United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA). That union represents more than 35,000 teachers in the nation's second-largest school district. Earlier this month, UTLA published a paper calling for schools to remain closed until the district could ensure adequate supplies of protective gear for teachers and students. UTLA also demanded the reconfiguring of classrooms to allow for social distancing.
But that wasn't it. UTLA also stated that the pandemic requires an immediate moratorium on new charter schools in Los Angeles.
It is also demanding things that the officials in charge of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) don't have the power to grant, such as the passage of Medicare for All, new state-level wealth taxes in California, and a federal bailout of the LAUSD—which is struggling to meet pension obligations for retired teachers and staff.
More than 10 teachers unions—including those in Boston, Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul—have joined up with the Democratic Socialists of America to say that "schools cannot continue in this crisis without the resources our students need and deserve."
What sort of demands are being made? For starters, those unions want a national ban on evictions, a moratorium on charter schools, an end to voucher programs, and the abolition of standardized testing. They also want a "massive infusion of federal money"—though it is unclear how much that actually is—paid for by, of course, "taxing billionaires and Wall Street."
(excerpted from an article somewhere)
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