The marchers say the billionaire reformers are harming public education.
Occupy LAUSD Protesters March For Education FundingMarcy Winogard and other protesters march for education funding at Occupy LAUSDHundreds of teachers, parents and Occupy LA protesters joined forces in a march to the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters in downtown Los Angeles Tuesday, protesting education budget cuts.
The United Teachers of Los Angeles did not officially endorse the “Occupy LAUSD” march.
Parallel to the criticism of the wealthy at Occupy Wall Street, Occupy LAUSD participants say billionaire reformers like Eli Broad are damaging public education.
“What is happening right now is deliberate underfunding in order to starve our schools and be given away to corporate,” said demonstrator Marcy Winograd.
They marched to and gathered at the Los Angeles Unified School District headquarters.
Occupy movement rallies at L.A. school district headquartersAbout 200 protesters gathered near downtown Tuesday to link the nationwide Occupy Wall Street-inspired protests to budgets cuts and layoffs in the Los Angeles Unified School District.“Occupy LAUSD” participants took on the district, education philanthropists and charter schools as well as giving voice to familiar themes such as opposing corporate greed and inequality. Many of the demonstrators had marched from the main Occupy L.A. campsite around City Hall, more than a mile away.
..."Outside the Beaudry Avenue building, just west of downtown, adult education teacher Matthew Kogan criticized a status quo in which, he said, rich philanthropists such as Eli Broad and Bill Gates have more power than parents with children in schools. The name of each philanthropist elicited boos.
The protest was not sponsored by the union but the district superintendent was very angry and blamed the union anyway. He said the protestors were ill-informed.
He had on his side some powerful people and groups.
Deasy’s positions had support from a coalition of parents and organizations -- including one funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- that called at Tuesday’s meeting for a quick resolution to contract negotiations between L.A. Unified and the teachers union.
This group -- which includes the local United Way, the Urban League, Alliance for a Better Community and the Gates-supported Communities for Teaching Excellence -- advocated positions similar to those supported by Deasy in contract negotiations. A primary demand was to adopt a “mutual consent” hiring policy, under which schools would not be forced to fill vacancies with teachers displaced from other schools.
They do not want schools to be forced to hire teachers displaced from other schools. That could mean they will likely hire temp recruits like TFAers or those from The New Teacher Project.
Be sure to read this powerful statement from Occupy Los Angeles about why they joined and marched with teachers.
Reclaim & Occupy LAUSDThis is a call out to the 99% who live, work, play and learn in the Los Angeles Unified School District. It is time we Reclaim Our Schools from the 1% wealthy Billionaires and Corporate Management Companies who continue to set educational policies of school giveaways, increases in corporate charter schools, and constant school lay-offs.
Despite an LAUSD Board memo indicating a district surplus of $55-million dollars, LAUSD Supt. John Deasy has laid off 1200 teachers, hundreds of custodial and clerical staff, and untold numbers of librarians, nurses, and school psychologists. Secondary classes routinely pack more than 40 students in academic classes, leading to further student disengagement and higher drop-out rates. Under Deasy's direction, the District recently laid off 80 PSA counselors in charge of stemming school drop-out rates and ensuring adequate state funding based on attendance. School libraries are being closed or inadequately staffed.
There is more:
It is time the LAUSD School Board listens to us, the 99%. We demand full funding of our schools, an end to layoffs that disrupt our school communities, and an end to Public School Giveaways. It is time we hire back our teachers, counselors, nurses, office workers and all others who make our school communities great. We demand Wall Street out of LAUSD. It is time we bail out our schools, not banks.
Here is more about the Superintendent, John Deasy. He's there for a reason.
On this
page there is link after link about Deasy's past.John Deasy was once "deputy director of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s education division within its United States Program. Deasy is no longer featured anywhere on the Gates website, aside from old press releases. And he’s no longer included in the program’s leadership team."
Deasy is also an alum of Eli Broad's Superintendent Academy. Most of them are heartless when dealing with public school teachers.
Deasy left MD in a hurryThe revolving door keeps spinning in Princes Georges County, Md. For the fourth time since 1999, they’re searching for a new superintendent. This time it’s to replace John Deasy who was touted as a “superstar” and the great white hope of the power philanthropists, when he came into this predominantly poor, African-American district nearly three years ago from Santa Monica. But now this Broad Fellow is looking for the next flight out to Seattle to become Deputy Director of the Gates Foundation’s U.S. education program. Deasy didn’t stay in PG long enough to implement many of his own programs—small schools, for example.
..."What they don’t mention is that Broad tried to use Deasy, combined with the leveraging of their grant money, to push a top-down reform program that was bound to meet resistance from both the school board and the community. By top-down, I mean that Broad wanted to control how the district spent all of its money, which outside consultants could and couldn't be used, relations with the union and other matters usually reserved for the board. Deasy was put in the position of trying to ride two horses—the board and the foundation.
I hope other areas that have Occupy groups will start tying in to education. Public schools are truly victims of the corporate greed that is overtaking every aspect of our lives.