On Thursday, May 14, approximately 800 adult education students, supported by their teachers, rallied in front of LAUSD headquarters in downtown L.A... (click on title above for story).
ADULT EDUCATION, L
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.