Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1081161
Sixty thousand educators and supporters come together at City Hall in Los Angeles on Jan. 18. Families and community back educators' demand for the public education students deserve. Photo: Josh Kob T H E P O W E R OF EDUCATORS' unity, action and shared sacrifice was never clearer than when some 60,000 educators, students, parents and community converged at Los Angeles City Hall on Jan. 18. Years of frustration about reprehensible classroom conditions — class sizes of 45 or more stu- dents, 40 percent of schools with a nurse only one day a week, inadequate funding for key programs such as early childhood education and special education — had boiled over, and the protesters would stand for it no more. W h en Unit ed Tea ch ers L o s An gel e s ( U T L A ) reached an agreement with Los Angeles Unified six days later, its members received nearly everything they went on strike for (see details on page 42). UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl expressed pride in the membership, who had picketed and rallied despite a series of Southern California downpours. "I'm so proud of our members who took it upon themselves, on picket lines in record numbers, to express what we've all known, but that has been a hard truth to tell sometimes: that public education desperately needs attention, from the city, from the state, from the country. is agreement includes so many elements that are important to our stu- dents, families, parents, and communities." 18 cta.org Spotlight