Frustrated parents of the Los Angeles Unified School District organized a Zoom blackout on Monday aimed at pressuring schools to reopen as the district and teachers union battle out demands amid the coronavirus pandemic.
A virtual flyer began circulating on social media last week, encouraging parents to take their children out of their Zoom classroom to pressure teachers to return to classrooms, which remain closed in the district over the teachers union’s demands to get educators and staff vaccinations before returning.
Cynthia Rojas, who helped organize the blackout, told Fox & Friends that she felt compelled to do something because she believes parents have not had much say in school closures in the past few months.
“We don’t have a seat at the table when it comes to the negotiations between LAUSD and [United Teachers Los Angeles], and so we’ve been trying the standard calling and voicemails and emails, but it’s not working,” Rojas said. “And so I’m part of a group of just parents who are just really frustrated.”
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Students who took part in the protest said they have faced challenges with online learning that they wouldn’t have to deal with through in-person learning.
“In online school, it’s really been hard to focus and have motivation to get on our Zooms every day and also study for tests,” one LAUSD student told FOX 11 of Los Angeles. “What I want to do today is get everybody back in school, not just me but the little kids, too, because I feel like it’s harder for them than me.”
California’s largest school system had been among the last in the region to hold on to a strict shutdown that restricted all in-person services last December, according to a report by the Los Angeles Times.
Leaders of United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents the district’s teachers, counselors, nurses, and librarians, argue that no staff should return to work until everyone is vaccinated.
The union and district are negotiating what a reopening plan would be like, and union members are tentatively scheduled to vote next week on whether they would oppose a return-to-work order.
Pressure has grown on the district to reopen in recent weeks as parents express increased frustration, and a Los Angeles councilman threatened a lawsuit against the city’s union, similar to one that has been pursued in San Francisco.
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On Monday, Superintendent Austin Beutner announced that schools will resume some services next week for a small percentage of students with special needs.
“In anticipation of a more complete reopening of schools in April, we will begin next week to offer child care, one-on-one and small group instruction, services for students with special needs, and a return to athletic conditioning,” Beutner said.
California has recorded more than 3.5 million coronavirus cases and nearly 50,000 deaths associated with the virus.
