By Steve Gunn
EAGnews.org

LOS ANGELES – Just who is Steve Zimmer representing on the Los Angeles school board?

Obviously not the parents of the district, who prefer school choice.

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Zimmer has proposed a temporary moratorium that would prevent the school board from authorizing new charters in the district “until the district studies its role in authorizing and governing the schools,” according to a story published by ContraCostaTimes.com.

What does that mean? Nobody is certain. But Roger Lowenstein, founder and executive director of the Los Angeles Leadership Academy, believes Zimmer is simply carrying water for United Teachers of Los Angeles, the district’s powerful teachers union, according to the news report.

Teachers unions have always hated competing with charter schools for students. The Los Angeles union has been hoping to recruit teachers at the district’s existing charters, the news report said.

Lowenstein may be on to something, since Zimmer’s proposed resolution calls for “fair labor practices (including representation of employees and retention of classified employees).  We’re guessing union leaders want to catch up in the game, and spread the plague of collective bargaining to as many existing charters as possible, before having to deal with more of them.

Charter school teachers are typically non-union, for a very good reason. The schools tend to operate smoothly, and focus on individual student learning, without the constant distraction of labor disputes and union rules that discourage teamwork, accountability and innovative teaching techniques.

Zimmer and the unions would make Los Angeles charter schools nothing more than mirror images of failing traditional schools.

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Parents packed a recent Los Angeles school board meeting to voice their opposition to Zimmer’s resolution, which won’t be voted on until October. Other parents protested outside, according to the news report.

“I was fortunate I could choose the school that was right for my child,” parent Jana Harper told the board.  “Don’t take that choice away from other parents.”

Zimmer should listen to parents, because public schools exist to serve their children. If he feels that pleasing the union is more important than providing quality education alternatives for Los Angeles students, he doesn’t belong on the school board.