Hear why LAUSD teachers are ready to strike as early as mid January 2019 from someone with 20 years of experience as a teacher and sits on the UTLA Board of Directors.
EPISODE DATE: 12/20/2018
My guest in this episode is born and raised in San Pedro, and a Dodson Middle School English teacher of 20 years, achieving her 20th year this year. She is a representative of her school as an active union member as well as an advisor for the student council class which plans all the activities on campus. She sits on the UTLA Board of Directors where she represents educators of the Harbor Area. Her passion for teaching has shaped her life and led her to become an activist for education.
Jennifer on what teachers are fighting for:
"We need smaller class sizes, we need more nurses, we need more counselors, we need to stop over testing; We need to create environment for our students that are worthy of them.We need to give them the schools they deserve. " - Jennifer McAfee
Jennifer describes the challenges that charter schools bring to the community and explains that they don't serve the original purposes that they were designed to, potentially posing a serious threat to our public education system. She reminds us that the teachers' working conditions are the students' learning conditions, and that the conditions that they are teaching in right now are unacceptable for both the teachers and students.
Jennifer's "thank you" to the community for being supportive:
"I really want to thank our community so much for the support. It means a lot. It means a lot to hear the honking, see the signs... That's what makes San Pedro special is we don't always agree but when we need help or need support, we're there for each other. "- Jennifer McAfee
How we can support the cause:
The best way to help the cause is to do the research and learn about what's going on. Jennifer encourages us to talk to the teachers we know and hear what they have to say about the subject. In the event of the strike, which she sees as likely, they will need our support by providing lunches for students who are in need during the strike.
LINKS:
Jennifer McAfee's Twitter
https://twitter.com/search?q=%40js_mac&src=typd
UTLA
https://www.utla.net/
We Are Public Schools
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