The head of the Los Angeles teachers union asserted that “there is no such thing as learning loss,” despite mounting evidence of huge educational reductions associated with a year of distant study.
Cecily Myart-Cruz, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, told LA Magazine that “It’s OK that our babies may not have learned all their times tables. They learned resilience. They learned survival. They learned critical-thinking skills. They know the difference between a riot and a protest. They know the words insurrection and coup.”
When schools were forced to close in early 2020 due to coronavirus, the union insisted that instructors not be required to teach remotely for more than four hours per day, while earning a full day’s pay. Teachers frequently just posted tasks for pupils to download and complete independently.
According to LA Magazine, over two-thirds of children generally ignored this form of school, and nearly none of the district’s 229,000 elementary school students logged on at all.
Staying at home has also contributed to children’s obesity, which is a major risk factor for coronavirus.
Last school year, when the union called for the closure of all schools, it emphasized far-left ideology, claiming that “the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States underscores the profound equity and justice challenges arising from our profoundly racist, intensely unequal society.”
They called for the “defunding of police,” the establishment of housing as a human right, and a prohibition on charter schools, which are popular with racial minorities but have been accused by the union of “draining resources” from the union members’ employer.
Austin Beutner, the superintendent, resigned on June 30, stating in his resignation letter that “UTLA leadership was urged to evaluate all possible options for [returning to classrooms with full compensation]. None of this would be acceptable to them.”
Parents filed lawsuits (one claiming that “UTLA and its president Cecily Myart-Cruz have shackled the current well-being and future prospects of LAUSD students”) and requested the recall of school board members.
Myart-Cruz, on the other hand, gloated: “You may recall the Governor.” You have the option of recalling the school board. How, on the other hand, are you going to recall me?”
Myart-Cruz had sought an increase in property taxes in an effort to help those who were floundering in their classes, but the proposal was shot down by the people. Despite the fact that Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom offered $2 billion in additional funding for schools that would open by April 2021 (apparently to address the same budget issues that were the basis for a property-tax increase), Myart-Cruz rejected the offer because she believed it would disproportionately benefit “white and wealthier schools.”
