Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board

Join with Student, Teacher, Family, and Community volunteers in getting the word out about School Board candidate Robert D. Skeels. We’ll be walking neighborhoods, talking to voters, and distributing literature. Campaign T-Shirt, light refreshments, and volunteer training provided.

Saturday, January 5, 2013 @ 12:30PM
Cafe in the Heights
3510 N Broadway Lincoln Heights, CA 90031
( across from Lincoln High School | map: http://g.co/maps/3xh7a )

Únase a los Estudiantes, Maestros, Padres de familia y Comunidad en hacer correr la voz acerca de Robert D. Skeels, el candidato corriendo para la junta escolar LAUSD. Vamos a caminar por los vecindarios para hablar con los votantes y la distribuir volantes. A los voluntarios se proporcionará una camiseta de la campaña, refrescos, y formación (training).

교육위원 후보, 로버트 디 스킬즈(Robert D. Skeels) 의 선거운동을 위해 학생, 선생님, 가족 그리고 지역사회인들의 참여를 부탁드립니다. 우리는 함께 이웃을 방문하여 투표인들과 함께 이야기하며, 정보를 제공하는 선거캠페인을 할 것입니다. 티셔츠, 간단한 음식, 그리고 자원 봉사 교육등이 무료로 제공됩니다. 많은 관심과 참여를 바랍니다. 감사합니다.

Precinct Walking Kickoff Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board

Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board Placard design

Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board Placards

January Candidate Forum

January LAUSD District 2 Candidate Forum

Featured Endorsements Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board 2013

Want to endorse Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD School Board? Simply fill out this form.

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) • Associated Administrators of Los Angeles (AALA) • Southern California Immigration Coalition (SCIC) • Unión del Barrio • Association of Raza Educators (ARE) Los Angeles • Southern California Americans for Democratic Action (SCADA) • Progressive Democrats of Santa Monica Mountains • Professor Diane Ravitch • Professor Paul L. Thomas • Professor James Horn • Professor Stephen Krashen • Dr. Rosemary L. Lee • Dr. John Thompson • Dr. John Fernandez • Susan Ohanian • Cheryl Ortega • Teresa Sitz • Elliott Adams • Ron Kovic • Kathleen Hernandez • Ken Montenegro • James Lafferty • Ron Gochez • William Aparicio • Carolyn Jacobson • John Lincoln III • Kermit Gratts and Family • Anne Zerrien-Lee • Marcy Winograd • Ingrid Villeda • Martha Sanchez • Vik Chaubey • Matthew Kogan • Gillian Russom • Julie Carson • Janette Daniel-Whitney

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• Professor Diane Ravitch endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I am happy to endorse the candidacy of Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD school board.

He attended UCLA, is a veteran of the US Navy, and a staunch supporter of public education. He passionately defends the right of every child to a high-quality education.

His knowledge, experience and perspective would add a greatly needed new voice to the deliberations of the school board. He would stand up for children, parents and teachers.

The future of public education hangs in the balance, as the forces of privatization circle round it. I strongly urge voters to support Robert Skeels at this critical time.

Diane Ravitch — is Research Professor of Education at New York University and a historian of education. She is the author of ten books and has edited an additional fourteen. Her latest is The Death and Life of the Great American School System. She blogs prolifically for numerous sites, including her own. Her full Curriculum Vitae.

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• Educator & Activist Cheryl Ortega endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Having known Robert since the PSC battles and having watched him arrive at schools at 7:00 am to help teachers reach out to parents, having worked with him in organizing parent rallys, and having enjoyed watching him take on Monica, I will 100% vouch for his integrity as well as his qualifications for school board member. He is in for the long fight and is a true and articulate advocate for public education. That Diane Ravitch has endorsed him is a strong message to all of us. Congratulations Robert.

Additional Video Endorsement by Cheryl Ortega.

