 99 Neighborhood Councils in the City of Los Angeles. These Councils “are advisory bodies who advocate for their communities” and are comprised of “City officials who are elected by the members of their local communities”. They are designed to be “the closest form of government to the people.”

On October 17, 2018, the NENC considered two resolutions proposed by the Education Committee. Both were passed with overwhelming support and have been forwarded to Los Angeles City Councilman David Ryu, Chair of the Health, Education, and Neighborhood Councils Committee.

“I believe that it’s time to make our public education system in California among the greatest in the nation, and I have a plan to take us there.”

• - Tony Thurmond

Like a lot of other politicians who have been labeled “anti-charter school,” Tony Thurmond has not called for the end of these publicly funded private schools. In fact, he directly states that he “will support students in all schools, public, and charter”. What he has supported is “legislation to increase accountability and transparency in charter schools, and to ensure charter schools do not cherry-pick students and push out students with special needs.” The charter school industry does not want to be held accountable for the public funds that they receive. They have, therefore, unleashed $5.2 million is spending to oppose Thurmond, often in unethical ways.

“I’m proud to have earned David Brayton’s vote, but this is who we fight for. Every. Single. Day.”

- Steve Knight

If this were Nazi Germany, David Brayton would have been wearing a brown shirt. Instead, he sat down to shoot a commercial with Congressman Steve Knight with a shirt emblazoned with the word “infidel.” This only hinted at his hatred of the Muslim religion and other “overt bigotry”