Sacramento - A team of Los Angeles area teachers will be in Sacramento Wednesday, August 9, to lobby for AB 1381, the LAUSD school reform legislation. Teachers are supporting the legislation because it gives teachers and parents a stronger voice in improving Los Angeles public schools, creates an opportunity for a partnership between teachers, parents, the school board, the superintendent, and the mayors to work together to improve student learning in the district, and creates an innovative program to help those students and schools that need it most.
“My years in the classroom have taught me that the best decisions for our students are made when teachers and parents work together,” says Downtown Business Magnets biology teacher Dan Barnhart. “This bill is a step in the right direction because it allows parents and teachers to play a bigger role in what happens in our schools.”
“As a teacher in an inner-city school, for too long I’ve seen the needs of my students ignored by the bureaucracy,” says Irving Middle School teacher Howard Bransky. “The pilot school clusters that would be created by the bill are a chance to turn around years of neglect and bring unprecedented resources and support to these kids. This plan offers hope where it’s needed most.”
“As a teacher in LAUSD, I know firsthand how important it is for all of us - teachers, parents, the school board, the mayor, the superintendent and community as a whole - to work together to give our students the best education possible. I think this reform bill is a way for us to do that,” said Mary Rose Ortega, a third grade teacher at First Street Elementary School.
AB 1381 will be heard on Monday, August 14, in the Senate Appropriations Committee.
Teachers will be available for comment by request. Reporters interested in interviewing teachers should contact Sandra Jackson at (916) 801-4776.
