West Virginia educators protesting
President's Perspective
April 13, 2018
“All In” for a fair contract and a future for public schools

As youth movements catapult school issues powerfully onto the national stage, now educator strikes are ripping through the country—making this arguably one of the most important moments in U.S. history for public education. West Virginia, Puerto Rico, Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona. School funding, teacher salaries, privatization, learning conditions, learning supplies, working conditions, healthcare, pensions—they are all now front and center in the national debate.

Alex Caputo-Pearl with his daughter Ella and the Reclaim Our Schools Organizers outside the offices of privatizer Bill Siart in February. In a followup to the protest outside the Netflix building in December, parents, students, and educators called for Siart and his billionaire friends to stop spending millions of dollars each year to privatize public education and to instead work with the community to get all students and all schools the resources they deserve.
President's Perspective
March 2, 2018
The fight for healthy, safe schools

On a weekend a couple of months ago, I was walking out of a store on Jefferson Boulevard in southwest LA when I heard a couple of familiar voices: Dorsey High School students Tayah Hubbard and Christabel Ukomadu.

UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl with UTLA members at SOCES in red tee group shit in the auditorium.
President's Perspective
January 26, 2018
The healthcare victory is our launching pad

While many California Democrats will say publicly that they oppose Janus, privatizers like Antonio Villaraigosa and his longtime colleague Marshall Tuck — both running for state office in 2018 — will do the bidding of their financial backers and secretly push to undermine teacher unions and our right to collectively bargain.

Alex Caputo-Pearl Russell EL
President's Perspective
December 22, 2017
Our connections with each other make us strong

We don’t have to look too far back into 2017 to be reminded of the importance of our connections with each other, in schools and across schools, and the importance of our union to all of us. Very early in the morning on Tuesday, December 5, we started getting calls and texts from members who were at schools near the Creek fire in Sylmar and from even more schools that were affected dramatically by the air-quality issues resulting from the fire. 

Canyon ES Staff with Alex Caputo-Pearl
President's Perspective
November 22, 2017
Organizing and actions work

How dare the district spend two years threatening our healthcare! How dare LAUSD threaten to punish educators for LAUSD’s financial dilemmas when the district has done little over the past few years to address California being 46th out of 50 states in per-pupil funding.

Alex Caputo-Pearl Le Conte MS
President's Perspective
October 6, 2017
Our healthcare, our students, our schools, our future

We live in trying times. We have witnessed tremendous natural disasters, surely exacerbated by global warming, and incredible human violence, which tears at our souls. With each passing day, the importance of schools is reemphasized, the importance of engaging young people and helping to instill confidence in navigating a complicated world.

UTLA Officers 2017
President's Perspective
September 5, 2017
Schools LA Students Deserve campaign: Unapologetic about what students, educators need

At the core of UTLA’s strategic plan is a very basic concept: If public education is to survive and thrive in Los Angeles, it is time for us to call the question on why our schools are being starved. It is simply not acceptable that California, as the fifth largest economy in the world, stands at 46th among the states in per-pupil funding.

UTLA Officers
President's Perspective
July 21, 2017
Gearing up for an epic year

Summer is an essential time for relaxing and recharging—but the reality is that many UTLA members find ways to keep working. From teaching summer school to retooling lesson plans or taking learning vacations at historic sites, the whole “summers off” thing may be an outdated concept.

Legislator Rallies
President's Perspective
May 30, 2017
Resilience, Hope, Movement

Educators are wonderful, you are wonderful. Congratulations on completing another academic year. Every year that you finish, you have touched that many more lives, have shaped the future more indelibly, and have strengthened our profession for the long-term through your accomplishments.

Alex Caputo-Pearl Arminta News Conference
President's Perspective
April 28, 2017
Three Walks to Victory

I am asking you to pause your reading of the UNITED TEACHER for five minutes right now and sign up for three precinct-walking shifts in the School Board election campaign. Quite simply, if we all walk three shifts, we will win on May 16. Protecting our health benefits and winning a contract for the Schools LA Students Deserve depends on us electing Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla to the LAUSD School Board.