Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1539593
partnership with CHIRLA. We had a Know Your Rights session with all our members and then opened it up to the community. We had a family preparedness workshop, social emotional sup- ports for students, and we also had teachers present their lesson plans on how to talk to students about what's happening." At their summer leadership conference, UTLA held a series of workshops on immigration-related issues, training mem- bers on topics like building a sanctuary team at your work site, developing a safety plan and community self-patrolling. Miranda says UTLA is also working on a plan with community partner Reclaim Our Schools to mark a two-block perimeter around campuses before and after school to create a safe zone and ensure safe passage for students (a 15-year-old student with disabilities was mistakenly pulled out of his parents' vehicle by ICE agents and detained at gunpoint outside a high school in August). This is in addition to a back-to-school campaign ( #WelcomeBackLA) that reinforces that all students are welcome in L.A. public schools. "As educators, we have deep roots in the communities we serve. Our families look up to us as anchors of our communities and we need to step up to that role and defend when they are under attack," says Miranda. "It matters that we bring light to what is happening and call out what is wrong. If we have stu- dents being pulled out of our schools and feeling unsafe, we're going to end up with empty classrooms and school closures and serious losses in our school communities. We need to make sure our students do feel safe and we have thriving schools." UTLA issued a series of demands to school district adminis- tration for the new school year, in addition to contract language proposed earlier this year, on creating safe schools and support- ing students, families and educators. ese include establishing safe zones around campuses and concrete safety plans, provid- ing food and other basic items to affected families, providing virtual learning options to students who are afraid to attend school physically because of raids, and guaranteeing a pathway to a diploma for students who have been deported. In addition to welcoming all students (right), UTLA issued a series of demands to school district administration to create safe schools and support students, families and educators. Continued from Page 16 18 cta.org Feature