Occupy L.A. joins teachers and parents to protest education cuts and billionaire reformers.

[madfloridian]

The marchers say the billionaire reformers are harming public education.

Occupy LAUSD Protesters March For Education Funding


Marcy Winogard and other protesters march for education funding at Occupy LAUSD

Hundreds 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 headquarters


About 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 LAUSD

This 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 hurry

The 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.

[abelenkpe]

1. Right on. K&R nt

[madfloridian]

2. From the page of links about Deasy's past....

http://pageonekentucky.com/2009/03/09/the-robert-felner-scandal-and-internal-damage-control-at-the-university-of-louisville/

"A senior reporter from the Chronicle of Higher Education who had been researching the Deasy situation sent an email on January 16, 2009 at 1:15 P.M. to William Pierce, Vice Provost for Graduate Affairs, with the subject of “Press query: The Chronicle of Higher Education” that challenges UofL’s claim that everything Deasy-related was protected by the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA):"

From the letter posted there:

"But Robert Felner’s conduct has been so extraordinary that this case seems worth looking at carefully.

1. In 2001, under John Deasy’s leadership, the Santa Monica school signed a $375,000 contract with Robert Felner’s National Center on Public Education and Social Policy. That contract was still active when Mr. Deasy attended the UL. And Dean Felner might reasonably have expected that future school districts led by Mr. Deasy might sign similar contracts. Do the UL’s conflict-of-interest policies typically allow a faculty member to serve on the dissertation committee of a student with whom he or she has financial ties like these? If not, why and how were those policies breached in this case?"

[Reader Rabbit]

3. This made me smile.

It gave me some hope.

Maybe people are willing to start standing up for public education.

[madfloridian]

5. It gave me some hope as well.

I hope other groups do it also.

[Starry Messenger]

4. k&r

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. “What is happening right now is deliberate underfunding in order to starve our schools and be given

“What is happening right now is deliberate underfunding in order to starve our schools and be given away to corporate,”

I've seen this before. Note the final sentence:

http://www.greenleft.org.au/node/9869

Wednesday, February 15, 1995 - 11:00

"SYDNEY — A report presented to the national conference of the Australian Education Union on January 20 revealed that corporate sponsorship of schools is expanding in all states, 'virtually unmonitored and unregulated'.

Insufficient government funding has forced schools to seek out, and compete for, corporate sponsors. This has led to growing inequalities between schools.

The report, by a University of New South Wales researcher, Jane Coulter, found large sections of the school curriculum were being privatised. Coulter said that the contracting out of education services was often more costly. In some instances, education departments were paying $6000 a day for consultants and up to $300 an hour for academics to conduct training previously undertaken by employees.

Coulter was quoted as saying, 'The term privatisation does not capture what is happening to state education — it is really more deregulation by the government's withdrawal from provision of services'."

[madfloridian]

9. Interesting article. Seems to be international for sure.

"A report presented to the national conference of the Australian Education Union on January 20 revealed that corporate sponsorship of schools is expanding in all states, "virtually unmonitored and unregulated".

Insufficient government funding has forced schools to seek out, and compete for, corporate sponsors. This has led to growing inequalities between schools."

I wonder how such a movement circled the globe and took such power without our being aware?

Oh, yes, I do know....the media covers only their side. They never let us know.

[JDPriestly]

7. How Bill Gates dares to opine about education is amazing considering

that, in spite of his brilliance, he did not have the patience, the focus and the humility to finish college.

It's great to be smart, but there is something to be said for a person who finishes what he started. Gates started to get a college degree at Harvard and then quit.

A college degree is pretty basic in life. If you can't afford to pay for college, it is understandable and forgivable that you don't finish. But Gates was from a wealthy family.

His failure at Harvard disqualifies him from meddling in anything to do with education in my opinion.

[madfloridian]

8. His statement that teachers do not improve after 3 years....

was what totally turned me off. After he said something so stupid, I lost all respect for him. Even though the reason he said it was probably to further his own policies, it was unforgivable. His policies are destroying careers.

[YvonneCa]

10. This is OT, but are you watching...

...the Senate Ed Committee marking up ESEA? The senators' ignorance on education frightens me. http://www.c-span.org/Events/Lawmakers-Work-on-Education-Programs/10737424925-1/

[madfloridian]

11. Their minds have been filled with negative teacher stuff since Reagan.

And that's been a long time. They have no base of knowledge because they only hear one side.

I don't even think Obama and Arne are at all aware of the anger toward their policies. They seem clueless also.

[YvonneCa]

12. I just couldn't believe the discussion...

...on Rand Paul's special ed amendment. He was trying to exempt Spec Ed teachers from the using of their students' test scores as part of their evaluation. Harkin didn't even understand the issue at all.

[leftstreet]

13. K&R

[chervilant]

14. K&R n/t

.