Cheryl Ortega — Director of Bilingual Education in LAUSD

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• Author & Educator Susan Ohanian endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Robert D. Skeels has an important slogan for his candidacy for the LAUSD school board: "As an individual committed to social justice, I will stand up." I know first-hand of the difficulties faced by LAUSD teachers and I know what parents want for their kids. The solutions start with social justice and someone willing and able to stand up and speak l truth to power. Robert D. Skeels' strong activism in the community served by the schools in most need of a voice make him uniquely qualified for this position.

Susan Ohanian — Currently a freelance writer, Susan Ohanian’s writing draws on her own long career as a teacher grades K-14 and on current corporate-politico assaults on public education.

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• Professor Paul L. Thomas endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

As a life-long educator, nearly thirty years, and education scholar, I strongly endorse the candidacy of Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD school board.

His life experiences and unwavering knowledge about and support of public education make him an ideal voice to reinforce the democratic purposes of universal public education.

In an era during which political and corporate support for democracy, equity, and social justice is eroding, the election of Skeels sends a powerful message that a voice for the public and the commons matters. I urge voters to recognize the importance of voting for Skeels and creating a school board that honors the interests of the people.

Paul Thomas, EdD — is Associate Professor of Education at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

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• Professor James Horn endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Robert D. Skeels has been writing at SM since June 11, 2011, and his astute, acerbic, and sometime acidic commentaries have effectively lifted many rocks where profiteer snakes hide, melted away many corporate leeches from their public hosts, and shamed many professional self-servers for their unwavering commitments to themselves. In doing so, he has shone his own true colors as a relentless advocate for public schools, democracy, and social justice.

And so I was excited to hear that Robert is now campaigning for a seat on the LAUSD Board of Education, which will hold its primary election a little over a hundred days from now.

I hope everyone in L.A. (and elsewhere) who believes that public schools are for the public rather than corporations will support Robert's candidacy, for I cannot think of anyone with more commitment, drive, and passion for humane public schools for all children and for the future of our democracy.

And besides, Schools Matter needs a blogger who is a school board member.

Dr. Jim Horn — Associate Professor, Ed. D. Program in Educational Leadership, Cambridge College and Editor of Schools Matter.

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• Professor Stephen Krashen endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I STRONGLY SUPPORT THE CANDIDACY OF ROBERT SKEELS FOR SCHOOLBOARD. Imagine! A schoolboard member who actually understands how students learn!

Dr. Stephen Krashen — is professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, who moved from the linguistics department to the faculty of the School of Education in 1994. He is a linguist, educational researcher, and activist.

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• Educator Dr. John Thompson endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I strongly support Robert Skeels because of what he has taught me. Mr. Skeels has a profound understanding of both the big picture and the nuances of education policy. He is clear-eyed about what must be done, and he is equally clear in explaining his vision. The LAUSD needs his analysis of problems and solutions.

John Thompson — was an award-winning historian, lobbyist, and guerrilla-gardener who became an award-winning inner city teacher after crack and gangs hit his neighborhood.

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• Parent/Activist Teresa Sitz endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Robert D. Skeels is committed to providing comprehensive health education for our children, taught by qualified and credentialed health teachers. In Los Angeles, where the rates of sexually transmitted infections are some of the highest in the nation, where obesity is rampant and poverty exacts a toll on the mental and physical health of our students and their families, denying comprehensive health education, as Mayor Villaraigosa and LAUSD have done, is irresponsible and abusive. Robert D. Skeels has his priorities straight. I am proud to endorse him for school board.

Teresa Sitz — Community Representative DMHS, Member, Silver Lake Neighborhood Council (for identification purpose only)

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• Former School Board President Elliott Adams endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Speaking as a past school board present, I know well the complicated balancing act between money and education that is central to running a school district. Robert Skeels understands this and will work hard to provide a quality education for the children of the district even with the limited funds of today.

Good school districts must reflect the needs of the community. Robert has deep roots in the community and understands that a school board needs to be transparent and available to community members in order for it to reflect local needs. He has a record of working to protect local schools from big corporations who are trying to take them over through privatization.

