Flanked by board members, Mayor Eric Garcetti, bargaining unit leaders, civic leaders and others,
Superintendent Austin Beutner acknowledges a broad coalition committed to funding public education. (Samuel Gilstrap / Los Angeles Unified)
Los Angeles Unified Superintendent Austin Beutner, along with the broad and diverse Measure EE coalition, committed to work together to improve local public schools.
Superintendent Beutner made the following remarks at today’s press conference:
I want to begin by thanking all of those who are part of this coalition in support of public education – the broadest, deepest and most diverse coalition who have joined together in more than a generation to support kids in our community. This is just the beginning of our fight.
- Let’s start with the Board of Los Angeles Unified who made the right decision to place this on the ballot. They have been united in their support for all kids and recognize we are leading a national conversation about adequate funding of public schools. The kids were in our schools yesterday; they will be there today and again tomorrow. They can’t wait any longer.
- My colleagues at LA Unified who worked tirelessly to inform the students, families and communities we serve about the importance of voting and Measure EE.
- Mayor Garcetti, for the courage to stand up and be counted and help bring together this amazing coalition. He has carried the message across our community and the nation about the need for smaller class sizes and more nurses, counselors and librarians in our schools.
- Alex Caputo-Pearl and Jeff Good from UTLA, Max Arias and Lester Garcia from SEIU, Rick Middleton and Adriana Salazar from Teamsters, Chris Hannan from Building Trades, Juan Flecha from AALA, Gil Gamez from School Police, P.J. Webb and Letetsia Fox from CSEA. You and your members contributed money and countless hours reaching out to voters and helping the communities we serve understand the importance of adequately funding our schools. You brought the community together in January and started a movement. A movement to make public education the topic of conversation in every household because that is where it has to start. Perhaps most importantly, you showed how all of us here today we can work together to improve public education.
- Community organizations – Community Coalition, InnerCity Struggle, SCOPE, Korean Resource Center, Power California, CHIRLA, Great Public Schools Now, SpeakUp, Parent Revolution and many, many others who rolled up your sleeves and took the message into the community – house by house, block by block. Every door knocked on, phone call made and vote counted will build the foundation for more support for kids, particularly those most in need.
- The charter school community whose schools serve kids and communities with great needs. My hope is this can be the time we begin to truly work together, share great practices and help all kids get a great education. All public schools need more funding.
- The business and philanthropic community. You helped make clear the children in our schools are your employees of the future and the future of Los Angeles rests in their hands.
- The funders of the Yes campaign for EE. Your investment speaks volumes about your commitment to education and to providing every child with an opportunity to succeed in life. The message we shared across our community was not lost on voters and will pay dividends down the road.
- While there are far too many who have helped to name each individually, I do want to take a moment to acknowledge several leaders who are here today.
- And thank you to the countless volunteers and to all of those voters who cast a vote for kids. We are here today to let everyone know this is not the end, but rather the beginning of our fight to adequately fund public schools.
We know there is talent in every seat in every classroom in every one of our 1,322 schools. But opportunity doesn’t exist in all of those same seats. A student in a math class with 38 kids is being denied opportunity, a basic civil right to a good education. A teacher in that same class is asked to do impossible things--develop a relationship with each child, understand each child’s unique learning style and help all of the children learn. It’s no mystery she or he feels a lack of understanding or respect.
A custodian is asked to keep a school like this clean by himself or herself when we know it takes more people to do the work we are asking to be done. No wonder he or she feels a similar level of frustration.
New York City tries to provide opportunity for each of its students, many of whom face challenges like our students do. And they know it costs money – about $24,000 per student per year. In Los Angeles, the state and federal government provide our schools with about $16,000 to do the same job. Over the course of a student’s K-12 education that adds up to more than $100,000 or about the cost of an additional teacher. Imagine what a student in that math class of 38 students could do with that extra year of help.
We’re not going to quit on that student because we know what is right. When I took on this challenge just about a year ago, I knew it would not be easy. Decades of underfunding and budget woes, many years of strained relationships with those who work in schools, not enough progress in helping all students succeed and a lack of trust by many in the community. This can’t be fixed overnight and it’s ultimately about the deeds, not the words, as we work to rebuild trust.
Life has taught me the value of persistence. When you get knocked down, you get back up and keep moving forward. One of the privileges of this job is I get to visit with students, some of whom share their stories with me.
One young man, I’ll call him Sam, has faced much adversity – an abusive and incarcerated father, overcoming a learning difference, a placement in foster care and taking responsibility for his younger siblings – yet he comes to school every day and works hard so he can become an aeronautical engineer. His courage and resilience are a reminder for all of us standing here. Because it’s Sam who was in that math class with 38 students.
So our work continues. We’ll continue to reduce the bureaucracy and make sure every nickel taxpayers provide goes to schools. We’ll ask those in Sacramento to make it possible to raise money to hire a teacher the same way we can build a school. We’ll ask the Governor and Legislature for additional funding for our schools and we’ll continue to inform the communities we serve about the need for local funding for local schools.
What’s next? It’s time to take the fight to Sacramento. It just so happens we’ve some yellow buses which are hard to miss. And some great drivers. It’s time for all of us, our families, students and all who are represented here today, to get on the bus and head to the capitol. I hope you’ll join us.
We’ve lots of work to do and the kids are counting on us.
Thank you.