PEOPLES COLLEGE OF LAW COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY CLASS OF 2018

PEOPLES COLLEGE OF LAW COMMENCEMENT CEREMONY CLASS OF 2018

Workshop: let the community drive LCFF/LCAP for Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve

Instituto de Padres / Parent Institute
Saturday, July 18, 2015
12:00 to 4:00PM
3303 Wilshire Blvd., 8th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90010

Instituto de Padres / Parent Institute by Robert D. Skeels

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[The Education Trust-West] and many of the cited sources in the [20]14-15 ETW/LAUSD Case Study are noted School [R]eformers aligned with Secretary Duncan, the Broad/Gates/Waltons — and the then superintendent John Deasy — whose [Local Control Accountability Plan] LCAP this was. The Walton Foundation is thanked for their support. — Scott M. Folsom (4LAKids)

The Nonprofit Industrial Complex (NPIC) and their billionaire backers saw Governor Brown's wrongheaded Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) proposals as a "double-play" against public education. On the one hand elimination of categorical funding would further expose the most vulnerable (e.g. Students With Disabilities—(SWD)) to inequitable funding at the whim of those controlling the LCFF/LCAP process, on the other it would further the designs of those wanting to destroy the public commons as per the Andy Smarick roadmap.

The NPIC drove the entire Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) LCFF/LCAP process. Authentic community, family, and educator voices were drowned out by a cacophony of corporate voices in the guise of "engagement" that only the well-funded NPIC can wield. The United Way of Greater Los Angeles (UWGLA), and its smaller NPIC allies like Community Coalition, and their man in LAUSD—Eli Broad trained Superintendent John Deasy, controlled the LAUSD LCFF/LCAP process from start to finish, with a blitzkrieg series of forums, surveys, public relations, and more. However, no one should be surprised that Community Coalition is now the front group suing the district on behalf of their funders. That's how to create a crisis part of neoliberalism, so well described by Naomi Klein, works.

A chance for community to drive the process

The activists behind the Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve (SLASD) movement have organized an Instituto de Padres / Parent Institute forum to train authentic parent and community leaders to advocate for students in their communities. Here's an excerpt from a note sent to me by a parent leader discussing the event:

I urge you to encourage adult student leaders in the community to learn about the new Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) and Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP). We are having a Parent Institute on Saturday, July 18th. Please see attached flyers in English and Spanish. Khallid Al-Alim, LAUSD parent activist, will explain this budget process. It is crucial that we understand this, if we are to effectively push back against the NPIC that you so clearly describe.

Workshop: let the community drive LCFF/LCAP for Schools Los Angeles Students Deserve

CORE and Jacobin present Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook

After many delays, Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook is finally ready. Backers of the initial Kickstarter (and those who order within the next week) should receive their print copies by the end of the month. The booklet will be distributed to educators and school support staff in Chicago, New York, Portland, Newark, Washington DC, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, and elsewhere in March to help support rank-and-file activity.

Our project with the Chicago Teachers Union’s CORE Caucus and other allies ran long — the final supplement is 118 pages, more than the 50 we had budgeted for. But it was so fantastically designed by Remeike Forbes, and the photography by Katrina Ohstrom and written contributions by CTU President Karen Lewis, economist Dean Baker, Jacobin editors Megan Erickson and Shawn Gude, Joanne Barkan, Lois Weiner, and many others were so strong, we couldn’t bring ourselves to cut it down more or reduce our planned run.

Unfortunately, this produced a budget shortfall, which we hope to overcome through the sale of a limited set of print booklets and the help of our readers.

CORE and Jacobin present Class Action: An Activist Teacher’s Handbook

Cheryl Ortega for UTLA Director of Bilingual Education

Cheryl Ortega for #UTLA Director of Bilingual Education #LAUSD http://t.co/bQ32mfIniz pic.twitter.com/Usfrdc92jF

— Robert D. Skeels (@rdsathene) December 1, 2013

Cheryl Ortega for UTLA Director of Bilingual Education by Robert D. Skeels

Cheryl Ortega for UTLA Director of Bilingual Education

Endorsements

"I am an enthusiastic supporter of Ms. Ortega not only for her deep understand and support of bilingual education but also for her ability to see the big picture, to consider what is right for all students. In Gandhi's terms, Ms. Ortega one of the "perfect resisters" we need to win the battle of right versus wrong." — Professor Stephen Krashen

"Cheryl fights, heart and soul, for Bilingual Education and has a sense of justice that UTLA needs." — Lisa Karahalios Board of Directors Valley East,  Milliken Middle School

"I wholeheartedly endorse Cheryl. Her dedication and tenacity are a great service to our teachers and students. She was there at the beginning of LAUSD's implementation of bilingual education. No one has the same experience or institutional memory that she has." — Marina Salas, Chair UTLA Bilingual Ed Cmte, Hoover St. ES

"We need to keep our most experienced, dedicated individual at the helm of UTLA Bilingual Education." — Robert D. Skeels

Cheryl Ortega for UTLA Director of Bilingual Education

Matthew Kogan, Jeff Pott & Anne Zerrien-Lee: The best team to serve you as UTLA North Area Chair and Directors!

Matthew Kogan, Jeff Pott & Anne Zerrien-Lee The best team to serve you as UTLA North Area Chair and Directo... by Robert D. Skeels

We are three independent voices for constructive change who share a common vision of inclusiveness and union solidarity. We are not beholden to any faction; we know that the only way to make our union strong is to respect our diverse membership and work together with everyone for the common good.

We ask to serve you because we want to work to strengthen our union’s collective ability to champion members’ rights and stand up for public education. It’s time to turn away from destructive internal factionalism and focus on what really matters. We can’t do this alone. We need your help. If you entrust us with your vote, we pledge to work with all of our union brothers and sisters to:

• Build union solidarity and recruit chapter chairs for all North Area schools.
• Defend and empower all members and all schools, raise pay and boost morale.
• Protect your contract rights and benefits from all threats.
• Fully staff schools, reduce class size and secure full funding for Arts, Health and Human Services, Libraries, Adult Education, SRLDP, Bilingual Education, Field Trips, and more.
• Make sure teachers get the subs they request, and subs get called when requested.
• Eliminate excessive high-stakes standardized testing and test prep.
• Return Breakfast to cafeterias and halt the theft of instructional time.
• Make schools safer and healthier for us and for students.
• Hold elected officials accountable for votes that harm our members.
• Strengthen organizing ties with families, school communities, and other unions.

Matthew Kogan, Jeff Pott & Anne Zerrien-Lee: The best team to serve you as UTLA North Area Chair and Directors!