In order to accomplish these ideals it takes determination and refusal to buckle under pressure, both of which are skills Robert has.

Elliott Adams — was President School Board in New York, President of Rotary, Mayor of his village, active member of Chamber of Commerce, national president of Veterans For Peace and a veteran of Vietnam and Korea.

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• Dr. John Fernandez endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I strongly endorse the candidacy of Robert D. Skeels for the L.A. City School Board, District 2.

Robert D. Skeels clearly is an impressive candidate. Robert has a thorough understanding of the problems and needs facing public education today, especially those in the LAUSD. As a social justice advocate, Robert D. Skeels will fight for a critical pedagogy that is culturally relevant and meets the curricular, cultural, and linguistic needs of bicultural students. I am confident that Robert D. Skeels will be a tremendous addition to the L.A. City School Board and will be at the forefront in creating the conditions that will foster teacher, student, and parental success, which are urgently needed in the LAUSD.

Dr. John Fernandez — Teacher, Theodore Roosevelt High School (Ret.) and former Director of the Mexican-American Education Commission for the LAUSD.

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• Ken Montenegro endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I'm very proud to endorse Robert D. Skeels' candidacy to the LAUSD school board. What makes me proud about Robert's candidacy is that few folks are unabashedly committed to defending public education from the forces of privatization. Moreover, Robert has a clear understanding that the teaching profession needs an advocate and not additional enemies on the school board.

As someone who attended LAUSD from K-12 and as the parent of a middle school child, I know that Robert's vision of an effective and compassionate public school system is possible and desired by the varied communities of Los Angeles.

Ken Montenegro — is a graduate of Peoples College of Law; technologist; former vice-chair of trustees of 1st Unitarian Church of Los Angeles; member of the advisory committee of the Coalition to Stop LAPD Spying; and a member of the executive committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild (organizational affiliation for identification purposes only).

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• Dr. Rosemary L. Lee endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I am honored to endorse Robert as a candidate who has the true interest of students parents and teachers at heart. He will work towards making their vision of a quality public education available to all students in our schools.

Dr. Rosemary L. Lee — LAUSD (Ret.), Trinational Coalition To Defend Public Education USA

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• Ron Kovic endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I strongly and enthusiastically endorse Mr. Robert D. Skeels for the district 2 school board trustee seat in LAUSD! He is a man of great courage and commitment and will serve our community well. With much respect!

Ron Kovic — Vietnam Veteran, author, "BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY."

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• Association of Raza Educators LA endorse Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

The Association of Raza Educators-Los Angeles proudly endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD Board District 2

In a climate in which public education is under attack and public leaders are severely under-serving the very communities they represent, the need for leadership that is and has been conscious, forthright and active towards empowering our communities through education is long overdue. Education is essential to the preservation of civil and human rights. It provides the foundation for all political and economic progress and it must be a basic right of all people. Making this right a reality is the fundamental objective of The Association of Raza Educators (ARE).

It is in this context and with this spirit that the Association of Raza Educators-L.A. enthusiastically endorses Robert D. Skeels for the LAUSD School Board (District 2). Social justice activist and education writer Robert D. Skeels understands the need for not only a change in the LAUSD leadership, but also, a change in the very direction that education has taken as a result of private, corporate and political interests.

As a grassroots teacher organization working alongside students, parents, and communities, ARE understands that in order to move ahead, we need people with social justice convictions on all levels and in all strategic positions in order to truly effect positive change in our communities in fundamental ways.

To have such a School Board candidate who is an advocate for the cultural, linguistic and critical thinking needs of our students, it is an honor and a privilege for ARE-L.A. to endorse Robert D. Skeels for the LAUSD School Board.

Ya basta with the profiteering of our youth's educational rights!

Ya basta with self-serving "leaders" who have forgotten about our disenfranchised youth!

Unidos Venceremos!

The Association of Raza Educators (ARE) was established to uphold the rights and liberties of the Raza community.

