Los Angeles Teachers Strike Could Be Days Away
Source: NPR
Teachers in Los Angeles, the nation's second largest school district, are preparing to go on strike. The district last saw a teacher strike nearly 30 years ago. If no deal is reached, more than 30,000 members of United Teachers Los Angeles wouldn't go to work, affecting roughly 480,000 public school students.
The union has been holding out, primarily, for the district to reduce class sizes and hire more nurses, librarians and counselors, all of whom the union also represents. District leaders have resisted, saying they don't have the money to pay for the level of changes the union wants.
In August, 98 percent of union members voted to authorize a strike. But California law requires certain steps be taken before teachers can walk out, among them state mediation and fact-finding. As of Tuesday, those measures have failed to bring about an agreement.
United Teachers Los Angeles had planned a possible strike as soon as Thursday, but that may be delayed until Monday due to a disagreement over when and whether the union filed formal notice of its intent to strike.
Read more: https://www.npr.org/2019/01/08/682190775/los-angeles-teacher-strike-could-be-days-away
Los Angeles teachers and members of UTLA, United Teachers of Los Angeles demonstrate, Dec. 15, 2018.
CNN, https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/08/us/los-angeles-teachers-strike/index.html
ancianita
(35,812 posts)appalachiablue
(41,052 posts)the future. Far right wants to privatize schools for profit, control the curriculum & eliminate unionized teachers. Nope.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)so can the Los Angeles County Board of Ed and LA County.
No study has yet disproven a century of studies that show the top two predictors of student achievement:
1. socioeconomic status of students parents, and
2. the Teacher.
The rich have had a lot to do with why not paying professional educators what they're worth is ruining public schools.
appalachiablue
(41,052 posts)US public education. The most successful developed countries have all had positive educational systems, it's critical.
They want to break public school teachers by overworking them with few classroom resources, large classes, poor pay and benefits. Part of the long term plan. I have to condemn Libertarian-Neoliberal privatized schools and teaching for profit, with a few exceptions.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)to take an investment framing on this:
Public schools are America's Human Development Industry.
Public schools are the ONLY industry with a Return On Investment ROI of $7: $1. For every dollar invested, society gets $7 back in GDP.
American public education is the ONLY industry that has produced our presidents, astronauts, scientists, mathematicians, architects, skilled workers, engineers, artists, film makers, musicians, computer technologists and university leaders.
No other industry has improved America like public education.
All our NATO and other Western allies know this. Their schools show it.
TexasBushwhacker
(20,043 posts)"The district also says students who attend school during a strike would continue to receive instruction from "qualified L.A. Unified staff," including administrators though it remains to be seen how the district could fulfill this promise."
From being a public school teacher for 9 years, I can tell you the LAST thing administrators want to be stuck doing is teaching kids in the classroom.
ancianita
(35,812 posts)This happens in every state district in the country.
If we chopped 90% non-classroom personnel and only kept local school ancillary people like security and school office staff; cut all top administrative salaries by 10% -- from principals to general superintendents; stopped the inflated no-bid contracting of limos, "consultants," catering, and other "services," then paid that money to teachers, the classrooms wouldn't even feel a ripple.
And the educational climate, for sure, would improve.
Keep education about direct services classroom education, and not business.