We have been asking you for months to address LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner's failure of leadership. Yesterday, on October 11, 2019, Los Angeles faced a devastating fire in the Saddleridge region. While the fires were fast-moving, they should not have been a surprise. Unfortunately, wild fires have become a fairly regular occurrence here in Los Angeles, and the district should have had a clear plan in place for these events.
Instead of a clear plan, the district caused needless chaos and confusion. Austin Beutner's response to the fires was completely insufficient, bordering on negligent. Despite early morning calls from both UTLA, and concerned parents, Austin Beutner failed to respond until later in the morning. He finally sent a garbled confusing voice mail, leaving many valley schools open despite incredibly poor air quality, and the risk of the fire spreading. We know there are many concerns that a district must weigh when making these kinds of decisions - working parents, money lost, etc., but the health and safety of our students, teachers and staff should always be our primary concern.
We are calling once again for Austin Beutner's resignation. His botched crisis response during the Saddleridge fires is just another in a long line of missteps since his hiring. We have listed our other grievances below:
1. Austin Beutner is not qualified to serve as our superintendent. As one of the largest school districts in the nation, LAUSD needs a leader with many years of public education experience. Mr. Beutner may be a businessman, but our schools are more than a business. They are the heart and soul of our communities.
2. Austin Beutner was hired in a secretive closed door meeting, against the express wishes of the majority of parents in our district. His hiring lacked the transparency and due diligence necessary for such an important appointment. The deciding vote was cast by Ref Rodriguez who stayed in his position just long enough to vote for Beutner before resigning due his felony conviction over fraud charges.
3. Mr. Beutner completely mishandled negotiations during the teacher's strike. He failed to negotiate in good faith with the teachers’ union despite thousands of phone calls from parents urging him to avert a strike and come up with an equitable offer for our teachers. He failed to respond to parents' safety concerns over his decision to lift personnel security requirements during the strike, including background checks and fingerprinting. He missed critical negotiation meetings and requests for information from UTLA. He spread misinformation through the media and flyers sent home with our children. Instead of working hard to avert a strike, which was costly to so many Los Angeles families, Mr. Beutner consistently submitted offers that did not meet the clear needs of our schools and our students. While refusing to invest the district’s $1.9 billion surplus in our schools, Mr. Beutner chose to waste our precious education dollars on expensive consultants, lawyers and propaganda to try to deny our teachers their contractual right to strike. Austin Beutner handled the negotiations so poorly that Mayor Garcetti had to step in to reach an equitable agreement.
4. Since the strike, Austin Beutner's leadership has been uninspired at best. Despite his claim of dire financial need in the district, he failed to convince the public to support Measure EE. With a critical vote coming on the Schools and Communities First Funding Act, it is essential that LAUSD has a strong leader with trust and community support.
Quite simply, Austin Beutner does not have the experience to lead LAUSD. He never should have been hired in the first place, and he has failed repeatedly to demonstrate the wisdom and experience necessary for such an important role.We demand Austin Beutner’s immediate resignation from his position as Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District. We also call on this school board to appoint a new Superintendent with the requisite years of experience in public education.
Firmamos nuestros nombres pidiendo la resignación inmediata de el superintendente del Distrito Escolar Unificado de Los Ángeles (LAUSD, en sus insignias en ingles) Austin Beutner. Hemos perdido confianza en esta junta directiva escolar y tenemos cero confianza que Austin Beutner en continuar las negociaciones contrátales con Maestros Unidos de Los Angeles (UTLA, en sus insignias en ingles).
El señor Beutner no esta calificado para servir como nuestro superentiéndete. El señor Beutner a rechazado negociar en buena palabra con la unión de los maestros a pesar de las miles de llamadas de parte de padres urgiendo a esta junta directiva que evite la huelga y que lleguen a una oferta justa para nuestros maestros—una oferta que incluye clases más pequeñas. Él ha faltado juntas de negociaciones críticas y solicitudes de UTLA. El a pasado información falsa a los medios de comunicación y por folletos que ha mandado a las casas con los estudiantes. Envés de trabajar duro para evitar la huelga, cual seria costoso a miles de familias en Los Angeles, el señor Beutner a consistentemente presntado ofertas que claramente no llena las necesidades de nuestras escuelas y nuestros estudiantes. Mientras niega a invertir en nuestras escuelas el exceso en fondos que el distrito tiene de $1.9 billones, el señor Beutner y su junta directiva han escogido gastar nuestros dólares educativos en consultantes caros, abogados, y propaganda para poder negar a nuestros maestros su derecho de huelga.
El señor Beutner nunca debería haber sido escogido en primer lugar. El fue contratado durante una junta tras puertas cerradas aun cuando muchas familias no querían que el fuera elegido. El voto decisivo fue dado por Ref Rodirguez, justo antes de su resignación después de cargos de corrupción y fraude. El señor Beutner no tiene la experiencia para ser líder de LAUSD, y no sentimos que tiene el mejor interés de los niños de Los Angeles en su corazón.
Adicionalmente, el señor Beutner y su junta directiva han completamente fallado en asegurar la seguridad de nuestros niños durante esta huelga. Ellos han coordinado supervisión inadecuada y han removido los requisitos de chequeos criminales completos que protegen a nuestros ninos. Muchos padres temen su negligencia puede exponer a sus hijos a violencia o depredadores, y potencialmente terminar con demandas de millones de dólares.
Estamos uniendo nuestros esfuerzos hoy para exigir que Austin Beutner renuncie de su posición de superintendente de LAUSD inmediatamente. También llamamos que esta junta directiva escolar llegue a la mesa, cara a cara con UTLA, para negociar un acuerdo justo para todos.
