UTLA Election: Educator Power Activist Faction Gains Ground

The United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) election results are in. UTLA members opted to continue the social justice unionism mode of prior leaders Alex Caputo-Pearl and Cecily Myart-Cruz. UTLA elected long-time advocate for social justice unionism, and member of Myart-Cruz’s election slate, Gloria Martinez as its new president. Yet, the results also point to more radical changes ahead for the union. Members of the activist Educator Power slate were elected to leadership roles - including UTLA vice president.

Martinez previously served as Elementary Vice President and then Treasurer under Myart-Cruz, who is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America. Like her predecessors, Martinez centers what UTLA calls “racial, gender, social, and economic justice.” Under Caputo-Pearl and Myart-Cruz, UTLA aligned itself with the Black Lives Matter movement and aggressively promoted Ethnic Studies initiatives.

UTLA, under Caputo-Pearl and Myart-Cruz, was influenced by the progressive CORE caucus which took control of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Martinez has openly discussed the influence of labor organizer Jane McAlevey, whose organizing strategies helped CORE consolidate power within CTU.

How Did Educator Power Fare?

The K-12 Extremism Tracker profiled the activists that made up the Educator Power slate as well as the network of radical organizations with which the members of Educator Power are connected - Union del Barrio, The Association of Raza Educators, Educators for Justice in Palestine, the Educator Defense Network, and the Community Self-Defense Coalition.

Several candidates aligned with Educator Power secured leadership roles in the union.

Jessica Rodarte won her race to be UTLA Vice-President as the National Education Association representative. In a close race, Rodarte won with 51.2% of the vote.

Rodarte is a member of the Association of Raza Educators, a founding member of the Educator Defense Network, and a member of California Teachers Association 4 Palestine.

On October 10, 2023 Rodarte posted the following to her public Facebook account:

“Liberation doesn’t just look like reading and writing. It isn’t always without bloodshed. But it is always about the marginalized fighting oppressors.”

Rodarte’s organizations - Educator Power and the Educator Defense Network - co-sponsored an event on “solidarity” and “resistance” held at a bookstore selling materials produced by designated terrorist organizations

Guadalupe Carrasco Cardona lost her bid to be UTLA VP as American Federation of Teachers representative by a whisker - gaining 49.24% of the vote. She lost to incumbent Julie van Winkle.

Carrasco Cardona is a founding member and president of the Liberated Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum Consortium, the group responsible for California’s model Ethnic Studies curriculum, which had to be heavily revised due to concerns about antisemitism.

At UTLA’s annual leadership conference in 2024, Carrasco Cardona was filmed suggesting that Israel intentionally placed the Star of David on its flag so that it could deflect any criticism as antisemitism.

Carrasco Cardona is co-head of the Association of Raza Educators, which describes itself as a “group of public school educators, university professors, students, and community allies committed to using education as a tool for the liberation of our community.” Dissatisfied with existing professional development opportunities for teachers, the group developed its own model that focuses on activism:

[An] Ethnic Studies/Social Justice professional development model that combines theory and practice… Led and developed for social justice educators by social justice educators who teach culturally relevant curriculum and are actively involved in organizing campaigns outside their classrooms and in their communities.

Iris Mendoza, another Educator Power candidate, won her bid to be AFT UTLA Board of Director. Mendoza is a member of LA Educators For Justice in Palestine.

Educator Power affiliates David Feldman, John U. Aquino, Olga Calacuayo, Ofelia Sofia Ryan and David De La Cruz Rosales were also successful in their Board of Director bids.

David Feldman was also at the UTLA 2024 Leadership Conference where he, along with Carrasco Cardona and Gochez, spoke about the “issue of Palestine within UTLA.” Feldman, along with Ingrid Valleda, organized the meeting on Palestine.

Feldman is associated with the Party of Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and has written for its newspaper, Liberation. Feldman has spoken at events by the ANSWER coalition. ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism), which was founded just days after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, is also associated with the Party for Socialism and Liberation. Brian Becker, director of the ANSWER Coalition, is also a co-founder of the PSL.

David De La Cruz Rosales is a member of Educators for Justice in Palestine, the Community Self Defense Coalition and Union Del Barrio. He was on the panel of the “solidarity” event held at Midnight Books.

Maya Suzuki Daniels, who endorsed Educator Power, and is the founder of the Educator Defense Network, was elected to the UTLA NEA Board of Director for the Harbor Area.

Skye Tooley, Ron Gochez and Clemen Avalos lost their election bids decisively. While some UTLA observers may view those losses as reassuring, the election results show that UTLA is committed to the social justice unionism model. More than that, radical activists like Rodarte, Mendoza and Daniels have been elected to positions of influence within the union. Carrasco Cardona lost by the barest of margins.

UTLA came close to electing a “traditional” social justice unionism president alongside two vice presidents aligned with the more activist Educator Power faction. In the end, only Rodarte crossed the finish line this cycle.

The outcome may have slowed the Educator Power faction’s advance, but it did not halt it.