A wave of teachers' strikes approaches Los Angeles
LOS ANGELES - Nearly a year ago, teachers in West Virginia walked out, sparking a wave of protests in other states. Now it's Los Angeles' turn.
Barring a last-minute settlement, teachers plan to go on strike Thursday. A lot is at stake for educators, their union and the nation's second-largest school system.
Leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles paint the approaching job action as the latest act in an ongoing morality tale. Teachers are heroes in a national mobilization, fighting the good fight for students and the future of public education. That narrative casts L.A. school Superintendent Austin Beutner as an untrustworthy villain, whose hidden agenda is to turn over campuses to profiteers and the private operators of non-union charter schools in something akin to a corporate takeover.
"Although the circumstances in different states vary, the common theme across the country is a lack of investment in public education and the threat from the aggressive privatization and charterization movement," said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of