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• Educator Marcy Winograd endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I proudly endorse Robert D. Skeels for school board. We need his visionary leadership to fight privatization of our schools and champion public education.

Marcy Winograd — is the author of Lola Zola and the Lemonade Crush, a novel for tween girls.(www.lolazola.com) A public high school English teacher, Marcy helped organize OccupyLAUSD to protest education budget cuts.

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• Educator Ingrid Villeda endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

So happy and glad to be able to organize, and work hard for such a great candidate.

Ingrid Villeda — is a teacher at Stanford Avenue Elementary and the South Area Chair for LAUSD

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• Activist Martha Sanchez endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Martha Sanchez — is a former adult ESL student, adult school graduate, and activist who led an environmental justice campaign resulting in the closing of a toxic chemicals plant. Ms. Sanchez continues to fight for her community and is an activist in the SaveAdultEd campaign while attending college at California State University.

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• Educator Matthew Kogan endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I support Robert D Skeels because he is a man of character who always puts the interests of the community first. I have no doubt that he will continue to fight the influence of billionaires who currently dominate education on our country. When adult education was threatened with elimination, Robert was there from beginning to end fighting with us for a program valued by the community.

Matthew Kogan — is a teacher at Evans Adult School and the Adult Education Chair for LAUSD

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• Educator Gillian Russom endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

Robert is absolutely dedicated to fighting for fully-funded, quality education that nurtures all the talents of our students. He will stand up to the privatizers, the budget cutters, and the testing mania and will always stand with students, parents, and educators.

Gillian Russom — is a teacher at Roosevelt High School and the East Area Chair for LAUSD

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• Educator Julie Carson endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

I support Robert because he fights to keep the "public" in public education. I am proud to support his candidacy for school board and will fight hard for his election. Go Robert!

Julie Carson — is an Adult Education teacher for LAUSD

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• Janette Daniel-Whitney endorses Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD

So glad to know you are out there working for liberating, empowering education. I was living in Mexico when Paulo Freire gave talks in Cuernavaca. He is one of my heroes. Now you are also one of my heroes. Heard your interview this am on KPFK. Learning about Seattle teachers and parents saying no to the educational insanity of standardized tests, core curriculum, etc. was the best news I have had as an educator in ages. Yes!

Debunking Common Core Curriculum's so-called Four C's

First published on Schools Matter on December 26, 2012.

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"When you go to doctors, they don’t take all your blood, they only take a sample." — Professor Stephen Krashen

Professor Diane Ravitch had a brief comment entitled The True Goals of Education? this morning where a reader suggested a sort of whole child approach based on virtues as opposed to tedious test preparation. That in itself wouldn't merit much attention, but oddly one of the readers posted a comment suggesting that those self-same virtues were the stated intent of Common Core State Standards. The following was my response to that assertion:

For the plutocrat sponsors* of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) to suggest that it has any goals beyond imbuing corporate servitude, compliance, petty jingoism, and acceptance of austerity is nothing short of pernicious propaganda.

Certainly David Coleman and Co. coined their "four C's" well after the fact, and clearly this was in response to to cogent criticisms by actual educators including Susan Ohanian, Professor Stephen Krashen, and others.

• Common Core State [sic] Standards
• Stephen Krashen brings Common Core debate to pages of the Sunday New York Times in time for the testing debate at the AFT convention
• BOONDOGGLE!
• High Tech Testing on the Way: a 21st Century Boondoggle?

Everything in Corporate Core Curriculum is designed to discourage critical thinking skills, and this is why CCSS won't be required outside of public schools (eg. charters, parochial, and private schools). There definitely won't be any canned corporate curricula sponsored by the Gates Foundation inflicted on the children of privilege at schools like Sidwell Friends.

