30,000 LA teachers set to strike in nation’s second-largest school district – By Nicholas Sakelaris (UPI) / Jan 14 2019
Jan. 14 (UPI) — As many as 30,000 school teachers or more will walk off the job in Los Angeles Monday, frustrated with their pay, benefits and resources in the classroom, and there’s no telling how long the stalemate could last.
For weeks, a Los Angeles teachers union has been at odds with the Los Angeles Unified School District over the concerns. Monday’s strike follows a weekend during which no new deal was reached.
United Teachers Los Angeles had previously delayed the strike, hoping it could be pre-empted by a new labor deal. Failure to do so this weekend set it into motion. UTLA is now trying to rally teachers in other California districts to join its movement.
The district, the second largest in the United States, is on the brink of financial insolvency, the union said.
“We all agree that teachers deserve fair wages and benefits, as well as manageable class sizes; that students deserve additional supports such as nurses, librarians and counselors; and that these challenges disproportionately affect our low-income students,” UTLA said in a statement. “We urge Gov. [Gavin] Newsom to intervene now and help find a solution, and to increase funding for public education, building on initial investments he has proposed in his first budge.”
United for Education, which represents about 35,000 educators in Los Angeles, said it’s concerned about competition from non-union charter schools.
“We’re in a battle for the soul of public education,” said Union President Alex Pearl-Caputo.
The district said all its campuses will be open Monday, but the Early Education Centers will only be open to special-needs students and the state preschool sites are closed.
“Los Angeles Unified did not want a strike,” a district statement said. “Los Angeles Unified remains committed to contract negotiations and will continue to work around the clock to find solutions to end the strike, which will hurt students, families and communities most in need throughout Los Angeles.”
The walkout in Los Angeles follows a number of similar movements nationwide last year, where teachers fought similar battles in Arizona, Colorado, West Virginia and Oklahoma.
