Support for the UTLA Beyond Recovery Platform.
Support for the UTLA Beyond Recovery Platform.
More storms are coming.
Storm after storm is assaulting our city and all of the West Coast. Record rainfall. Flooding and even some deaths. Kids hear the uncertainty among adults. The climate is changing…
Teaching is transformative.
Some teachers have been helping the kids connect the dots. Extreme weather comes from the excess heating of the atmosphere due to fossil fuel emissions. We know now that we have to transform our society to respect our Earth, not exploit it. And we can.
Climate solutions and antiracism are twin challenges.
There are thousands of innovative solutions, and teachers help kids think about which are best for all people. How can we halt false solutions, and instead repair the sacrifices of Native, Black, Latine people and other people of color, of women, children, and poor people? Presenting kids with the proud history of environmental justice work in the LA Basin, and training kids to examine climate policies using science, history, morality, arts, and language--those are future jobs skills and much more. We are training students in discernment, compassion, action, and determination. Through climate and anti-racist education, teaching becomes what we want it to be--true and empowering. Fortifying democracy.
Understanding climate is a critical part of the Beyond Recovery Platform.
The UTLA knows this. That is why it has included full implementation of the BoE’s Climate Literacy Resolution (016-21/22) that calls for climate education in all subjects and grades and a Climate Literacy Champion in every school. Full implementation is part of the Healthy Green Public Schools article of the Beyond Recovery Platform that is under negotiation. It is a critical part of what teaching is in the 21st century.
Challenge to the District: Negotiate the whole of the Beyond Recovery Platform.
The teachers are bargaining for the good of us all. For families out in the rain. For Black Student Achievement. Support for immigrant students. Students in special ed. Early education, adult education. Community schools. Smaller class sizes. Full staffing of teachers, counselors, mental health workers, librarians, and nurses through better conditions and higher pay. All these factors create our students’ learning and our working conditions. Will the District meet us at the table? Will they support teachers and students, and work together to transform our children’s public education to meet the changing world?
Q: How can I support?
A: Talk about Beyond Recovery with all school stakeholders. Work with your parent, student, and community groups. Watch for UTLA actions and come out. Ask your principal about choosing and supporting your Climate Literacy Champion with the Instructional Leadership Team, professional development and communities of practice at schools and beyond.