The LAUSD Empire Strikes Back
“Why, you slimy, double-crossing, no-good swindler! You’ve got a lot of guts coming here after what you pulled.”
- Lando Calrissian
Much to the chagrin of Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) Superintendent Austin Beutner and his charter school industry supporters, parents overwhelmingly backed the District’s teachers when they went out on strike in January. At one point, less than a fifth of LAUSD students were attending class, even as principals pleaded with and threatened parents to send their children to school. One survey taken during the work stoppage found that 80% of Angelenos were supporting the strike.
One of the reasons for the community’s support was that salary issues had been mostly resolved and the majority of the remaining demands were centered around improving students’ educational experience. These demands included smaller class sizes, a full-time nurse in every school and one counselor for every 500 students in a school. The union also sought a requirement that every middle and high school should have a full-time librarian.
As a result of the strike, every secondary school will have a librarian five days a week by the 2020–2021 school year. However, since United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) does not…
