Kenyon Dawson
Chronicle Reporter
United Teachers Los Angeles says its members have overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike against the Los Angeles School District should one become necessary. Why you may ask? Well, UTLA have made several demands and LAUSD has rejected any proposals the Union is offering. UTLA has requested an increase in staff wages, class size reduction, counselor-to-student ratio increase, and more funding in community schools and have been turned down every time. UTLA believes these are reasonable demands considering LAUSD has over $1.7 billion in unrestricted reserves.
These demands have been addressed by LAUSD, but are yet to be met. Instead, LAUSD is denying the beliefs of them having over $1.7 billion and say they actually have less than $700 million. LAUSD claims with these estimates, they would go bankrupt if they accepted the proposals made by UTLA. LAUSD hopes to avoid a strike at all cost. They express, “…let’s remember our schools are about teaching and learning. We want to keep the labor discussions out of our schools so the focus can remain on our students.”