United Teachers Los Angeles President Cecily Myart-Cruz: Reopening Schools Is Racist

EXCERPT:

MYART-CRUZ: "We have an ‎all-important member vote this week to ‎stand up against that pressure and fight ‎the unsafe return to school sites. ‎Today state legislators released a‎ revised‎ plan in Senate bill 86 to try to force schools to physically ‎reopen ‎even if conditions are unsafe. And unfortunately the plan reverts to‎ deeply‎ flawed ideas in Gavin ‎Newsom's proposal in December‎ to offer school districts more money if they open faster. If you condition funding on the reopening of schools that money will only go to white ‎and wealthier schools that do not have the transmission rates that low-income black and brown communities ‎do. ‎This is a recipe for propagating ‎structural racism, and it is deeply ‎unfair to the students we serve. ‎This would send extra dollars to‎ affluent areas ‎that are able to reopen because of low‎ infection rates ‎leaving students from low-income ‎communities of color‎ behind. The media is reporting that the ‎legislators new plan‎ does not require bargaining with unions ‎on the elements, but the fact is‎ that the plan does not supersede ‎our legal right to bargain, ‎working conditions with LAUSD‎, and our continued determination ‎to do so."