Why I’m protesting on Friday

Antero Garcia, an English teacher at Manual Arts High, writes:

Last week, Supt. Brewer called me. He urged me not to be a part of the one-hour job action on Friday -- that, although the budget cuts are a significant challenge for LAUSD teachers and students, not teaching for an hour will not send the right message to California legislators. That being said, you can expect to see me on the picket line on Friday.

United with parents and many students interested in exercising their political agency, the one-hour job action sends a message that, as a committed classroom teacher, the budget cuts and their impact on my classroom, my school and my community are not acceptable. These cuts (and even the money being spent by the superintendent challenging this protest) will further galvanize a school that’s already stretched to its limit.

As students ask candidly about the purpose of the UTLA action, “One Hour’s Pay for the Kids of L.A.,” I’m impressed by their determination to be a part of the line, rally with teachers and help get parents informed.

And while I know that some teachers at my school are skeptical, I know that many others will be there supportive and enthused. I am curious about what others –- educators and non-educators alike –- think about UTLA’s action.

Comments

[parent]

Thanks, Antero , for being a great teacher and standing up for quality education. The parents are behind you! In fact, parents are holding a rally in support of the walkout tomorrow, June 5 at 12:30 pm in front of Roosevelt High in downtown LA (near 4th and DeSoto). Be there if you can!

[Matthew K. Tabor]

I'd prefer if you just did your job for that hour.

[Mr. K]

I'm not sure this action will be very effective. We should be sending a message to our state government, but the people directly affected by the action are the district - the same people who have been trying to fight the same fight.

I am on the fence. I want to support the union, but I am concerned that the greatest outcome of this will be throwing away future bargaining positions.

[Angel]

I find this is a very divisive action. There are teachers who don't want to do it, and are told by Duffy they are considered "crossing a picket line" by going to the classroom. There are parents who will be on campus to keep the children safe. Don't think that it's not going to be held against you down the road for walking out.

I wonder if those teachers wrote legislators on their own time, attended rallies on their own time, or would consider a protest AFTER school (on their own time)?

Elementary schools might be ok, with the TAs and administrators, but 4000 high school kids loose on a yard while the teachers act like Duffy's little lemmings? UTLA better hope there are no outbreaks on those junior high and high school campuses.

[UTLA member]

I am a classroom teacher.

I will be in my classroom teaching at 8 a.m.

My kids deserve as much.

I am a political activist and a union member.

I support PACE. I pay my union dues. I vote in every election. I have donated time to the union as a member of the house of representatives.

Duffy never asked members what they wanted. He's telling us what to do.

I don't think standing outside on the sidewalk for an hour is going to prove anything. My time is better spent with my kids. I'll write my state representatives and call their offices -- on my own time.

But I will not walk out on my kids. They deserve better. As a union member, I deserve better from my union leadership.

[Mr. Hand]

First of all, it is NOT a Walkout, as teachers are never walking in, rather gathering with parents, students, and other community members in front of the schools to protest the draconian cuts proposed by the Governor and supported by let-them-eat-cake Republicans in Sacramento.

My students, realizing not just K-12 schools would be immediately affected, but their future at universities would be as well. Just look at the 10% fee hikes already approved by the UC and Cal State systems. Why am I teaching kids with the aim of them going on to college if they'll be squeezed out because of lack of space or prohibitive costs.

Who will speak up for the voiceless? The 99% Latino population of my school, having parents who pay taxes but overwhelmingly are refused participation in a political system that cares nothing about those who cannot vote.

How will the Governor or Legislators ever care if we do not unify? As the largest teachers labor union in the state of California, we have a responsibility to speak up for our communities, our students, and our colleagues throughout the state, many of whom have already fallen victim to this totally avoidable budget shortfall.

[Sean Socco]

I was a high school student during the 1989 strike and I learned more important lessons about real life economic and political possibilities by watching the teachers strike than I learned in 4 years of social studies class. The students WILL be learning for that first hour on Friday. They'll be learning what Frederick Douglass meant when he said, "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has and it never will."

[Mike]

UTLA Member,

Schwarzenegger won't change the policy unless he feels heat from the public. The public won't turn up the heat unless they have awareness of the budget cuts. This event helps create that awareness, on a far bigger scale then the (admirable) step of you writing a letter by yourself.

The hour will be well-spent. And the children will learn about the effectiveness of peaceful protest, which of course was taught by Ghandi and Martin Luther King.