A post on February 1st, 2014, titled "Silicon Valley Zillionaire Funds Attack on Due Process for Teachers," describes the current maudlin melodrama that is Vergara v California. Our own guerita and sister-in-arms Charlotte Vrooman made some important points. I'll comment in bold.
Charlotte Vrooman
Not only “bad” teachers lost their jobs. A huge proportion of those departed teachers were over 50, I’m talking about 90%. Also disproportionate numbers of disabled teachers, teachers of color, LGBT teachers and especially those close to earning life-time health benefits and those at the top of the pay scale. I was one of them and I attended many meetings and heard their stories. The local media is in the pocket of the “billionaire and millionaire philanthropists” as they are reverently referred to. In 2004 the financial whiz kids at LAUSD came up with a study claiming that the district would go bankrupt paying the pensions of all the baby boomer retirees. As a result the campaign of degradation and harassment began, accelerated under Superintendent Cortines (for his back story Google him she means for the juicy bits involving "adult activities"), and really picked up steam under Superintendent Deasey. The latter claims that to get a teacher dismissed costs the district up to $400,000. Hundreds have been hounded into retiring or resigning costing the district nothing. He says he got rid of (dismissed) 200 last school year. If the costs were what he claimed, that would be up to $80 million. The math is absurd. Of course in a district where $1 billion for iPads is seen as reasonable, maybe the $80 million is seen as chump change.
Charlotte speaks the truth.
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Charlotte Vrooman is a friend and a cellmate of mine in LAUSD teacher jail. For news and information on our struggle check out UNJUSTLY JAILED LAUSD TEACHERS group on facebook. A lot more of the disgusting details will be posted in the near future so add us to your bookmarks.
I’ll do my best to publicize the dirty dealings in the LAUSD as it works to rid itself of senior career teachers. I won’t spare our union, UTLA which has done nothing for us up to now.
This fight concerns all career teachers nationwide.
Then this comment from someone else sympathetic to our plight.
schoolgal
And Deasy can waste millions of taxpayer dollars….but he’s
protected. Any other CEO would have been fired. But since Deasy is in
the pocket of the Reform Movement, he’s an asset.
Michael P Dominguez
Actually that’s part of his backers’ plan. Drive the district into
bankruptcy, loot the employee health care trust fund, eliminate the
union and the Collective Bargaining Agreement, then steal more by way of
bankruptcy court. I can’t forget to mention the real estate that can
then be had at bargain (for them) prices through bankruptcy. When it’s
all over the huge district will be split into smaller districts based
upon income and race. Nineteenth century here we come!!!Michael P Dominguez
This last point is of utmost importance. This is not just about lowering the payroll costs in the LAUSD, it is about destroying it and dividing it up. Soon we'll be living in HAITI on the Pacific.
