Students Can Go Pink But Should Have Parents' Permission
Los Angeles' teachers' union organized a protest against potential staff layouts at LAUSD Friday but some are concerned that the union and those protesting the cuts made students unwitting pawns in the protest. Students were told to wear pink to school and particpate in protests; if they did they would receive "extra credit."
Some parents participated in supporting the teachers and chose to bring their children along to protests. I have no problem with that; participating in political dissent could be a great object lesson for children. However I believe teachers should not have involved students without their parents' permission. I also believe that some of the rhetroic unnecessarily traumatized children; forcing them to believe that their favorite teacher may be let go. Though that may very well be the case for some teachers, I think it borders on abuse to use scare tactics on children.
Some parents participated in supporting the teachers and chose to bring their children along to protests. I have no problem with that; participating in political dissent could be a great object lesson for children. However I believe teachers should not have involved students without their parents' permission. I also believe that some of the rhetroic unnecessarily traumatized children; forcing them to believe that their favorite teacher may be let go. Though that may very well be the case for some teachers, I think it borders on abuse to use scare tactics on children.
Labels: lausd, pink friday, utla
Posted by Michael Higby @ 3/15/2009 06:00:00 AM
27 Comments:
Does "demagoguery" ring a bell?
This is the offensive part of the tactics and that is going to undermine any positive value of the teacher's protest.
The motives of the teacher's union may not be identical to the motive of the teachers if you think about it.
in cd 14
There is no circumstance in which students should be given "extra credit" over a teachers union issue or be asked to participate in any way, whatsoever; parental permission, or not.
Parents should not be put in that "twisted arm" position of, "Gee, if I say, "no" to my kid, then the other kids will get "extra credit" and mine won't.
Shame on the cowards who dragged innocent kids into a union labor dispute.
When it comes to UTLA vs LAUSD, I'm a fan of neither. But after this recent round of shameless and cowardly stunts by the teachers union, they can stick it, as far as I am concerned. They get ZERO support from Zuma Dogg as of this point.
They should make Die Hard 5 with the UTLA teachers as kidnappers in a hostage situation. And when the building is surrounded by police with weapons drawn...the teachers can grab some kids as human shields and hide behind the kids.
What a great example the teachers union is setting for kids. When police give them orders, they say, "no, arrest us." So I guess when teachers tell their students what to do, the kids should tell the teachers to "stick it" in a statement of civil disobedience.
And remember, you can't spell "oUTLAw" without "UTLA."
Wise words by Zuma Dogg.
Very cowardly of the teachers to drag the kids into their dispute. Disgusting.
Want more money for schools and teachers?
STOP ELECTING SOCIALISTS!!
Antonio Villaraigosa and Barack Obama have to keep taking more and more money from taxpayers and the budget to pay for people who don't deserve it.
Health care for illegal immigrants. Welfare for illegal immigrants. Welfare payments for people who are not interested in working at all. Government jobs for people who are not qualified and don't do the job, but only receive a paycheck as political payback for favors during elections.
Sorry teachers, but you have only yourselves to blame.
When you get fired so that more money can be diverted to rewarding unproductive members of society...just remember...you voted for this.
Phil, you should consider running for mayor.
Oh, wait. I forgot that you already did, but nobody voted for you. Loser
I respect all of your opinions,
However I have a few of my own.
I am dealing with a situation right
now where Six Teachers have been
assaulted by students over the last few months, at our local Middle School.
Electrically Shocked, Teeth Knocked out, Etc. Charges have been filed. I think that Combat Pay should be paid to the Teachers and Staff out of the Principal's
Salary. She has created an unsafe campus where the Students are also being attacked.
The Teachers are trapped in a Union that just doesn't do enough to help them.
These Teachers tried to get help for this problem from the Union
and have put theirselves in danger trying to protect these students.
The revolt in our Community will be coming soon.
At this point Me and my kids would
wear Pink everyday to support our great teachers.
Some of them received Pink Slips Friday.
( At least One Neighborhood Council
Teacher Award Winner)
Our Communities need to stand up
in support of our students.
"me and my kids"
I guess you're an lausd teacher.
Look, it's good that these teachers were let go.It's too big a bureacracy, and as you might put it, "Me ain'ts gettin' nuthin' out uh it, so it am the right ting to due."
Isn't this what the Mayor did when he was campaigning for re-election? The press conf. first photo op he had there were little students behind him and the parents complained stating they were not asked permission to use their kds. These students are used all the time.
