I worked in the new school, South East High School, located on Tweedy Blvd. in South Gate. An old General Motors plant was turned into a middle school and high school, both situated right next to each other.
Finally, I had survived my second student teaching assignment. I was at Dana Middle School in San Pedro, a school which has stood in the San Pedro area for decades, and connected to San Pedro High School right up the hill next door.
Within two months, I was hired as a French teacher at South East High School. Like many teachers, I cried every day for a week, a month, a year blah, blah, blah. The stress was beyond unreal even then.
I ended up walking off the job a year later. I tried working in other school districts, and I even scored a job at a charter school. I ended up walking off that job, too. I was in the wrong profession, to put in mildly.
At any rate, I know what goes on in Los Angeles Unified. It's an overwhelming bureaucracy, there is so much micromanaging, there is also so much unrepentant liberalism that it is sickening.
I taught in classrooms that were bursting at the seams with students. I worked in classrooms that had a grand total of 17 students. I have seen the worst and the best. The charter school paid me a much better salary, and yet it was still a misery.
At any rate, let me tell you what I have learned from a teacher who lives near me.
He really hates his job now. If he had a choice, he would not be a teacher anymore. He would do something else with his time. Today, he just hopes that he can hang on long enough so that he can get the lifetime benefits which LAUSD currently provides to its employees.
During my short time with the district, I attended some of the UTLA meetings. They were on the whole quite boring, and most of the time it seemed that the lead teachers recruited to help new teachers were more interested in getting out of the profession. They get the term "Dead wood" because they just hang around like dead wood, waiting to retire so they get the full pension, benefits, etc. Not good.
I would imagine that many of the teachers striking are in the younger generation of teachers right now.
What I have heard from one of my contacts, however, may suggest that this strike will not play out as well as the other one had in 1989.
First of all, there is a growing cohort of teachers right now who simply cannot afford to go on strike. The housing costs are outrageous, and on top of that there are other quality of life concerns that have made Los Angeles nothing short of unaffordable. The teachers want a 6.5% raise retroactive to 2016. Wow! That's a long time not to have a stable contract.
They also want more support staff, including nurses, psychologists, etc. They want smaller class sizes and fewer testing demands. I could not agree more. What teachers are expected to deal with is nothing short of outrageous. What teachers have to contend with when it comes to other teachers, parents, administrators, and legal demands is just unreal. It was bad enough when I was there. Now it has gotten so much worse.
I have yet to read what the absenteeism rate is for Los Angeles Unified. I have no idea how many teachers show up to work, or even how bad the teacher shortage has become. The student absence rate will skyrocket going into the strike tomorrow. It's not going to be good, I can tell you that. UTLA and other left-wing interests throughout Los Angeles County are urging parents, students, and other community leaders to show solidarity with the teachers and not go to school.
To be honest, more parents should be boycotting the crappy public schools throughout the state of California. There is so much abusive, perverse indoctrination happening in government schools, I can't think of a better way to hold them accountable than for parents to keep their children at home. Imagine the loss of revenue for the districts and the regressive, left-wing agenda they have been pushing on the students!
But back to the plight of the teachers ...
My contact in the district informed me that teachers are expected to picket outside of their assigned schools from 7:30 in the morning until 4:00pm. How many teachers can stand to stay in their classrooms for that length of time?! They usually don't, but they are expected to stay on strike for that length of time.
On top of that, union leaders have informed their members that if they are not outside their schools on strike, they won't get any money from the union fund to help through their financial difficulties. Also, teachers who don't strike can expect to see their cars scratched up. Unions rely on violence and intimidation, not just against their bargaining opponents but also against their members if they don't get in line and picket.
Los Angeles Unified School District practically doubled the salary of their board members. They have too much bureaucratic bloat which takes away from the classroom, from teachers, and thus from the students. The corruption, the waste, the misappropriation of funds is beyond ridiculous.
The whole LAUSD/UTLA conflict is a big mess, and a massive result of too many greedy special interests investing in improving their own lot at the expense of doing what is best for students and parents.
Honestly, taking students out of Los Angeles Unified is precisely the way to go forward. Parents should not allow their children to suffer in such crappy schools to begin with. On top of that, I hope that LAUSD does collapse. This maneuver is precisely what it will take to put an end to the fiscal lack of discipline and the corrupt indoctrination which has overwhelmed the district for the last 30 years.
The federal government has been shut down. The Second largest government-run school district is about to shut down. It looks like a true revolt against government overreach and overspending is going to be working in our favor.
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