The union that represents teachers in California, the National Education Association, has launched a campaign to keep their jobs.
The campaign was launched Monday, after the National Labor Relations Board upheld a decision by a union-led panel to dismiss two teachers from the Los Angeles Unified School District for refusing to stop using “nasty language” and to refer to other students by their first names.
The teachers union said it was the latest example of “nastiness, disrespect and bullying in schools.”
“It is time to put the union behind us,” NLA President Paul Taylor said.
“The teachers are not going anywhere.
The district is not going away.”
The district has been struggling with a drop in enrollment and the teachers union is one of the biggest supporters of the district’s embattled superintendent, who resigned last week amid a sexual harassment scandal.
NLA is also one of more than 60 local unions in the state that are now seeking collective bargaining rights.
NALEO has been a fierce opponent of the California Teachers Association (CTA), the union that is the largest in the U.S. Teachers have been protesting outside of the union’s headquarters since February.
They say they have been unfairly fired, denied pay, and denied the ability to form a union.
On Monday, they were met by protesters who called the union a “corporate front group.”
On Tuesday, the union announced that it was launching a nationwide fundraising drive to get $1 million in contributions.
The union’s campaign comes as state lawmakers are trying to get their districts back on track.
California’s budget includes $1.8 billion to cover a $1 billion budget gap, which has led to the closure of some public schools and other budget cuts.
A district that had just $18.3 million in cash on hand for 2017 has been forced to declare a state of emergency and have some teachers placed on paid leave.
The state also is on track to miss its state budget deadline.
“It is important for us to do this campaign because it’s an opportunity to build support in the teachers community,” Taylor said, noting that his union has raised more than $300,000 for the campaign.
“There’s not a lot of money in this campaign that is going to go to the teachers.
It’s going to be going to the people of the state.”
The campaign, which began on Monday, is supported by the California Nurses Association, the country’s largest nurse group.
In a statement, the nurses union said, “California is in desperate need of a strong teacher union.
We believe that our members have the ability and the passion to help protect our teachers.”
NLA has said that it is ready to fight to get back to work.
“We will be there for our teachers, not only in Los Angeles, but across the state,” NALOE President Thomas Smith said.