The Obama team has stated the president will be here on Wed. He's coming to Southern CAL because this is the state that helped him win. He will be here to speak on the Stimulus Bailout and getting money for infrastructure. BUT and again the Mayor is trying to take credit and will be there pretending as if he really cared about our city. Good gossip has traveled to team Obama and they know how poorly the numbers were in this re election. To the Obama team member in LA you know what I'm talking about.
what Lydia said.
You have no effing idea what some of these teachers have to put up with on a daily basis-- wonderful teachers who have to dodge bullets walking to their cars in the staff parking lot (at an elementary school no less), rotten and spiteful administrators who wont back them up and worse.
I'm not looking to stand up for union bullying tactics, but I will stand up for the earnest, caring and inspiring teachers who get lost in all the politics and rhetoric and who have no where else to turn to for help and who will most likely be some of the first on the chopping block as they're usually the new energetic ones.
I'd wear pink ever day too. And so would my kid. And she's no one's political patsy.
Kids at my daughter's school appear to have been coached to wear pink, because as the teachers came to get them in the morning, the kids were jumping up and down chirping "Look, I'm wearing pink!"
I'm trying like hell to keep 8-year-olds out of a political decision. There's no reason to scare them, especially when the teachers doing the encouraging will be the last to go, but probably should be the first.
So when I opt to homeschool next year, it won't be a shock to anyone.
Lydia and Valley Doll, we know what the teachers put up with. That's what you parents are for. To fight on their behalf, if you think they need support.
I do not think kids should be included as part of the process, however.
Do you think this helps raise their level of scholastic achievement? (I know, I know...it teaches them about political activism, but that is not the problem with LAUSD.)
If you don't see a problem with forcing kids to take sides a political union battle like this no wonder the city is in a mess. We have a bunch of crybabies..."Boo hoo hoo...teachers have it so tough, and they are so weak and powerless, I better use my kids to fight the battle. Because that's what students are for...to get involved in union battles when both sides are failures. (And you may have a bunch of good teachers, but you have inept, losers in charge of the union messing it up for the entire society.)
I take no issue with Lydia and Valley Doll and agree more teachers are victims of both LAUSD and the union than not.
I also have no issue with Lydia and Valley Doll MAKING THE CHOICE to involve their kids. Their kids are bright, thougtful children who come from good homes and have been taught to understand issues.
That being said I still believe it has to be the individual parents' choice and not the teachers, union or anyone. If a parent doesn't want their kid involved who is to tell them otherwise?
The truth is that the LAUSD should be broken in a million pieces and run locally. I'd much rather have Valley Doll and Lydia and people like them running their kids' schools than hacks like Monica Garcia, Nury Martinez, Julie Korenstein, Tamar, etc. and certainly not the Mayor.
The truth also is that Valley Doll and Lydia are running MOST of what the school should be doing and keeping the schools afloat in many ways; the district should get out of their way and let them do their job.
You big bag of wind; you have no children, you are not a teacher, and you have little schooling. You have no home, you pay no taxes.
So then, what gives you the authority to opine on these subjects?
You don't know shit about them and you try to act like you are an authority. Do you have any idea of the damage you cause by giving opinions to unsuspecting people who don't know that you are an uneducated charlatan?
Why don't you drop the stupid clown act and actually make something of yourself?
Go read Deming again and motivate your own sorry ass to go back to school and finish up where you left off.
A drop out has no business counselling anyone about anything.
Go away.
Choice is the key issue here. My son became very political in junior high. My little one is more sensitive, and as a parent it's my call whether my kid is exposed to this or not. At 7, I'd like her to be a kid a little longer.
My understanding is Valley Doll's kid(s) goe(s) to one of the non-Title I, non-ELL schools where the parents fill in all the gaps, and come up with no limit fundraising to make the teacher's lives a much better place. My daughter is at a similiar school nearby.
I will support the teachers, so long as they respect my decision on parenting.
I hope that I was not misunderstood
earlier in my post. I do not feel that it is alright to exploit
Children by using them as pawns
in a Political issue.
In my experience there are many wonderful teachers out there doing everything they can to teach our Children.
Many of the things these Teachers are Fighting for effect the kids ability to learn.
Lay-offs mean overcrowded Classes
45 students in Middle School Classrooms is too many already.
Safer Campuses- That one doesn't need to be justified.
Here is the truth:
2/3 of the LAUSD Cuts will be Back Filled by the Stimulous Package Money.
That was the statement made by
the Government Relations
Department during the Legislative Liason Meeting.
( Yes, I attend those Meetings too.)
The District also stated that they may be willing to forgo a 20% pay out as a Penalty for raising Classes K-3 from 20 Students to 24
Saving Themselves , I think it was, 35 Million.
So Why would the District send so many notices to Teachers?
