Comments on: Campaign 2013: Cheers — and Confusion https://www.laschoolreport.com/sanchez-concedes-and-other-post-election-reactions/ What's Really Going on Inside LAUSD (Los Angeles Unified School District) Mon, 02 Feb 2015 19:49:20 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.1.1 By: Ellen Lubic https://www.laschoolreport.com/sanchez-concedes-and-other-post-election-reactions/#comment-304 Thu, 23 May 2013 20:28:04 +0000 http://laschoolreport.com/?p=8821#comment-304 Howard Blume implied that UTLA was strong armed to endorse Sanchez by some legislators. Since Villaraigosa is prime among our local legislators with a long arm to the State House where his nephew serves as Speaker, perhaps we can assume he let fall the quid pro quo that if UTLA wants State House access, it must endorse his choice of Charter reformer, Sanchez. In the long run, endorsing both made a statement, and Monica not only had the votes of most teachers within UTLA, but of many other community voters, and educators who teach at a university level, who can see through the political machinations.

Only speculation.

And it is the essence of Ratliff’s win that she shooed her cohorts out of her one bedroom apartment early so she could prepare to teach the next day. She many seem naïve, but her dedication got the attention of enough voters to elect her. Rhee/Broad et al should heed this lesson that oligarchs cannot fool all of the people, all of the time.

]]> By: Arlen Hammer https://www.laschoolreport.com/sanchez-concedes-and-other-post-election-reactions/#comment-303 Thu, 23 May 2013 18:53:48 +0000 http://laschoolreport.com/?p=8821#comment-303 The LAUSD sends pay-checks to some 10,000 employees in District 6, around half of them teachers. Teachers vote in huge numbers (studies show 75%+) as do their families and close friends. They vote for job security above all else and against choices that would allow money to leave the system (ie. charter schools).

UTLA created the perception of neutrality in this race but ran an aggressive whisper campaign (we have email these days) to promote Ratliff. Regardless, Ratliff promised to protect the status quo with more vigor — so she was the natural choice for employees.

In run-off elections with low turn-out, this is not a complicated “who done it.” I wonder how many people who did vote were not connected personally to an employee hoping to hang on for dear life until that glorious retirement day. What was the deficit that Sanchez had to overcome? 5,000 votes? 10,000? 15,000? How many did Luis Sanchez overcome in 2011? Why do you think the UTLA was so concerned about higher turn-out which would dilute the employee, family and friends vote?

What is also notable is how the reformers cut off their noses to spite their faces. By letting the SEIU co-manage the campaign, they did not run on reform. If you were looking for a candidate who would take a stronger stand for parents (vs. school employees), you would have been hard pressed to distinguish based on campaign literature (in the general as well). Is this what the “school reform” mayor wanted? What a sad ending to his well-publicized fight for children.

As for the charter school community, they seem to have a death-wish. It’s hard to explain their ineffectiveness based on incompetence alone — although it does explain a lot. The wind-down began on Tuesday. If they won’t teach parents what makes charter schools worth keeping, will they at least help parents cope with forced re-entry to failing public schools?

One can imagine that the UTLA has already budgeted for the boost in membership as charters are systematically shut down and/or unionized.

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