The students of Roy Romer Middle School, in North Hollywood, lined walkways and filled classrooms holding signs asking "Why?" and declaring "I Lose My 6th Grade Teacher" while lip-syncing to a music video protesting school layoffs.
The video, posted YouTube, titled "RIF Now, Pay Later" says the school has lost 27 teachers since it's opening in 2008 and had its performing arts program decimated.
The video was the brainchild of drama teacher Bobby Arnold and Mike Ritchie, the school’s stage crew manager who teaches lighting and technical production.
The duo said they came up with the idea for a lip dub while watching the "Today" show. However, while most lip dubs are light-hearted in nature, they wanted theirs to be serious in honor of the teachers being dismissed.
"At first we were just going to do our two classes, but then decided to open it up," said Arnold who’s been a teacher for 16 years. "When we took it to the faculty, everyone was on board."
Students were given permission slips that needed to be signed by a parent in order to participate in the video. Of the about 1,400 students attending the school, the teachers said they expected a couple dozen or so participate.
They ended up with 270.
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"It was one of the easiest projects I ever directed," said Arnold. "The kids were that serious about it."
The video winds though the school building and the outside lot, while students and teacher lipped the words to the song "Apologize" by One Republic. The majority of the eight-minute video was shot in one take, with one cut in order to slow the video of the teachers walking out, for dramatic effect, said Arnold.
Both Ritchie and Arnold, who have been at Roy Romer since it’s opening, said they were distraught about what is happening to their fellow teachers. They said the goal of the video was to give the students a voice and show their support for those teachers being RIFed.
"I’m not in denial about the state our state is in," said Ritchie who’s been with LAUSD since 2000. "But all I can focus on is my teachers and my friends. All we really wanted was to give them a voice and give the students a voice."
While Arnold and Ritchie are both keeping their job, both are frustrated with the cuts, which are taking three of the four performance art teachers from the school.
Ritchie explained that the cuts would have a dramatic influence on the school. The current 4-by-4 Block Schedule class schedule (with four extended period classes one day, then four other the next) allowed students a plethora of electives, he said. However, with the cuts, the school will be forced to move to the standard 6-period day, and cost the students flexibility in their scheduling.
Both men expressed their displeasure with losing colleagues they believe are some of the most invigorating for the school’s students.
"Just having a position available, isn’t enough," said Ritchie. "We are losing some young, dynamic teachers who want to be here. I can’t say enough about the teachers we are losing."
Given the loud chants of, "Save our teachers!" at the end of the video, it's a good bet many of the Roy Romer students feel the same way.
