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LAUSD invites runner up Robert D. Skeels to BOE installment by Robert D. Skeels
Social justice rockstar and LAUSD District 2 runner up Robert D. Skeels invited to witness Mónica Ratliff and Steve Zimmer sworn in as members of the Board of Education.
The Monica Ratliff #LAUSD victory party attended by working class people in a teacher's back yard. @theonlyteacher twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 26, 2013
Tomorrow voters have a chance to put education before corporations! Vote Monica Ratliff #LAUSD j.mp/13DrvxY twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 21, 2013
Published on Monica Ratliff's campaign site on Thursday, April 25, 2013
At a time when the fate of public education hangs in the balance, the urgency of electing Monica Ratliff cannot be overstated. Ms. Ratliff left a lucrative law career in order to become an educator at a school that straddles the line between skid row and South Central Los Angeles. I can't think of a more honorable thing to do. Her choice to teach the most vulnerable is the epitome of the type of authentic reforms our district so desperately needs. Ratliff's experience and insight garnered from working with, rather than talking about, impoverished inner-city children provides a glimmer of hope for a district beholden to an incumbent board and Superintendent that have placed developer and corporate profits above the needs of students.
Her opponent, on the other hand, is a political opportunist supported by the likes of Rupert Murdoch, Philip Anschutz, Michelle Rhee, Michael Bloomberg, and Eli Broad. The millions of dollars these plutocrats have bestowed on Ratliff's opponent must be seen for what they really are — a shrewd business investment. A day after Rupert Murdoch announced his quarter million dollar contribution to Coalition for School Reform supported candidates, his firm Amplify announced a new education tablet product which he expects CSR backed candidates to purchase. Moreover, Ratliff's opponent has no experience in education, nor even a grasp of education policy. He sees LAUSD as a stepping stone to the California Assembly or City Hall.
We need a break from the LAUSD status quo of corporate giveaways and school privatization. We need a school board member who will prioritize pupils over profits. We need a woman who has dedicated her life to giving students the education they deserve. There's only one thing to remember for the May 21, 2013 District 6 General Election — Vote for the Teacher! Vote Monica Ratliff for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education!
Robert D. Skeels, 2013 Primary Candidate District 2
For more on the The Network for Public Education, see their website. Be sure to check out all of Professor Diane Ravitch's posts regarding educator Monica Ratliff for Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education as well.
The distinguished @networkpubliced endorses Monica Ratliff for #LAUSD BOE! j.mp/10SBZYr twitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 13, 2013
Our First Endorsement: Monica Ratliff, a Teacher, for Los Angeles School Board
The Board of Directors of NPE has voted to endorse Monica Ratliff in her runoff election for Los Angeles school board. The election will happen on May 21st.
We asked both Ratliff and her opponent, Antonio Sanchez, to complete a detailed candidate questionnaire. Monica Ratliff’s responses revealed someone who is a working 5th grade teacher, well acquainted with the challenges faced by the schools of Los Angeles. Sanchez did not respond.
Ratliff understands that testing has gotten way out of control. She told us:
Teachers constantly check for understanding. LAUSD spends too much money on periodic assessments and other tests that waste money and, more importantly, precious instructional time. We need less purchased standardized testing. One standardized test at the end of the year is acceptable – depending upon its use.
She opposes merit pay based on test scores, and the sharing of student data without explicit parental permission.
Her opponent, Antonio Sanchez, has received the full backing of corporate reformers, including donations from New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, and billionaire Eli Broad. According to the Los Angeles Times, which endorsed Ratliff, Sanchez lacks educational expertise and his positions are unclear. He tends to speak in political platitudes about key issues rather than offering specifics.
Students of Los Angeles need school board members who are independent of the corporate reform machines. They need people who understand education issues in depth, and that is why we are endorsing Monica Ratliff.
NPE President Diane Ravitch endorsed Ratliff last week, writing:
Monica will be overwhelmingly outspent. She can win if friends of public education turn out to vote. She needs our help. If everyone who loves teachers sends Monica a gift of any size, she would be the best-funded candidate in the race. Send whatever you can afford.
It is of vital importance that we elect independent candidates like Ratliff. Please visit and donate what you can to her campaign here.
5th Grade Schoolteacher Monica Ratliff, a #LAUSD candidate endorsed by both UTLA & AALA monicaratliff2013.nationbuilder.com/endorsementstwitter.com/rdsathene/stat…
— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) May 15, 2013
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD School Board
The Empress Pavilion
Thursday, April 18, 2013 from 5:30—7:30PM
988 N. Hill St.
Los Angeles, CA 90012
Hosted by Ed Burke, Mario Cano, Hon. Bennett Kayser, Hon. Julie Korenstein, Connie Moreno, with special guests Hon. Jackie Goldberg and David Tokofsky
Hello Friend,
I am happy to let you know about a marvelous young candidate, a teacher, for LA School Board in a run-off in the area I served for 8 years in the East San Fernando Valley. She grew up with a single mom who went back to school to help her daughter go to College at Columbia University. Well her daughter, Monica Ratliff, won a National Hispanic Scholarship to Columbia and then went on to Columbia Law School. After law school she went to work both at the NAACP and Neighborhood Legal Services in the SF Valley. She then decided and has now taught for 11 years at a downtown garment district poverty elementary school earning honors for her commitment to students. She won the LA Times and the LA Daily News Endorsement. I would very much like you to support her as her opponent received 1.2 million dollars to her 14,000 dollars. I hope you will join us or send your support for her campaign.
Thanks always,
David Tokofsky
Monica Ratliff for LAUSD at Empress Pavilion Fundraiser by Robert D. Skeels
One other thing about Ms. Ratliff that Mr. Tokofsky failed to mention above: she's NOT supported by Rupert Murdoch, Eli Broad, Philip Anschutz, and Michelle Rhee like some other District 6 candidates are.
When United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) House of Representatives (HOR) was voting on endorsements, I was with a group of Adult Education Students supporting my candidacy (when you work with the community, you get community support) passing out our literature to voting HOR members. I was standing next to a young man who I assumed was an intern or working on another candidate's campaign. I introduced myself as a District 2 candidate and he said his name was Antonio Sanchez, a candidate for District 6. I asked him my stock question that I ask all political candidates, "what is your stance on school privatization." I was taken aback by his response, especially given we were in an union hall. He said "I don't like that word, we need to get away from using that word." Next morning I read in the LA Times that he came out of the Villaraigosa camp. That made sense in light of his political affiliations. Sanchez didn't want to talk about school privatization at the UTLA building because he's in favor of school privatization. At the Stonewall Democratic Club endorsement meeting I had the temerity to bring up Antonio Sanchez's connections with the arch-reactionary Coalition for School Reform (CSR), including Philip Anschutz, who was a major player in the passage of Prop 8. That truth made for a close vote, but afterwards I was told I was being unfair for "tarring Sanchez with the brush on an IE" (independent expenditure).
Let's be clear. Had I ever been endorsed by or learned that a Coalition for School Reform IE had been established on my behalf by fringe-right reactionaries including: Rupert Murdoch, Philip Anschutz, Eli Broad, Reed Hastings, Jamie Alter-Lynton, Michelle Rhee, Joel Klein, Michael Bloomberg, and others, I would have immediately held a press conference denouncing their politics and disassociating myself from both them and their vile ideologies. Of course, that's because I believe in public education and oppose privatization and neoliberalism.
Photos from 1010 Wilshire Fundraiser Hosted by Suzie & Sean Abajian and Reynaldo Rivera on March 15, 2013
