Today, for the first time in 30 years, more than 30,000 Los Angeles public school teachers are on strike fighting for smaller class sizes and decent wages, for nurses, counselors and librarians in their schools, and against a coordinated effort from billionaires on the right to make money privatizing public education.
Public education is fundamental to any functioning democracy, and teaching is one of its most valuable and indispensable professions.
So how is it that the top 25 hedge fund managers in this country make more money than the combined salaries of every kindergarten teacher?
How is it that the billionaires of this country get huge tax breaks, but our teachers and children get broken chairs, flooded classrooms and inadequate support staff in their schools?
That is what a rigged economy looks like.
In the richest country in the history of the world, our teachers should be the best-paid in the developed world, not among the worst-paid.
So I stand in solidarity with the United Teachers of Los Angeles. Because a nation that does not educate its children properly will fail, and I applaud these teachers for leading this country in the fight to change our national priorities. Today, I am asking you to do the same:
But what we really need in this country is a revolution in public education.