They say they are cutting at the top. Maybe they are the ones spreading the fear and Manipulating the Situation.
The Middle School I am helping I do not have a Child attending.
Harbor City NC asked me to help with a school issue that they were having and I am happy to report we won!
Valley Doll,
Every School Needs Parents Like You. Thanks for Your support.
Michael, Both Valley Doll and I appreciate that you support us.
Giving People an opportunity to voice their opinions is very Important in times like these. It's a shame that many people have nothing intelligent to say.
Time to go find "Pink" in my Closet to wear tomorrow.
March 15, 2009 7:01 PM
Maybe you need an impartial opinion. I know I don't lose mine because I don't have kids. Sorry you disagree with it. Meanwhile, YIKES are you hostile!
Does anyone reading this actually think LAUSD is going to pull itself out of this mess? I mean, seriously...which way does it look like things are headed?
Does anyone reading this have a SHRED of confidence that anyone with the knowledge and power to overhaul the system is actually involved?
Even if the right answers were out there, you would never get all the powers that be to agree to move in one, focused direction.
Have fun talking about "fixing" LAUSD for the next decade. It will be declining each day. Have you seen the future?
Do you have confidence that Monica Garcia, Ray Cortinez, Antonio Villaraigosa and AJ Duffy are going to move things in the right direction for you?
It still isn't bad enough, yet. As someone who really wakes up every day and tries to think of solutions and predict trends and see into the future...I think the future of LAUSD and the future of LA City is more of a horror movie than anything else.
DO YOU REALLY THINK MANUFACTURING IS GOING TO MAGICALLY REGENERATE AND KIDS ARE GOING TO BE SHOWING UP TO KINDERGARDEN READY TO LEARN?
No one is taking the situation seriously, and even if they were, you have a bunch of selfish, greedy, dummies that couldn't figure out what to do even if they weren't evil and vindictive and callous.
Not trying to be bitter on purpose. I just like to make predicitions of future trends and I like to be accurate.
I warned people to get the hell out of the stock market znd people didn't like to hear that one either.
People NEVER like my predictions. They criticize me. They mock me. They scream at me. They disown me.
(But they all call me a year later to appologize and thank me for trying to alert them.)
So criticize away. But if anyone reading thinks the future of L.A. looks like anything other than Highland Park/Echo Park...
What leads you to believe that? All of the high-quality jobs have left the region and the only thing left are low paying clerk jobs.
Meanwhile, the population trend is moving toward larger families with a lot of kids -- at a time when parents are out of work or earning low wages.
The middle class has been driven out...business has been driven out...and low-income, unskilled workers with big families are causing a population boom. And many of the kids are entering the school system unable to speak the language being taught. I don't know about you, but I couldn't pass first grade if I couldn't speak the language.
So anyone who has kids and is entitled to an opinion on this issue is going to have to have some serious conversations as to how to drive this ship.
But it will never work, because if you say the wrong thing, you may hurt some people's feelings. And maybe they will sue!
If the powers that be responsible for student achievement at LAUSD (like the school board and teachers union) would like to know what it will take to improve student achievement and increase the graduation rate, contact ZumaDogg@Gmail.com or call 213-785-7272. I would be glad to spend a full day outlining what it will take and how to achieve the goal.
If you get 100 people in a room who have the power to create change and transform the system, let me know and I'll make room on my calander.
Okay Lydia, but don't say things like, Me and my kids instead of, My kids and I..
You are supposed to be the educational rep. so you must have perfect English.
To the home schooler next year, you are going to far. Now you're kids might not hear bad words from other heathen children, but they could grow up to be social retards. I say let the teachers do what they know how to do and you as a parent, must supplement it.
I'm going to contribute to OJ's legal defense fund before I give a nickel to zuma dogg's next Feed Me fund.
Zuma dogg, what happened to your breaking away? Exactly what did you mean the day after the election with all your crap about your focusing on getting your sorry ass off the street and that you weren't getting involved in anything else?
WHAT? Those aren't the exact words you used? Well you're not going to split hairs to get out of this.
When are you going away zuma dogg? And for Christ's sake, if you insist on staying around, please put back your terrorist garb because you are ug-LAY!
Love, Jack Weiss
Not sure who's attended Tamar Galatzan's town hall meetings where Ray Cortines gave his take, but two things come to mind.
The pink slips don't mean anything yet. The state requires this six month warning. Cortines said he had to send out the slips and he was going to budget based on the most dire predictions and put money (and jobs back) as funding shows up. Remember too that as they cut those jobs at Beaudry, those folks have the right to bump teachers in the classroom. I probably hate that aspect the most, but it's part of the contract.
