Today’s lesson for a group of social studies students at Venice High School is the Ludlow Massacre of 1914, in which more than a dozen coal miners and others were killed during a labor dispute.
Soni Lloyd is their teacher, he was involved in a labor dispute of his own just a few weeks ago during the Los Angeles teachers’ strike. And even though it’s over now, he says there is still a lot of work to be done.
“I feel like we made some progress, but also motivated to gain even more, feeling my power as a teacher,” said Lloyd.
- With strike over, teachers look to Sacramento to continue efforts
- One teacher believes Governor Newsom should lead the charge
- One proposed solution is to end Prop 13
Among their demands, teachers were asking for smaller class sizes, more librarians, nurses and counselors. They also wanted a raise, all of those things require money. But since LAUSD gets 90 percent of its funding from the state, Lloyd is looking to Sacramento to address the things that weren’t fixed during the strike.
“We need to step up as a state and not be almost dead last in per-pupil funding. There is policy on the table that the governor can get behind and support, convince the public to support, the school and communities first initiative is on the ballot in 2020,” said Lloyd.
He wants the new governor, Gavin Newsom to use his power to pick up the fight where the teachers left off.
“Hopefully the governor is going to say something really progressive and use his platform to convince the public to step it up when it comes to public education in California,” said Lloyd.
Specifically, he wants Newsom to spell out the end of prop 13, which limits increases on property taxes, and he wants to eliminate the carried-interest loophole.
The Ludlow massacre and strike were influential in helping congress pass child labor laws and eight-hour workdays. More than 100 years later, Lloyd hopes to hear how the state government plans to address the teachers’ recent struggle.