LAUSD Teacher Strike Ends After Six Days... What's New?

On Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2019, the Los Angeles Teacher Strike ended after 6 days of picketing and discussion. After a 21-hour session that ended in the early morning hours of Tuesday, L.A. mayor Eric Garcetti reached an agreement with the Los Angeles Teachers Union.

However, the strike did cost the district $15 million a day as parents preferred to keep their children home instead of sending them to school. Due to attendance being a major factor in how schools are funded in the state of California, the district lost funding due to the quantity of absences.

With the agreement, the following changes and resolutions will be made for the upcoming years:

• 403 million dollars to be spent on full-time nurses in every school, five days a week, by the 2020-2021 school year.

• Class size reductions over the next few years. By the 2021-2022 school year, classes will be reduced by four students for 75 elementary schools and 15 middle schools. To compare, the district has 1,240 schools.

• Additional counselors and librarians in schools. No details on how many.

• 6% raise in salary; 3% raise for not receiving a raise last school year and 3% raise for this school year.

• 30 community schools will be created.

• 28 schools will be added to the list of no random search and seizure. schools are allowed to randomly perform search and seizure in order to prevent drugs or other prohibited items from being on campus.

However, the while union did request increased health-care benefits and pension, due to the costs the district could not agree to such increases.