United Teachers Los Angeles dukes it out with Mayor Villaraigosa over education reform
In a December speech heard around the halls of LAUSD, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa charged that United Teachers Los Angeles was the biggest obstacle to education reform. Ouch. With L.A. schools' dismal ranking and graduation rates, he implored the teachers union to join the education reform team. Rather than going the "united we stand, divided we fall" route, however, he embarrassed the union. From the full transcript:
When we fought to change the seniority-based layoff system that was disproportionately hurting our neediest students, the teachers union fought back.
When we fought to empower parents to turn around failing schools and bring in outside school operators with proven records of success, the teachers union fought back.
And now, while we try to measure teacher effectiveness in order to reward the best teachers and replace the tiny portion who aren't helping our kids learn, the teachers union fights back.
It's not easy for me to say this. I started out as an organizer for UTLA (United Teachers Los Angeles), and I don't have an anti-union bone in my body. The teachers unions aren't the
