[dropcap size=big]T[/dropcap]he L.A.’s teachers union is on a roll. They led the first teachers strike in 30 years and, by most accounts, won big. They forced superintendent Austin Beutner to sign a new labor contract largely on their terms. And they forced a majority pro-charter school board to sign off on a temporary cap on new charter schools.
The pendulum began to swing in their favor last year. That’s when Ref Rodriguez, the District 5 representative and president of the seven-member board, was forced to resign under a cloud of scandal. He left the board split three-three on the question of charters. Now the race to replace Ref is underway. A special election is scheduled for March 5.
Perhaps best of all for the teachers union's results, the word “charter” may have become in this election something like Harry Potter’s Lord Voldemort – “he who must not be named.” Campaign funding pleas and endorsements are announced without any mention of the word for reform proponents from the charter-school community, who are supporting candidate Allison Bajracharya.
One figure relishing the new atmosphere after the strike in January is Jackie Goldberg, who has emerged as the candidate to beat by virtue of her massive name recognition and liberal street cred. Goldberg, a veteran of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement in the 1960s, sat down for an interview with L.A. Taco at her home of 40 years in Echo Park.