Like its fellow malignant projects "No Child Left Behind" and "Race to the Top," CCSS has goals directly aligned to neoliberalism:

• Cause the appearance that the public school school system is broken, and that market solutions (charters/vouchers) would fare better.
• Control the curriculum and combat any chance that "dangerous" curricula that might cause people to resist neoliberalism or question corporate dominance is taught.
• Further sort students by race and class, and further subject them to endless mind numbing test preparation. Ultimately discouraging any critical thinking skills in any class outside those running society.
• Serve as the perfect excuse for union busting and the total deprofessionalization of teaching. Ultimately leading to low cost, but highly profitable delivery of necessary information (informational texts anyone?) to those not deemed as needing critical thinking. Real teaching will continue to exist in the hallowed halls of elite private schools for scion of the ruling class.
• Obscene profits for charlatans like Pearson, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Gideon Stein, and everyone else associated with the diverse markets connected to school privatization, real estate, and the standardized-testing-industrial-complex.

We must resist Corporate Core by every means posible. Paris 1968 is a good model for us to follow. If we don't, we may as well begin writing our eulogies for public education today.

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* I'm not saying Mr. Mindlin is working for one of them. He did, after all, say the so-called "four C's" were "allegedly" at the heart of CCSS.

Robert D. Skeels Speech on TENTEN Rooftop December 16, 2012

Photos from the campaign trail: Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD Schoolboard

Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD Schoolboard 2013

City Clerk Certifies Official List Of Candidates

2013 Primary Nominating Election

LOS ANGELES (December 14, 2012) — Los Angeles City Clerk June Lagmay released today the official list of 77 candidates who have qualified to appear on the ballot for the March 5, 2013 City of Los Angeles Primary Nominating Election. A random alphabet drawing conducted publicly in the City Council Chamber on December 10, 2012 determined the order in which candidates are listed in each race.

The City Clerk has certified the following candidates to appear on the March 5, 2013 ballot in this order:

LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, DISTRICT NO. 2
MÓNICA GARCĺA, Member of the Board of Education
ANNAMARIE MONTAÑEZ, Teacher/Doctoral Candidate
ROBERT D. SKEELS, Educator/Education Researcher
ABELARDO DIAZ, High School Teacher
ISABEL VASQUEZ, Teacher/Community Advocate

MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, DISTRICT NO. 4
STEVE ZIMMER, School Boardmember/Teacher
KATE ANDERSON, Parent/Child Advocate

MEMBER OF THE BOARD OF EDUCATION, DISTRICT NO. 6
MARIA CANO, Education Advocate/Organizer
IRIS ZUÑIGA, Nonprofit Executive/Parent
MONICA RATLIFF, Fifth Grade Teacher
ANTONIO SANCHEZ, Educator/Community Organizer

CITY OF LOS ANGELES

MEMBER OF THE CITY COUNCIL, DISTRICT NO. 9
TERRY HARA, Deputy Police Chief
CURREN D PRICE, JR, State Senator/Professor
RON GOCHEZ, Teacher
ANA CUBAS, Councilmember’s Chief Deputy
MANUEL “MANNY” ALDANA, School Council Boardmember
DAVID ROBERTS, Community Development Advocate
MIKE DAVIS, California State Assemblyman

Ten Ten Wilshire event this Sunday — Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD 2013

Please join #LAUSD board candidate Robert D. Skeels this Sunday for a 1010 Wilshire Blvd Rooftop Fundraising Reception. j.mp/VAthxV

— Diane Ravitch (@DianeRavitch) December 13, 2012

Join us for an evening of conversation on educational policy on the spectacular 1010 Wilshire rooftop. Meet the board candidate who has been endorsed by many nationally renowned education experts including: Dr. Diane Ravitch, Susan Ohanian, and Dr. Stephen Krashen.

Sign up on facebook or www.robertdskeelsforschoolboard.org

Rooftop Fundraiser for Robert D. Skeels for LAUSD 2013

Open letter to David Welch, Eli Broad, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, and their Students Matter Astroturf

First published on Schools Matter on December 22, 2012.

