solidaridad: Activists Announce the Recall Campaign of LAUSD President Mónica García

She has failed to listen to our voices, the students, and she refuses to see any of us to hear our stories. — Mary Ann Reyes

Wednesday, April 11, 2012 saw nearly three dozen parents, students, and activists hold a press conference in front of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Board Room announcing the start of an official recall campaign for LAUSD Board of Education President Mónica García.

Speakers announced Ms. García had been served with a Notice of Intent to Recall on April 7, 2012, and the City Clerk of Los Angeles was provided appropriate papers as part of the protocols for recall. While Ms. García's privatization policies and wrongheaded budget priorities have long been an anathema to social justice activists, the recall proponents cited Ms. García's recent unconscionable cuts to critical programs including School Readiness Language Development Program, Early Education Centers, Elementary Arts, and Adult Education, while the district holds over $700 million in reserve as the final straw. The text of the Notice of Intent follows:

NOTICE OF INTENT TO RECALL MÓNICA GARCÍA, DISTRICT 2 TRUSTEE, LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Vera Padilla, Maryanne Reyes, José Lara, Ken Montenegro, Robert D. Skeels

STATEMENT OF REASONS

Mónica García has consistently ignored the voices and needs of our parents, students and communities, employing repression to stifle legitimate dissent. Under García's leadership, tens of thousands of teachers, librarians, and health and human service employees have been subjected to reduction in force notices. While some of these educators have been rehired, the net effect has been teacher demoralization; a disincentive to enter the teaching profession; a disruption and marginalization of impoverished schools; and arguably illegal classroom overcrowding. Under García's watch, hundreds of millions of dollars in LAUSD properties and resources have been given to privately managed charter school corporations, systematically starving public schools of resources. García has overseen several destructive school reconstitutions and closures, despite warnings from scholars that such drastic “reforms” do nothing to improve outcomes. García has been a party to handing public schools over to charter corporations which are documented to perform worse than the schools they replaced. The hallmark of García's tenure has been hundreds of millions of dollars squandered on unnecessary tests, consultants, and questionable hiring priorities. This budget mismanagement has led to the current situation where programs critical to poor and immigrant families including: The School Readiness Language Development Program, Early Education Centers, Elementary Arts, and Adult Education have been cut, while the District holds $700 million in reserve. Under García, LAUSD has taken Federal Title I and Title III funds (supporting low-income students and English Language Learners respectively) away from school sites. We believe García’s abysmal failure to address the needs of LAUSD District 2 stakeholders leaves us no option but to demand her recall.

AVISO DE INTENCIÓN DE DESTITUIR A MÓNICA GARCÍA, MIEMBRO DEL CONSEJO DE ADMINISTRACIÓN DEL SEGUNDO DISTRITO, DEL DISTRITO ESCOLAR UNIFICADO DE LOS ÁNGELES (LAUSD)

Vera Padilla, Maryanne Reyes, José Lara, Ken Montenegro, Robert D. Skeels

EXPOSICIÓN DE MOTIVOS

Mónica García continuamente ha ignorado las voces y las necesidades de nuestros padres de familia, estudiantes y comunidades, usando la represión para sofocar la legítima disidencia. Bajo el liderazgo de García, decenas de miles de maestros, bibliotecarios, empleados de salud y servicios humanos han recibido cartas de despido. Aunque algunos de estos docentes han sido contratados de nuevo, el resultado neto ha sido la desmoralización de los maestros, la falta de incentivos para cursar la carrera magisterial, la interrupción y marginalización de escuelas en áreas con altos índices de pobreza, y podría decirse el hacinamiento ilegal de los salones de clase. Bajo la vigilancia de García, cientos de millones de dólares en propiedades y recursos del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles (LAUSD) se han canalizado a empresas de gestión privada que operan las escuelas “charter”, mientras que se quitan recursos de las escuelas públicas de manera sistemática. García ha supervisado la reorganización y cierre de múltiples escuelas a pesar de las advertencias de expertos que indican que éstas “reformas” drásticas no hacen nada para mejorar el rendimiento de las escuelas. García también ha tomado parte en la entrega de escuelas públicas a empresas “charter” las cuales están documentadas de tener un peor desempeño que las escuelas a las que sustituyen. El estandarte de la presidencia de García ha sido cientos de millones de dólares despilfarrados en exámenes innecesarias, consultores y cuestionables prioridades de contratación. El mal manejo del presupuesto nos ha traído a la situación actual en la que programas esenciales para familias de bajos recursos y inmigrantes como el Programa de Preparación del Desarrollo de Lenguaje Para la Escuela (SRLDP), Centros de Educación Temprana, Arte para las Escuelas Primarias y Educación para Adultos han sido recortados, mientras el Distrito mantiene 700 millones de dólares en reservas. Bajo la dirección de García, el Distrito ha quitado a fondos federales de Título I y Título III (fondos de apoyo para estudiantes de bajos recursos y estudiantes cuya primera lengua no es el inglés, respectivamente) de las escuelas. Creemos que el fracaso abismal de García de atender las necesidades de las partes interesadas del Distrito 2, parte del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles, no nos deja otra opción más que exigir su destitución.

