As I wind up my 24th year of teaching in Los
Angeles classrooms , I pause to think of my past lives in different
schools and neighborhoods. While presenting to students in Finland I always
included a slide of past eras of my life such as growing up in the Eastside, college and adulthood
in the Westside, teaching on the Southside, and married life in the Valley.
Apart from being a native Angeleno, significant years of my life have been
spent living in many parts of town, and teaching in many communities. I love
all of them.
Which is why I have no doubt in my mind that what students all
over L.A. need more than anything is an ally on the school board. My South
Central students need a warrior who recognizes that our teachers’ strike was more
than just a salary dispute, but a movement to reclaim our rightful place as
agents of change in the profession we love. One that will help us do our jobs
serving students. My West Valley students need a fighter who will challenge our
legislators to …
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L. A. School Board Fails to Heed Jackie Goldberg's Haunting Advice
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What does the passing of the current LAUSD budget for 09-10 mean to schools with a high percentage of new teachers? These teachers will be fired and replaced with demoted/displaced workers from Downtown headquarters and Local District offices. Per LAUSD policy, positions created by the firing of new teachers must be reserved for displaced workers. Even if schools are able to buy back positions with the increased Title 1 funding, those positions will be offered to displaced workers first. L.A. Academy has dozens of new teachers who will no longer be serving our students, arguably some of the least served students in society, come July 1st.
Jackie Goldberg, a former school board member, vividly warned the current school board about approving the current budget cuts. Nonetheless, Marlene Canter, Yolie Flores Aguilar, Monica Garcia, and Richard Vladovic voted to approve the layoffs of thousands of teachers (Garcia saying it was in the name of the children) thus assuring that schools in South Central such as L.A. Academy, Jefferson HS, Bethune MS, 75th St., and newly built schools like Miguel Contreras Learning Center and Frank del Olmo School will bear the brunt of the budget cuts.
What does this mean for children? It means that teachers who have worked with these children, who know what their needs are and how to cultivate their potential, will not be around to encourage these children to be the best they can be.
The displaced workers chose to not work directly with students a long time ago, for varied reasons. Many were not around classrooms when standards-based education arrived, technology became embedded in instruction, and programs such as block scheduling and small learning communities were implemented. This is not to say they will not be successful, but to have to train dozens of workers at schools where professional development time is already a luxury, and where the new school year starts in 10 weeks, is a recipe for disaster.
The one school board who represents schools such as L.A. Academy, Richard Vladovic, voted to approve the budget cuts. If our own school board member fails to advocate for our schools, who is representing these children? Only public pressure will force our elected politicians to not let this educational catastrophe occur. Consider doing one of the following:
1. ATTEND THE RALLY/PRESS CONFERENCE THIS MONDAY, APRIL 20th, TO PROTEST RICHARD VLADOVIC'S VOTE CAST AT THE BOARD OF EDUCATION BUDGET MEETING ON 4-13-09. JOIN TEACHERS AND CONCERNED MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AT WADSWORTH AVENUE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, 981 E. 41ST ST. FROM 4:00 P.M. TO 5:30 P.M.TO PROTEST VLADOVIC'S AFFIRMING VOTE.
2. PLEASE, CALL THE LA SCHOOL BOARD AND TELL THEM TO CREATE SPECIAL PROVISIONS FOR SCHOOLS WITH LARGE NUMBERS OF NEW TEACHERS.
School Board Members
Ms. Marguerite Poindexter LaMotte District 1 (213) 241-6382
Ms. Monica Garcia District 2 (213) 241-6180
Ms. Tamar Galatzan District 3 (213) 241-6386
Ms Marlene Canter District 4 (213) 241-6387
Ms. Yolie Flores Aguilar District 5 (213) 241-6383
Ms. Julie Korenstein District 6 (213) 241-6388
Mr. Richard Vladovic District 7 (213) 241-6385
Superintendent of Schools Ramon C. Cortines Address: 333 S. Beaudry Ave., 24th Floor Los Angeles, CA 90017 Mailing Address: P.O. Box 3307 Los Angeles, CA 90051 Tel: 213-241-7000 Fax: 213-241-8442 superintendent@lausd.net
As I wind up my 24th year of teaching in Los
Angeles classrooms , I pause to think of my past lives in different
schools and neighborhoods. While presenting to students in Finland I always
included a slide of past eras of my life such as growing up in the Eastside, college and adulthood
in the Westside, teaching on the Southside, and married life in the Valley.
Apart from being a native Angeleno, significant years of my life have been
spent living in many parts of town, and teaching in many communities. I love
all of them.
Which is why I have no doubt in my mind that what students all
over L.A. need more than anything is an ally on the school board. My South
Central students need a warrior who recognizes that our teachers’ strike was more
than just a salary dispute, but a movement to reclaim our rightful place as
agents of change in the profession we love. One that will help us do our jobs
serving students. My West Valley students need a fighter who will challenge our
legislators to …
As my Fulbright journey becomes a reality, I am one part excitement and anticipation, another part forlorn about what I am leaving behind. So each day, leading up to my departure this time next week, I will post what I am most looking forward to learning and what I will seriously miss from my life in Los Angeles.
Looking Forward To
Discussing Education
In our August orientation, I met some of the world's most intelligent and passionate educators. It feeds the soul! These are people for whom teaching is not just a job, but a calling. In just the few days we spent together, I knew that the ideas produced could actually make a difference in improving educational practices in the U.S. Now, I will have the opportunity to have these same type of discussions with educators in Finland while visiting their schools.
Here is some more information about the Finnish education system, from the Fulbright Center in Finland.
Being on strike makes me proud. To see and hear the support of the public every morning on the picket line, I am further convinced L.A. teachers made the right choice to leave the classroom. It is not an easy choice for many single income teachers, but it is one of the reasons we are striking. Teachers should not have to live paycheck to paycheck when educating society's children.
But our strike is about more than that, and it seems the public is aware of what we have been concerned about for years. In the middle of one morning's picket session I realized that the education reformers had been so very wrong in what they were telling us. The public knows and understands that we know what's best for children in schools. They place their precious children in our hands to educate, and want us to do our job unencumbered by district edicts and structures that get in the way.
The public supports us.
Being on strike is not what I thought it would be. It is be…
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