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"And not merely pride of intellect, but dulness of intellect. And most of all, the deceitfulness; yes, the deceitfulness of intellect" — Leo Tolstoy

To David Welch, Eli Broad, Theodore J. Boutrous, Theane Evangelis Kapur, Theodore B. Olson, Enrique A. Monagas, and Joshua S. Lipshutz:

Your Students Matter website explicitly states "When it comes to education quality, numerous studies show that teachers have the greatest impact on student achievement."

Can you please produce even one peer reviewed study from a legitimate source that backs up that assertion?

As a person closely associated with top academicians in the field of education research and policy, I am not aware of any study that makes such a brazen and strident claim.

Indeed, even Eric A. Hanushek, an economist who shares your unfortunate politics and world view, has found that teachers account for no more than 13% of student achievement. A far cry from the declaration on your website, which, in the absence of any factual basis, is mendacious at best.

Since you're billionaires, businessmen, and attorneys it's safe to assume your knowledge on issues of pedagogy and education policy is negligible. With that in mind, I'll do you a favor and clarify your grossly erroneous statement, albeit even the correction is lacking nuance and context. What some initial studies have shown is that teachers are the largest of in-school factors impacting student achievement. I refer you to the aforementioned Hanushek findings to put that into some context.

I understand that neither your law firm, nor the astroturf public relations 501(c)(3) you created to disseminate misinformation, are interested in facts. That said, I felt a moral obligation to let you know that many community members are not fooled by your propaganda.

I taught bilingual catechism, primarily at St. Teresa of Avila Church, for a dozen or so years. One of the things we had to teach young children about was the definition of a lie. This idea was simple enough for 7-9 year olds to comprehend: "when you say something that you know is untrue, it's a lie." Sadly that concept is seemingly too complex for high powered litigators like yourselves to grasp.

Advocating public education and social justice

Robert D. Skeels

Candidate for District 2, Los Angeles Unified School District

Open letter to Los Angeles County Federation of Labor on School Privatization and Ms. Mónica García

"I can't wait until all contracts are thin contracts." — LAUSD President Mónica García on Unions

School Privatization Hurts Everyone

Privatization via charter schools removes agency from communities and encourages the lowest wages possible. Aside from eschewing organized labor within schools themselves, every aspect of privatized schools encourages the use of non-unionized labor and at-will employees. This is true from construction, to food services, to site maintenance, and every other facet of building, running, and maintaining schools.

Corporate charter chains like CNCA are under no obligation to even consider contractors with agreements with organized trade unions. Instead of their numerous projects benefiting the workers in the community, those tax dollars go into the pockets of well heeled developers. Other large charter chains like Alliance outsource to 501c3 firms all the work that would typically be done by classified union employees at public schools.

Ultimately school privatization drives down wages, commoditizes labor, and takes the dignity out of work and our communities.

President Mónica García supports school privatization

Mónica García's policies of giving schools away to outside bidders has exacerbated anti-labor practices. Even in the case where she can't eliminate organized labor, she has made disparaging remarks like "I can't wait until all contracts are thin contracts." Rather than viewing unions as partners in educating students, she treats them as adversaries. Her disdain for collective bargaining is disconcerting.

While real estate firms, contractors, and charter executives have flourished under Ms. García's leadership, we've seen a steady decline in certified and classified personnel in the district. This trend towards privatization affects all labor.

Moreover, her policies have been hurtful to the community at large. Here are a few of the more egregious things she can take credit for.

• 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 held millions 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.

In the interest of our communities and all the hard working women and men who still have the hard earned right of collective bargaining, we need to endorse school board members who will partner with labor.

Robert D. Skeels' Talk at Association of Raza Educators on December 6, 2012

LAUSD District 2 candidate Robert D. Skeels speaking, and the following roundtable discussion at the December 6, 2012 meeting of the Association of Raza Educators Los Angeles. The topic was 'Reclaiming Education is a Human Right during this era of Neoliberalism.' The talk was in preparation for the anniversary of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, celebrated on the December 10 of each year.