With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today.
LA Teachers Union Says Newsom’s Campus Reopening Deal Is Unfair To Hard-Hit Districts
UTLA president Cecily Myart-Cruz addresses members during a Facebook Live video on Monday, March 1, 2020. Screenshot/UTLA Facebook Live
The leader of L.A.'s teachers union sharply criticized Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislative leaders for their plan to bring the youngest elementary students back to campuses as early as April 1.
United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) president Cecily Myart-Cruz called the plan “a recipe for propagating structural racism.”
The plan offers more than $6.6 billion in reopening aid to K-12 schools — including $2 billion in incentives for schools to open up grades K through 2, even in situations when a county remains in California’s most-serious “purple tier.”
Myart-Cruz said that would put hard-hit school systems, like Los Angeles Unified, at a disadvantage:
Sponsored message
“If you [use] condition funding on the reopening of schools, that money will only go to white and wealthier schools that don't have the transmission rates that low-income Black and brown communities do.”
The UTLA president’s statement stands in contrast with the leaders of the two statewide teacher unions, the California Teachers Association and the California Federation of Teachers:
UTLA's response is a markedly different tone than leaders of both state-level unions — both of which framed the #caleg/@CAgovernor deal as an encouraging step toward reopening schools. (@WeAreCTA statement here) pic.twitter.com/w5dvLryOrm
— Kyle Stokes (@kystokes) March 2, 2021
UTLA members are voting this week to decide what conditions would be necessary for them to return to the classroom.
READ MORE:
Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily newsletters. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.
At LAist, we focus on what matters to our community: clear, fair, and transparent reporting that helps you make decisions with confidence and keeps powerful institutions accountable.
Your support for independent local news is critical. With federal funding for public media gone, LAist faces a $1.7 million yearly shortfall. Speaking frankly, how much reader support we receive now will determine the strength of this reliable source of local information now and for years to come.
This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
That’s why we’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
Your support for independent local news is critical. With federal funding for public media gone, LAist faces a $1.7 million yearly shortfall. Speaking frankly, how much reader support we receive now will determine the strength of this reliable source of local information now and for years to come.
This work is only possible with community support. Every investigation, service guide, and story is made possible by people like you who believe that local news is a public good and that everyone deserves access to trustworthy local information.
That’s why we’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Thank you for understanding how essential it is to have an informed community and standing up for free press.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
