Los Angeles schools are set to open Wednesday following a tentative agreement between United Teachers Los Angeles and the L.A. Unified School District to end a weeklong strike. Both sides are expected to ratify a deal, the details of which are not yet known, struck Tuesday following an all-night negotiating session.
“AGREEMENT REACHED… we are bad a^*% #UTLAStrike #UTLASTRONG #RedForEd GREAT JOB UTLA PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS,” tweeted United Teachers Los Angeles.
AGREEMENT REACHED?????? we are bad a^*% #UTLAStrike #UTLASTRONG #RedForEd GREAT JOB UTLA PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS
— LA Teachers United (@teachers_la) January 22, 2019
L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti said the agreement followed a 21 hours of talks session that began Monday and concluded just before sunrise. “Everyone on every side has worked tirelessly to make this happen,” he said, according to the L.A. Times.
The district said that all K-12 grade schools would be open Wednesday, though the union has not committed to that, its members still needing to ratify the deal.
An estimated 30,000 teachers walked out at the beginning of last week following a breakdown in talks between the the district and union, affecting an estimated 500,000 students. It was the first such strike in three decades for Los Angeles.
The union had demanded an immediate 6.5 percent pay raise, made retroactive for one year, as well as smaller class sizes and more support staff hiring. The city counteroffered a 6 percent raise phased in over two years. The details of the compromise were not available at press time.
[Opinion: Why the Los Angeles teachers union must be broken]
