Diane Ravitch: WHY YOU SHOULD SUPPORT STEVE ZIMMER FOR L.A. SCHOOL BOARD

by diane ravitch, from her blog | http://bit.ly/14JHCgf

Dr. Ravitch is the author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Undermine Education – the best selling indictment of of the charter school/corporate privatization driven School ®eform agenda. She is a former Assistant Secretary of Ed in the Bush I Administration and is now Research Professor of Education at New York University

1 February, 2013  ::  The billionaire boys club wants to beat Steve Zimmer so they can proceed with dismantling public education in Los Angeles. Steve had the nerve to say there should be some oversight of charter schools, so the privatizers are out to get him. They raised over a million dollars from corporate types in just a few days.

There are many reasons to support Steve Zimmer. His courage, independence, and integrity are good reasons. Another is his passionate support for the arts.

From a strong supporter of the arts in Los Angeles:

Dear Friends of Arts Education,

Please read the forward below, from Karen Wolfe, a Venice parent.

I would add a few things to the list of reasons to vote for Steve Zimmer in the upcoming election for School Board.

1. He is a crusader who has devoted his entire career to public education and knows schools inside and out.

2. He is by far the most “hands on” board member, in schools ALL THE TIME, asking the important questions and supporting strong programs.

3. He is a steady and articulate and passionate supporter of the Arts Education Branch and all of the arts programs in the schools, attending and promoting student arts festivals and events, writing a regular blog for Arts for LA, co-authoring Board resolutions on the arts, and keeping the arts on the Board’s agenda at all times.

4. His opponent, Kate Anderson, is spreading lies. One example (of several – but the one that offends me most personally): yesterday, one of her (presumably paid) canvassers made the unfortunate mistake of knocking on our door and telling my husband to vote for her because “Steve Zimmer is against the arts”! (Some of you may know that only the day before I hosted a house party fund raiser for him precisely because he has been such a strong supporter of the arts in our schools.)

Please read on below, and PLEASE HELP US SPREAD THE WORD. The corporate “reformers” have bottomless purses and there is no way Zimmer can compete with them in funding for this campaign, but he has an army of teachers, administrators and parents who know what he has done, how brave he is in speaking truth to power, and how important this election is.

Robin

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: wolfepack

Date: Sun, Jan 27, 2013 at 12:42 PM
Subject: Why is the election for School Board more important than we realized? One mom’s reasons

You are receiving this email because you’ve expressed interest in education in and around Venice. As we spread the word about the importance of re-electing Steve Zimmer, I’ll be sending more information to help us discuss the issues with other voters. If you do not want to receive these emails, just let me know.

On March 5, I’m voting for Steve Zimmer because he fights for equal access for ALL students (and truly knows what that means), demands a level playing field for charters and community schools, and helps innovate curriculum.

While so-called reformers claim no progress is possible until unions are shut down and school governance is turned on its head, Steve just gets the work done. This election is getting national attention because his opponent has backing from big money supporters who want to corporatize our school system. As a mom, would I sometimes like to scrap the whole school system and start over? Heck yeah! But Steve has accomplished so much without that kind of drama.

STEVE’S VICTORIES

Just recently, his victories for our kids include:

* achieving landmark agreement on teacher evaluations

* expanding school gardens and permitting students to earn money by selling their crops

* improving nutrition policies by giving more time for students to sit down and eat a healthy lunch.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

Zimmer’s campaign does not have the money to send weekly mailers. It will be up to us to spread the word.

* Make a list of at least 5 people you’ll forward emails like this to every time you receive them.

* Friend Steve on Facebook.

* Plan a house party so your neighbors can meet Steve & his supporters.

* Dedicate a booster club fundraiser to Steve.

We only have one month to re-elect the best school board member ever.

Let’s get it done!

Karen Wolfe