On March 15, at 4:30 PM,  in front of LA City Hall, tens of thousands of LAUSD education workers will be calling on LAUSD SuperintendentAlberto Carvalho to use the district’s $4.9 billion in reserves to invest in staff, students, and communities.

SEIU Local 99 and UTLA members work side by side in LA schools every day and share a vision for using the district’s historic level of reserves to invest in LA schools through higher pay to attract and retain experienced staff, smaller class sizes, cleaner schools, and access to the counselors, special education assistants, nurses, psychologists, food service workers, custodians, librarians, and others necessary for student success. 

Members from both unions have been seeking these improvements through contract bargaining with LAUSD (SEIU Local 99 for nearly 1 year, UTLA for more than 10 months) but district officials continue to refuse to make the investments necessary to ensure every LAUSD student and staff member has the resources necessary to build secure, successful, and thriving futures. 

According to the district’s own numbers presented at the December 13 LAUSD School Board meeting, LAUSD is expected to end the school year with $4.9 billion in reserves, including $3.18 billion in “unrestricted” reserves that is not earmarked for specific programs.

“SEIU Local 99 and UTLA members share the same commitment to educating L.A.’s students and we share the same concerns,” says Max Arias, SEIU Local 99 Executive Director. “From the classrooms to the playgrounds to the cafeterias, our schools are seriously understaffed. Students do not have the full support and services they need to learn in clean, safe, and supportive schools. That is why SEIU Local 99 members who provide frontline student services at LAUSD are coming together with teachers on March 15 to rally for schools that truly meet the needs of our communities and our students – inside and outside the classroom.”

“We won’t let anyone tell us that the historic level of resources can’t be used to make our lives better, our students’ lives better, and our communities stronger,” UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz says. “In a school district where 86% of students live in poverty and staff salaries aren’t nearly enough to pay rent or sometimes even put food on the table, we are proud to stand alongside the members of SEIU Local 99 as we demand an end to the hoarding of resources and call on LAUSD to make the investments today necessary to secure our success tomorrow.” 

SEIU Local 99 is nearly 30,000 LAUSD teachers’ assistants, playground workers, special education assistants, bus drivers, gardeners, custodians, cafeteria workers, and others.

UTLA is nearly 35,000 classroom teachers, nurses, counselors, psychiatric social workers, school psychologists, pupil services and attendance counselors, teacher librarians, and more.