History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
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Education reform the union way
- 01-07-2011
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Opinion by Kirti Baranwal and Gillian Russom/Los Angeles Times
Kirti Baranwal is a sixth-grade history and English teacher and UTLA chapter chair at Gompers Middle School. Gillian Russom is a history teacher and UTLA chapter chair at the Academy of Environmental and Social Policy at Roosevelt High School.
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, in an inflammatory speech last month, referred to United Teachers Los Angeles as the "loudest opponent and the largest obstacle to creating quality schools." In his enthusiasm to join the national chorus blaming teachers unions, he chose to ignore the myriad positive reforms teachers are making in L.A. schools with the support of our union leadership. We are UTLA representatives at schools in the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, or PLAS, which is affiliated with the mayor's office, and which the mayor has repeatedly identified as "my partnership schools." His speech reflects a lack of knowledge of the progressive reforms UTLA is part of creating at "his" schools. As chapter chairs, we are part of the "UTLA leadership" the mayor disparages. (more…)
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