ADULT EDUCATION, L.A.’S SALVATION!

Students and Teachers Demonstrate to Put Classroom Instruction First

 

On Thursday, May 14, approximately 800 adult education students, supported by their teachers, rallied in front of LAUSD headquarters in downtown L.A. to focus attention on the drastic cuts being made to adult education programs.  Passionate supporters chanted “Adult Education, L.A.’s Salvation!” and “Save Adult Ed!” to the uplifting beat of festive drummers.

 

The message was to protest against the lopsided priorities of the Division of Adult and Career Education’s administration.  Each adult school’s budget has been cut 30%.  However, administrative bureaucracy remains intact while teachers are being laid off, classes are being closed, and opportunities for students are being eliminated.  Although LAUSD Superintendent Cortines has called for making classroom instruction the number one priority of the school district, DACE administration has placed maintenance of the administrative bureaucracy above the needs of the students we serve.

 

This action drove home UTLA’s message that education is about students in classrooms, not bureaucrats occupying offices.  Collective action such as this speaks a thousand times louder than individual teachers lamenting alone in their classrooms.  It is through actions such as this that students and teachers can join hands to put community needs above bureaucratic bloat.