An estimated 30,000 Los Angeles teachers are set to go on strike Thursday for the first time in three decades barring a last-minute deal between their union and the L.A. Unified School District. The strike would result in a nearly half a million students and 63,000 school support staff staying home for the duration.
The walkout would be the latest in wave of teacher walkouts that began last year.
Though Los Angeles is generally a union-friendly city, the conflict has been simmering for months, with previous negotiations having failed to resolve the dispute. United Teachers Los Angeles and district leaders are set to meet again on Monday.
“UTLA will engage in whatever talks are possible to avoid a strike, but the district must be willing to spend a substantial portion of its record-breaking $1.9 billion reserve to serve our students and must engage our full package of proposals rather than dismiss them,” said UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl.
L.A. schools Superintendent Austin Beutner has sought to head off the strike by going to court to claim that the teachers did not give sufficient notice. The city has also authorized $3 million to hire substitutes to fill in for the walk-offs.
The district has offered the teachers a 6 percent raise, to be provided in increments over two years, but the union is calling for a 6.5 percent raise immediately with one year made retroactive. L.A. teachers are already among the highest paid in the nation, getting more than $78,000 annually, according to the Los Angeles Times. This is still below some of the wealthier suburbs of the city, however.