Secondly, Cortines said he would NOT allow stimulus money to be used to fund programs that would cause the district to be in the same boat in 2-3 years when the stimulus money ceases. So I can't see the district using stimulus money for ongoing salaries, unless we want to do this again in two years.
There are problems with too many paychecks downtown. And problems with too many paychecks at the district offices. But $800 million must be cut in 18 months, and they could close Beaudry and sell the building and that won't be enough.
1:52
Yes I am one of the NC Education Reps
Not the Educated Rep.
1:52,
Some might think I'd be going *too* far, but as a copyeditor/proof reader, I'd hate to nitpick someone who's unlikely to come back and post a lucid response.
Secondly, our homeschool options would not be about religion, since we don't believe. I guess that makes us the heathens.
Okay you got me on that "too" mistake, which wouldn't have been made if it weren't 2 AM.
Most people do homeschool for religious reasons. One shouldn't assume.
I still disagree though because I think that 8 year-olds have to be aware of the politics in their schools. It's life. Your 8 year-old child makes a political decision every day.
If you look politic up, it means 1)consisting of citizens, 2) wise; expedient and 3) shrewd; crafty
All of these are good lessons for an 8 year-old child, I believe.
UTLA sucks and LAUSD has been bad for years and the only people that end up taking the media blame for that is the part-time board of the LAUSD. LAUSD is made up of the teachers and UTLA, the students/parents who either attend or live in the district and should include the community also.
I would have started my own protest of some sort. These "firings" are not new. Teachers get them every year (or are told they are going to get them) and I don't think any stimulus money will be going toward teacher salaries.
Another mindless, Zuma-bashing, unnecessary post that has no business being here. Doesn't the poster below see that his whining about Zuma Dogg on every thread isn't working for him??
the poster who wrote this sucks
**********************************
I'm going to contribute to OJ's legal defense fund before I give a nickel to zuma dogg's next Feed Me fund.
Zuma dogg, what happened to your breaking away? Exactly what did you mean the day after the election with all your crap about your focusing on getting your sorry ass off the street and that you weren't getting involved in anything else?
WHAT? Those aren't the exact words you used? Well you're not going to split hairs to get out of this.
When are you going away zuma dogg? And for Christ's sake, if you insist on staying around, please put back your terrorist garb because you are ug-LAY!
Love, Jack Weiss
Sorry Lydia, but your blanket support of all-things LAUSD is one of the reasons this organization as well as the students they represent have gotten so totally out-of-hand. The chances of teachers getting compensated for getting assaulted by psycho students is about as probable as teachers getting issued combat gear. The problem? Corporal punishment is prohibited. Let the teachers fight back w/ semi-automatic hickory sticks and see what happens! HA! (Or at least make Monica Garcia sit on them for few hours.) But let's talk reality: chances are these out-of-control brats are gang-indoctrinated Latinos and Aremenian mafia kids. Am I right? SO GET 'EM OUT OF THE SCHOOLS! THEN AMERICAN KIDS CAN LEARN! The answer is that simple but all you politically-correct "for the children" types do nothing but delay progress. You think to deny a "child" an education is just unthinkable! C'mon, they're not interested in learning anyway. The drop-out rate proves that time and time again. The teachers get plenty of money. The schools get plenty of money. More than they need. The answer is not throwing more tax dollars their way. The answer is MORE financial cut-backs, a de-illegal alien-ization of the schools and strict discipline.
THEY SHOULD BREAK UP LAUSD. HOW MANY PROPS (MONEY)AKA (TAXES)WENT INTO LAUSD AND THEIR STILL BROKE. GET AN AUDIT NOW!! WE SCREW AROUND WITH RIDERICK WE NEED TO FIND WHERE THE FUNDS WENT. SAME IS TRUE FOR THE MAYOR ,UNIONS, STATE GOVERNMENT AND THE FEDS. YOU WANT TRUTH THAT'S HOW YOU GET IT. WATCH THE INVESTIGATIONS UNCOVER THE REAL TRUTHS.
Over the summer, UTLA's leader, AJ Duffy, signed a secret agreement with LA Unified, to give away the seniority rights of experienced, dedicated UTLA Substitute Teachers, and did so without consulting Substitute Teacher Union Leaders, as required by our contract. Now, despite that 7 out of 8 area meetings overwhelmly voted to have the UTLA leadership rescind this agreement, Duffy is refusing to do so. He has sold out Substitute Teachers and has divided our union! We need help! Please contact Duffy and tell him that Substitute Teachers deserve union protection as dues-paying members! Substitute Teachers pay union dues and deserve representation! Duffy has divided our union!
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