Nearly three thousand parents showed up at the LAUSD downtown headquarters yesterday to demand change, and they got it. In the form of a groundbreaking school choice resolution, authored by Yolie Flores Agular. It will help us to revolutionize hundreds of failing schools throughout the District, and turn the new school construction program into an engine of reform. This was a watershed moment, not just because of the transformative nature of the policy itself, but also because of how we won the vote. We won because of parents. We stood up, stood together and screamed at the top of our lungs: we are fed up, and we aren’t going to take it anymore!
And we organized ourselves into a political force more powerful than the defenders of the status quo. We stand for one thing, and one thing only: our children. And we are motivated by one thing, and one thing only: our love for them. This was a great day, both because of what we did, and how we did it.
We made history today. All of us are living together in a revolutionary moment. Big, exciting, scary, good change is happening right now, and we get to be part of it. We have parents standing together alongside the President of the United States calling for a revolution. That’s exciting. But there are two reasons for us to temper our joy, just a little bit.
First, because we haven’t done anything yet. This resolution — and all the great Parent Revolution organizing in East Los Angeles, Venice, and elsewhere — won’t mean a thing until we transform our first school, and begin the process of giving our children the education they need and the future they deserve. Until we transform that first school and help that first student, we have done nothing. The defenders of the status quo didn’t expect us to move so quickly. Maybe they underestimated us and were caught a little flat-footed. But they aren’t anymore. They now know what we can do, so we must do more. We have to work even harder to actually implement this resolution with parents all across Los Angeles.
Second, we need to be gracious winners. Because our opponents aren’t bad people. They care about kids too. I’ve consumed a tremendous amount of fine wine with A.J. Duffy and know him to be a smart, funny, nice person. The problem isn’t the people, it’s the system itself. More often than not, if we can change the system, we can work with the people. Even though major elements of organized labor opposed us today, there isn’t any reason why we shouldn’t ultimately be on the same side. Because what’s good for kids is almost invariably good for good and great teachers.
It’s good for kids if teachers are paid very well. It’s good for kids if teachers are respected inside and outside the classroom. And it’s good for kids if teachers are empowered to be creative and teach from the heart, because they aren’t micromanaged by bureaucrats in a far-away centralized bureaucracy. But it’s also good for kids if teachers (and parents) are held accountable for the performance of their students. That’s the kids-first bargain. I believe we can ultimately strike that bargain because it just makes sense. But having tried getting there when they were more powerful than we were, I’d rather do it the other way around. Ultimately, though, we must treat our opponents with respect, and we must focus on one thing and one thing only: our children.
One other random note: some opponents of reform made snide comments today, implying that Parent Revolution somehow owns the patent to a secret "parent brainwashing potion," which allows us to load thousands of parents into buses, put Parent Revolution t-shirts on them without their knowledge, and pre-program them to spout our party line. That’s obviously insulting. The mode of transportation by which a parent arrives at a school board meeting depends almost entirely on their economic status. Whether a parent arrives in a bus, drives a car, or walks, they are motivated by the same basic instinct: love for their child. Period. It was love that brought out 3,000 parents today to stand up for change, nothing more. However, if our opponents do in fact own their own patent to a secret "parent brainwashing potion," please let us know. That could be very useful.
Finally, I just want to thank all of you. Thank you to the brave school board members who voted for this resolution and the District employees who will implement it. Thank you to the members of the unprecedented coalition that partnered in this Herculean effort. Thank you to the parents of Los Angeles, who have embrace the Revolution, without whom we could never have passed this resolution. And thank you to the handful of parents who believed in the Parent Revolution when it was just a crazy idea and a video.