For a united struggle to defend public education in California and beyond!

 

For a united struggle to defend public education in California and beyond!

By
the WSWS Teacher Newsletter

12 January 2019

On Monday morning, more than 33,000 school workers in Los Angeles are set to strike the nation’s second largest district. In waging a fight against school privatization and attacks on public education, teachers are joining a growing movement of workers in the US and around the world.

There is broad support throughout California and beyond for a united struggle. Just last week, hundreds of parents and students packed a school board meeting in Oakland to oppose plans to close nearly one-third of the district’s schools. After being forced to work without a new contract since July 2017, about 100 teachers in Oakland carried out a wildcat sickout in December, demanding a statewide and national strike.

A decisive strike by LA teachers would be enthusiastically supported by educators nationally and by workers everywhere—from the Yellow Vest struggles in France (joined by protesting teachers this weekend) and striking workers in India, to Dutch teachers preparing their own walkout and the furloughed and unpaid federal workers in the US.

As the Monday deadline approaches, however, an urgent warning must be made. The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), in league with the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA), has no intention of waging a genuine struggle. Just the opposite: they are seeking to prevent or isolate a strike.

Teachers should be prepared to walk out, regardless of any last-minute delaying tactics by the UTLA. They should fight for the immediate strike action of all school workers and charter school teachers alongside those in the LAUSD. An appeal should be issued to teachers in Oakland and across…

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