Great news for the student in LAUSD—schools, for some could be opened. Great news for teachers that belong to the union—you will continue to get paid even if you refuse to teach in a classroom. Maybe those “climate coaches” the school board is hiring, after firing campus security can stop the mayhem that will occur.
“Faced with mounting pressure by some elected officials, parents and others who want schools to reopen, the union representing Los Angeles Unified School District teachers announced Friday, Feb. 19, that its members will soon take a vote on whether they should refuse to return to campus if in-person instruction becomes mandatory.
More than 900 chapter chairs voted on this question earlier this week, with 93% electing to “organize around a refusal to return for a full or hybrid physical reopening of schools” until certain safety conditions are met, union President Cecily Myart-Cruz said during her weekly update.”
Yes, 93% want to continue to be paid and stay home! Isn’t it time to get teachers that want to teach? Most do, but feel pressured to follow the union, not their profession.
LAUSD teachers’ union contemplating a refusal to return to in-person work
Daily News, 2/20/21
Faced with mounting pressure by some elected officials, parents and others who want schools to reopen, the union representing Los Angeles Unified School District teachers announced Friday, Feb. 19, that its members will soon take a vote on whether they should refuse to return to campus if in-person instruction becomes mandatory.
More than 900 chapter chairs voted on this question earlier this week, with 93% electing to “organize around a refusal to return for a full or hybrid physical reopening of schools” until certain safety conditions are met, union President Cecily Myart-Cruz said during her weekly update.
The union next plans to ask its entire membership — made up of more than 35,000 teachers and other certificated employees — to vote the week of March 1 on whether to move forward with the refusal to report to work in person.
“This is a vote we take for ourselves and for the communities we serve,” Myart-Cruz said. “Because we know that our parents’ voices are not being heard. We all want our schools to reopen, but it must be done safely.”
The union has insisted that several conditions be met before students and staff be brought back on campus, including that Los Angeles County advance out of the purple tier of the state’s COVID-19 monitoring system, which indicates that transmission of the virus remains widespread; that all school staff be fully vaccinated or provided access to full vaccination; and that safety measures are in place at schools, including the availability of personal protective equipment, adherence to social distancing, proper ventilation, as well as sanitization and disinfection practices.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued guidance last week indicating that vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for schools to reopen.
Still, with access to vaccines remaining a sticking point for many teachers, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday the state will set aside 10% of its vaccine supply for school employees beginning next month to help quicken how soon students and staff can return to campuses.
But vaccinating staff is just one element that UTLA is seeking before having its members return to campus. The union has repeatedly said that overall COVID-19 levels must come down in the communities they serve as well.
In December, Superintendent Austin Beutner said a district survey of parents found that two-thirds wished to continue with distance learning at the time. The district also noted that affluent families were more likely to support school reopenings whereas low-income families where the parents have continued going into work as essential workers, who live in multigenerational households or whose family members live in tight quarters without the ability for someone to self-quarantine were more fearful about returning to campus.
More than 80% of LAUSD families are considered low-income, with many students living in communities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
Although the average COVID-19 rate in L.A. County recently dipped below 25 cases per 100,000 residents — the threshold for reopening classrooms for transitional kindergarten through the sixth grade — Myart-Cruz said the county’s overall case rate “does not reflect the infection level in the LAUSD community.”
Many of the communities that LAUSD serves have COVID-19 levels that are 15 times greater than the rate in La Canada Flintridge, an affluent city in the San Gabriel Valley with a case rate of less than 2 per 100,000, Myart-Cruz said.
She blamed business leaders for what she called an erosion of safety standards. In November, the state said schools could not reopen unless their community’s case rate fell below 7 per 100,000 people. More recently, state officials said communities with a case rate of 25 cases or fewer could bring elementary school students and staff back.
“Why the change? One major factor is pressure from the chamber of commerce and other business interests, which want our students’ parents to go back to work no matter the danger to them and their family’s health,” the union president said.
UTLA members, as well as some students, parents and community groups plan to push back on the calls for school reopenings.
A car caravan rally has been planned for Saturday in downtown Los Angeles. Rally goers will meet mid-morning in front of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce before heading over to the Ronald Reagan State Building about a mile-and-a-half away for a press conference.
Participants are expected to demand stronger safety measures be in place, including that all school employees have access to vaccines and that every ZIP code served by LAUSD advance out of the purple tier, before in-person classes resume.
