Here's what parents have to say about union efforts at Alliance charter schools
Gabriela Garcia joins other parents and teachers at a news conference to protest what they said was pressure from Alliance College-Ready Public Schools to take a stand against teacher unionization. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
e fight to unionize the largest provider of charter schools in Los Angeles is beginning to divide parents.
At a news conference Wednesday, a small group of parents, community organizers and United Teachers Los Angeles members complained that they felt pressured by Alliance College-Ready Public Schools to take a stance against unionization.
"We are concerned by the illegal anti-union campaign ... and the campaign to discredit parents who stand in solidarity with teachers," said Gabriela Garcia, whose daughter attends Alliance Richard Merkin Middle School.
"We don't appreciate being inundated with letters telling us that if our teachers formed a union, it would be dangerous for our kids," Rosalba Naranjo, who also has a child at Merkin Middle School, said in Spanish.
The group spoke across the street from Merkin Middle School and Gertz-Ressler High School, both Alliance campuses. The parents were flanked by large copies — in Spanish and English — of a public records request they are sending to Alliance. The request asks for such information as "the name and amount paid to any and all consultants employed to write and develop the anti-union communication."
Meanwhile, three parents waited in an Alliance school building to respond to the claims. Brought together by the charter group, the parents said they have never felt any pressure from the school to fight unionization. The correspondence they've received from the school didn't bother them.
"I received a letter that was informing me, but definitely not trying to sway me," said Alma Marquez, whose daughter is in 11th grade at Alliance Leichtman-Levine Family Foundation Environmental Science High School.
"We've gotten letters from the union inviting the parents to get informed," said Linda Hernandez, whose daughter is a senior at Susan & Eric Smidt Technology High School.
The alleged harassment, part of a packet circulated by the union and the parents who support it, includes a Frequently Asked Questions document Alliance sent to parents in April. In response to the question "Why doesn't Alliance have a union?" the school chain wrote that "We believe UTLA's 359-page contract with LAUSD would create a barrier between teachers and their principals, limiting our ability to meet Here's what parents have to say about union efforts at Alliance charter schools - LA Times: