Los Angeles, CA – Day five of UTLA teachers strike started with citywide enthusiastic picketing at all LAUSD schools, January 18. The night before, parents held a protest outside the home of former Wall Street banker and school Superintendent Austin Beutner. Parents were angered that the LA police department showed up in full force to protect the representative of the super rich. Beutner is pushing a plan to “reimagine LAUSD” – a cover for dismantling and privatizing LAUSD. Leading a misinformation campaign, Beutner has misled parents about student absences. In the media, Beutner is making proposals while belittling the mass protest that has brought the country’s 2nd largest school district to a standstill.

In the afternoon a mass rally was held on the steps of LA city hall while negotiations were underway inside. Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti brought the LAUSD board and UTLA to the negotiation table. Garcetti opened LA city hall for the meetings, while the mass rally chanted outside.

Thousands of teachers, staff, supporters, students and parents chanted, sang, danced and raised their fists in a broad show of unity and a militant spirit. The rally was led by Cecily Myart-Cruz, UTLA NEA vice president. Speakers included students and teachers. Alex Caputo-Pearl, the UTLA president, gave a rousing speech saying that UTLA is making history. Caputo-Pearl said UTLA has brought LAUSD and its top politicians to the ground. He asked all to continue the strong picket lines to win a victory for the whole community.

The community group Centro CSO continued participation in the with the daily picketing in the early morning at Breed Street School in Boyle Heights. CSO members, along with the parents of LAUSD student Jesse Romero, who was killed by LAPS August 9, 2016, also participated in the UTLA rally.

Negotiations continue and strike picket lines will resume Monday morning January 21.

#LosAngelesCA #OppressedNationalities #PeoplesStruggles #ChicanoLatino #LAUSD #PublicSectorUnions #Strikes #UTLA #TeachersUnions #AustinBeutner #UTLAStrike

Los Angeles, CA – Over 300 militant parents and students, along with teachers who are members of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), gathered at LA Unified School District (LAUSD) headquarters, October 23, to protest Superintendent Austin Beutner. Near the end of the rally, they all marched into the LAUSD superintendent’s office and staged an occupation, demanding to meet with Beutner.

Chanting, “Austin Beutner you can't hide, we can see your greedy side!” and “What do we want? Public schools! When do we want them? Now!” the large crowd demanded answers. When they were told Beutner was unavailable, the crowd chanted, “We'll be back!”

Beutner was former CEO of the Los Angeles Times and, with absolutely no history or training in education, became the superintendent of LAUSD. The Times published a manifesto in 2016 on the effort to privatize public education by multi-billionaire Eli Broad. Beutner is continuing with this plan while banking a hefty $350,000 annual salary.

The United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) union is in the mediation process with LAUSD and Beutner was among those pushing back. Beutner stalled the negotiation process by taking over 56 days to begin negotiations – which is illegal. After 18 months of negotiations, UTLA and LAUSD have reached an impasse and are now in a fact-finding stage. If no agreement is met, UTLA plans on escalating with a strike. More than 93% of the voters voted in favor of striking. This demonstration of commitment to strike as leverage is one that the community group Centro CSO fully supports.

Many local actions are planned for UTLA, including one in Boyle Heights in conjunction with Centro CSO. The event is a rally in support of UTLA's demands which include: smaller class sizes, more libraries, psychologists and nurses, just wages, a stop to cuts on PE, arts, sciences, music, and a stop to privatization efforts.

The protest is on October 25 at 4 p.m. at Mariachi Plaza. Plans are to march from Mariachi Plaza to Boyle Heights Los Angeles Council District 14 José Huizar’s office. For more info call 323-943-2030, email centrocso@gmail.com or check Facebook.com/CentroCSO.

#LosAngelesCA #PeoplesStruggles #UTLA #TeachersUnions #AustinBeutner