Putting Students at the Center
Representing the interests of all members and students, living up to the principle that educators are well when their students are well, and our students do their best when educators are at their best. This includes uplifting the needs of our most vulnerable and underserved students, like students with special needs, students from low-income households, language learners, and students or color.
Adequate and Equitable Funding
Advocating for equitable distribution of funds, with our most underserved students and communities receiving significantly higher levels of public dollars, support and resources so the needs of all students are met in our district. This includes:
- Prioritizing smaller class sizes in high-need schools
- Full support for the Student Equity Needs Index (2.0)
- Ensuring the faithful implementation of the Local Control Funding Formula in Los Angeles, which targets dollars to support low-income students, English learners, foster youth, and other under-served populations
- Lowering special education caseloads.
Supporting local and state initiatives that dramatically increases funding for public schools, which includes full support for the Schools and Communities First initiative, which would close a corporate loophole and raise funds for public schools in California.
Accountability and Cross-sector Collaboration
Holding all of our schools, both traditional public and charter, the district, and the union accountable to students, families and communities by building a coalition with parents, other labor unions, and community-based organizations.
Uplifting growth as the best measure of school effectiveness, along with multiple indicators of school and student success that go beyond just test scores.
Holistic Supports and Restorative Justice
Supporting educators to implement consistent, unbiased and non-punitive student discipline and behavior management practices in order to eliminate the disproportionate number of students of color who are suspended and expelled from LAUSD schools.
Restoring pre-recession levels of mental health support resources and staffing for all students, and targeting these resources to schools serving high numbers of students who have experienced trauma.
Elevating the Profession
Ensuring all of our schools have the talented and diverse teachers and administrators they need to succeed, which means improving systems and policies with the goal of having sufficient, qualified staff in all high-need schools.
Providing additional paid preparation time before semesters start.
Ensuring all educators have access to high quality, standards-aligned, curricular materials and the flexibility to tweak those resources to meet the needs of their students.
Keeping early career teachers in the classroom by mentoring, supporting and coaching them to continue honing their skills in our wonderful and challenging craft.
Supporting and encouraging common-sense collaborative planning time across disciplines, grade levels, and schools.