In Partnership with 74

UTLA urging teachers to fight Broad plan with ‘success’ stories

Mike Szymanski | December 3, 2015



Your donation will help us produce journalism like this. Please give today.

EliBroadUTLAprotestIn a recorded robo-call sent out to teachers last night, seven UTLA leaders encouraged them to attend the LA Unified board meeting next week and relate positive things that are going on in their schools.

The union leaders, led by president Alex Caputo-Pearl, took turns encouraging teachers to remind the board that great things are happening all across the district, with Caputo-Pearl saying, “We’ve seen failures, and hundreds of successes that have not made the news.”

They cite the new effort by the Broad Foundation to expand charter schools in Los Angeles and, as one said, “Our enemies will take every chance they get to tell the world about our district’s shortcomings.”

The union leaders mention that the board will be deciding about “picking a fight” with the Broad plan, a reference to a resolution from Scott Schmerelson that urges the board to go on record opposing the charter plan.

The union leaders ask the teachers to stand up and briefly discuss “something you take pride in going on at your school, something that is right.”

For teachers can’t attend the board meeting, the union has posted on its website a section called “Stand Up for Our Schools,” where teachers can send photos and write stories about successes in math, science, family night events, cultural themed events and class projects.

At the bottom of the site, there’s a link that goes to the personal email of each board member and starts with: “Dear School Board Member, I am a teacher at (enter school name). Attached are some photos of the great things happening at our schools. I urge you to recognize, be proud of, invest in, and stand up for our school. None of these innovative programs were brought to you by billionaires.”


Click here to sign up for the LA School Report newsletter, and don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Read Next