Sunny optimism rises on fifth day of LA teachers' strike
LOS ANGELES - If striking Los Angeles teachers needed an omen as they rallied in Grand Park downtown Friday, Mother Nature obliged. After four days of picketing in rain and chill and gloom, the sun burst forth.
"Do you feel your power?" union President Alex Caputo-Pearl asked the masses, who stretched from the steps of City Hall through Grand Park all the way to the Music Center.
They thundered their response.
Union treasurer Alex Orozco reminded teachers that bargaining teams could hear them on the other side of the stage, inside City Hall.
Thousands raised fists, thrust signs skyward and chanted: "Let's go, team! Let's go, team!"
With the celebrity help of singer Aloe Blacc, musician Tom Morello and actor Sean Astin, teachers made noise and
