Our article is called “L.A. teacher strike may be cutting edge of a revolution against what’s rotten in America,” and is written by Will Bunch. We found this article from The Inquirer Daily News. The article was published January 17, 2019.
Will Bunch introduces real life teachers being exposed to the strike such as Joseph Zeccola. These teachers are striking because of their working conditions, such as too many students in the classrooms and not enough resources. Bunch explains that teachers are not on strike because of their salaries or benefits, but because of concern for the students. Those in power are not using money properly to benefit the school systems. Bunch also explains that this strike is not just for teachers, the strike is creating a wider revolution to fight for social justice as well.
The social revolution of the strike represents more than just teachers. The strike is standing up for differences in socioeconomic status and race. Socioeconomic status is represented in the strike because each person with different socioeconomic statuses will feel differently about the strike. Some will take part in the strike while others will disagree with the strike. “The state of California is, independently, the world’s fifth-largest economy…yet in education spending it’s in the bottom 20th percentile of American states. …Eli Broad, a close ally of new superintendent Beutner who in 2015 proposed converting half of the city’s schools into charter schools.” explains Bunch when addressing the socioeconomic issues that the strike is bringing attention to. Bunch explains that “…both the students and the teachers who remain in the city’s public schools after the charter-school stampede are heavily Hispanic…” In other words, the ones being affected the most are those in the minority ethnic groups. The strike is standing up for different races by fighting for social justice.
Reading this article causes us to reflect upon other teacher strikes that have happened in the past. One teacher strike that stands out the most is the strike in Homer Illinois. The strike lasted for eight long months and only ended when the President of the School Board stepped down. This strike left 360 kids with no school for that year, and more than half of the teachers in the strike left, along with two of the school board members. This strike is important because strikes are still happening today and their impact can be detrimental to not only a student but also a community.
We understand why these teachers are striking. Just the thought of teaching a class of 40 students is overwhelming. The teachers chose to strike because they feel as though they don’t have a voice, and they want to raise awareness to these problems, and get support from their community and peers. Students not being able to learn during the strike is sad, but the strike will hopefully improve their school systems in the future.
How will the school board make the class sizes smaller?
How is the government going to budget spending for education in order for this strike to be resolved?
By: Haley Pannell, Megan Lafontaine, Kasey Phillips
Education Blog 