California educators have a long history of standing up for their students, profession, communities and one another. Our movement has drawn tremendous strength from colleagues’ recent actions in West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado, North Carolina and Washington. But what made (and is still making) #RedForEd in California so potent is a winning strategy based on bargaining for the common good:
Giving students the public education they deserve, and educators the tools they need, benefit the entire community, not just our members. We’ve seen this with multiple CTA locals across the state, where we have worked hard to build relationships with parents and community and a network of support around the common good. “Time and again, we show that our unity is unbreakable, our solidarity is invincible, and our collective action is unstoppable when we stand together,\” says CTA President Eric Heins. \”When we fight together, we win!\””
Educators, family and community came together at LA City Hall to demand the public education students deserve.
“The power of educators’ unity, action and shared sacrifice was never clearer than when some 60,000 educators and community members converged at Los Angeles City Hall on Jan. 18, 2019 (above). Years of frustration over reprehensible classroom conditions – class sizes of 45 or more students, 40 percent of schools with a nurse only one day a week, inadequate funding for key programs such as early childhood education and special education – had boiled over, and the protesters would stand for it no more. After six days on the strike line, United Teachers Los Angeles’ (UTLA) tentative agreement with the school district won commitments to reduce class sizes and significantly increase support staff like counselors, in addition to a salary increase.””The strike in Oakland saw 3,000 Oakland Education Association (OEA) members stand in unity for their students, and inspired a massive community movement that captured the hearts and admiration of supporters nationwide. (By the end of the seven-day strike, 97 percent of students stayed home in support of their educators.) Like teachers in LA, Oakland educators sought improved working conditions and resources and a living wage. In a tentative agreement with the school district on March 1, 2019, OEA won major gains in every key area. “However,\” said OEA President Keith Brown, \”we realize that the fight does not end with this contract. It is only the beginning.””
We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community….Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.
Cesar Chavez
The narrative on public education is changing as a result of the #RedForEd movement. Dinner tables in California and across the country are now buzzing about the importance of smaller class sizes, the need for adequate school funding, and the impacts of charter schools. Our work is having an impact, from our victories on the picket line and at the bargaining table to action on unregulated charter school growth. Gov. Gavin Newsom recently called for a study on the impacts of such growth, where charters are able to siphon public funds away from neighborhood schools, and the LA and Richmond school board have called for moratoriums on new charter schools until the report is complete. Read our in-depth coverage of charter schools in California and how students are affected.)”.
Snapshots of a movement
CTA’s #RedForEd Store
Are you wearing the new color of advocacy? It looks like this!
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