BADASS TEACHERS ASSOCIATION LETTER TO THE SCHOOL BOARD OF THE LOS ANGELES UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Dear Los Angeles School Board:

We are educators and public education advocates from across the nation and we are 52,000 strong. We are writing to demand Restorative Justice for the LAUSD community.

LAUSD has become the laughing stock of the nation with iPadgate and the MiSiS mess. It is hard to imagine that the leadership really has students first and foremost on their minds.

Schools have been in utter chaos since the failed launch of the Student Information System. Some students do not even have their schedules and have been in school for three weeks. Teachers cannot track attendance because they do not even have accurate rosters, risking critical and fundamental revenue to schools, not to mention a sense of order in classrooms and safety on campuses.

The daily revelations about the improper Pearson-iPad deal make it look like LAUSD is choosing PROFITS over PUPILS. It seems no one has even answered what pedagogical value these computers and software provide students. There has not been nearly enough deliberation about the content of curriculum on the devices. In your exuberance, it seems no one has asked “What could $1 billion have paid for?”

The students and families of LAUSD need textbooks, arts classes, summer school, staff for shuttered libraries, lower class sizes for higher risk kids, and assistant principals, nurses and school psychologists. These are the things that make a difference in the lives of students.

Therefore we demand RESTORATIVE JUSTICE for LA schools!

1.            Release the emails and the Inspector General Report for public scrutiny

2.            Seek an external audit to determine what went so terribly wrong and to prevent a repeat.

3.            Meanwhile, get back to work providing students with an education and giving teachers and principals what they need to get the job done.

The future of your students depend on you doing the right thing. 52,000 of us are watching.

PLEASE ALSO SIGN THIS PETITION

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/restorative-justice-for-3?source=c.em&r_by=11217269