2019 Los Angeles Unified School District teachers' strike

Last updated
2019 Los Angeles Unified School District teachers' strike
Part of the 2018–19 education workers' strikes in the United States
Little Tokyo UTLA Strike Day 2.jpg
Educators in Little Tokyo during the second day of the strike.
DateJanuary 14–22, 2019 (2019-01-14 – 2019-01-22)
Location
Los Angeles, California
Methods
Resulted in
  • 6 percent pay raise
  • Reduction in class size by 4 students over three years
  • Guaranteed nurse in every school
  • Guaranteed librarian for all middle and high schools
  • Establishment of 30 community schools
Parties
AFT
CTA
NEA
UTLA
AALA
Lead figures

Randi Weingarten
Lily García
Alex Caputo-Pearl

Number
30,000 teachers

More than 30,000 public-school teachers of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) went on strike from January 14 to 22, 2019. [1] Protesting low pay, large class sizes, inadequate support staffs of nurses and librarians, and the proliferation of charter schools, the teachers went on strike for the first time in the district in 30 years. The strike was authorized by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA).

In August 2018, under the leadership of progressive UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl, [2] 98% of UTLA members authorized a strike following months of contract negotiation disputes. [3] Though teachers were also striking to highlight issues like demands for pay raises, public discussion became predominantly focused on the union's opposition to charter schools. [4] Though one in five LAUSD students attended a charter school at the time of the strike, [5] UTLA argued that largely highly-performing charter schools were siphoning money from underperforming unionized schools. [6]

A fact-finding report failed to resolve matters and UTLA stated that a strike would proceed on January 10, 2019. [7] The school district attempted to stop the strike on legal grounds, but a judge allowed it to proceed. [8] 30,000 teachers walked out of class and onto the picket line in what became the first such strike in Los Angeles in thirty years, [9] which would last six days. [10] Following the six days of crowded rallies, [11] UTLA and the school district reached a deal on a new contract on January 22, 2019, [12] which included teacher pay raises, full-time librarians for middle and high schools, a commitment to provide full-time nurses for every school, and the establishment of thirty "community schools" in the model of Austin, Texas and Cincinnati, though UTLA failed to impose a binding cap on charter schools. [10]

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References

  1. ↑ Blume, Howard; Kohli, Sonali (22 January 2019). "LAUSD teachers' strike ends. Teachers to return to classrooms Wednesday". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. ↑ "Starved of resources and respect | UTLA". www.utla.net. Archived from the original on 2019-03-15. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  3. ↑ "UTLA members vote overwhelmingly to authorize strike | UTLA". www.utla.net. Archived from the original on 2019-10-21. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  4. ↑ "Possible LAUSD Strike Would Be First Since 1989 – Los Feliz Ledger". www.losfelizledger.com. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  5. ↑ "L.A. teachers union rallies supporters with call for cap on charter schools". Los Angeles Times. 2018-12-22. Archived from the original on 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
  6. ↑ "Op-Ed: Alex Caputo-Pearl: Why Los Angeles teachers may have to strike". Los Angeles Times. 2019-01-06. Archived from the original on 2019-11-14. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
  7. ↑ Blume, Howard (19 December 2018). "L.A. teachers strike appears more likely as a key report fails to bring the union and district together". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 18 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  8. ↑ "Judge denies L.A. school district's bid to block teachers strike". Los Angeles Times. 2019-01-05. Archived from the original on 2020-03-10. Retrieved 2019-12-01.
  9. ↑ "LA Teachers Go On Strike For First Time In 30 Years". KCAL 9 Los Angeles. January 14, 2019. Archived from the original on January 22, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Blume, Howard; Kohli, Sonali (22 January 2019). "LAUSD teachers' strike ends. Teachers to return to classrooms Wednesday". Los Angeles Times . Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  11. ↑ Silva, Daniella; Johnson, Alex (14 January 2019). "'Escalate, escalate, escalate': L.A. teachers' strike to head into its second day Tuesday". NBC News. Archived from the original on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  12. ↑ Medina, Jennifer; Goldstein, Dana (22 January 2019). "Los Angeles Teachers' Strike to End as Deal Is Reached". The New York Times . Archived from the original on 23 January 2019. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
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