I thought this Witness LA posting was great. It was written by Celeste Fremon, who apparently attended the meeting and captured what I consider to be some of the best quotes I've heard in a long time.

For example, this one from the UTLA Vice President:

Guthrie herself makes an impassioned pitch against the conversion. "If you do this," she says, "you're going to send a message throughout this district, that the district is unable to heal itself."

"Well isn't that the point?" mutters one Green Dot supporter.

Exactly! The district is unable to heal itself. The only way to "fix" LAUSD is to break it up into much smaller districts.

I love this one from one of the pastors in attendance:

"They tell us we're taking a big risk going with Green Dot," says one of the pastors."But as a Bishop I know used to say, "You can't fall down if you're already lying on the ground."

Or this one from board member Richard Vladovic:

"This is history being made. It's not about who owns these kids. It's about who's going to help these kids. LA Unified has been too focused on adult agendas. If my child was going to Locke," he says. "I'd take the experiment, not the failure."

Or this one from board member Monica Garcia:

"We at LAUSD spend $7.7 billion dollars every year," Garcia says, "And yet we still have graduation rates that hover between 40 and 50 percent," she says.

I'm supporting this charter today because I've had enough of yesterday."

The final great quote is this one from UTLA Vice President Linda Guthrie:

UTLA VP, Linda Guthrie, who has spoken passionately "and arguably the most effectively" against the conversion, rolls her eyes at this last. "Okay, I admit that's a great line," Guthrie leans over to whisper. Then her voice softens. "Look, it isn't just the district that's at fault," she says. "We "the union" have failed these teachers and these kids too."

All of the adults have failed the children of Los Angeles Unified for years. I'm not sure whether Green Dot is the answer for Locke. But as others, who are more intimately involved, have said, what other choice do we have. Without this dramatic change, life at Locke would have continued down the track toward despair and hopelessness. At least now, these kids and their parents have hope. That's the first thing needed for real school reform to take place. I wish them luck!