Union leaders and teachers defend L.A. middle school's record
A national teachers union leader joined faculty at a Los Angeles middle school Friday to criticize a major school-improvement initiative within the L.A. Unified School District.
Under the strategy, called Public School Choice, groups inside and outside the school system can bid for control of new and low-performing campuses. The meeting between teachers and Randi Weingarten, head of the American Federation of Teachers, took place at Cochran Middle School in Arlington Heights, one of the campuses affected.
What’s at stake is “bigger than what happens in L.A.,” Weingarten said. Local developments are part of a national campaign to blame teachers unfairly for shortcomings in public education, she said.
Cochran stands as an example of wrongheaded reform, said the school's teachers and Warren Fletcher, president of United Teachers Los Angeles. They noted that Cochran’s performance on state standardized tests has risen steadily over the last four years, but flat growth five years ago could result in the dismantling of the staff