모니카 갈시아, 엘에이 제2구역 교육위원, 퇴진을 위한 공고문

Vera Padilla (베라 파딜라), Maryanne Reyes (메리앤 레이스), José Lara (호세 라라), Ken Montenegro (켄 모테네그로), Robert D. Skeels (로버트 디. 스킬즈)

퇴진해야 할 이유 진술문

모니카 갈시아는 학부모, 학생, 그리고 지역사회의 필요한 요구사항과 의견들을 끊임없이 무시해 왔으며, 모니카의 의견에 법적으로 반대하는 사람들을 억압해 왔습니다. 모니카의 강압에 의해, 수많은 선생님들, 도서관 직원들, 보건과 복지사업 종사자들이 해고 통지서를 받았습니다. 몇몇 교육자들이 재취업 되는동안, 선생들의 사기를 저하시키고, 선생님이 되고 싶어하는 사람들의 의욕을 꺾었으며, 교육의 질을 낮추면서 혼란을 가져오고, 불법적으로 한 학급에 많은 학생을 두게 했습니다. 모니카의 지배아래, 몇 백만 달러의 엘에이교육위원회 재산과 자원들이, 모니카의 개인적 관리아래, 조직적으로 공교육을 무시하고 기업이 운영하는 챠털스쿨을 지원하고 있습니다. 교육 전문가들은 모니카가 추구하고 있는 교육 개혁안들이 교육발전에 아무런 기여도 하지 못한다고 경고했습니다. 그럼에도 불구하고 모니카는 기존의 제도를 무너뜨리고 여러 학교들을 폐교시키는 파괴행위를 자행해 오고 있습니다. 모니카는 정치적인 마인드를 가지고 공립학교들 (public schools)을 기업이 운영하는 챠털학교 (charter corporations)로 넘겨 주고 있습니다. 그러나 보고된 자료에 의하면 챠털학교의 교육의 질이 공립학교 교육에 비해 훨씬 떨어진다고 합니다. 모니카가 재직하고 있는 동안에 수백만 달러가 필요없는 시험, 상담 그리고 의문스러운 사람고용에 사용되고있습니다. 교육위원회가 700만달러를 보유하고 있으면서도, 예산을 잘못된 곳에 사용하면서도, 저소득층 학생과 이민자 가족, 즉 언어읽기 발달능력 프로그램, 조기 교육센터, 초등학교 예능교육, 성인교육(어덜트스쿨)에게 예산을 없애는 심각한 상황을 초래하고 있습니다. 모니카의 지도아래, 정부직함1과 직함2 (저소득층 학생과 영어습득자들을 위한 지원금)을 학교 웹페이지에서 삭제했습니다. 우리는 모니카가 최악의 지도력으로 엘에이 제2구역 교육 이해당사자의 당연히 필요한 요구와 의견을 무시한 것을 선언하고 퇴진할 것을 공고합니다.

The five proponents of the recall are all long-time LAUSD District 2 residents comprised of one student, one teacher, and three community activists. Two of the proponents were participants in the highly successful OccupyLAUSD campaign that brought the abject truth to the consciousness of the Los Angeles public that members of the one percent including Philip Anschutz, Stephen Bing, Eli Broad, Jerry Perenchio, and Bill Gates control LAUSD.

The recall campaign was started in response to hundreds of poor and immigrant families wanting to see a LAUSD budget that puts their needs ahead of wasteful and unnecessary testing that degrades their children and deprofessionalizes teaching. Many Adult Education students, qualified to collect signatures on the recall petitions, have already volunteered for the campaign. The media coverage at the press conference was extremely favorable, and activists vow to bring their issues to the forefront of the education debates that until now have excluded those most affected by LAUSD policies.

Currently the proponents are on schedule to begin circulating petitions in late April or early May. They welcome any and all support from grassroots community members, progressive organizations, and organized labor. If successful in gathering the signatures of 26,608 registered voters in LAUSD District 2, then a special recall election will be scheduled.