So you've known a guy who's leading this teacher's strike for a long time.

I've known him for a long time.

I've been talking to him for a long time.

This is Dana Goldstein.

She covers education for the New York Times.

And he's in my character in my book.

Her book is called The Teacher Wars.

And Dana says it's not hard to understand how L.A.'s teachers got so frustrated.

Just walk into the schools.

You'll get it.

She spent a lot of time at a high school called Crenshaw in South Los Angeles.

It is in a working class, largely African American neighborhood.

And it had a really storied history and a great baseball program.

And it had a lot of engaged families that were proud of this school.

Crenshaw is a bit legendary in L.A.

When Dana says they had a great baseball program, she really means great.

Daryl Strawberry played on the team back in the 70s.

But by the time Dana showed up here, the place had really changed.

At the birth of the charter sector, they saw a lot of the most engaged families choosing

to go to charters.

And then what happened is their population was more likely to be students who may be homeless

or in foster care or have really high needs.

...