District Stalls, Dismisses Educators’ Experiences 
 

The 150-member UTLA Bargaining Team met with LAUSD on Zoom tonight for the 12th bargaining session. 

The LAUSD team spoke for nearly an hour — and never mentioned the words “pay raise,” “increased PSA, PSW, counselor, and psychologist staffing,” or “lower class size.”

None of the proposals the district made today would even make a dent in the $5 billion in reserves. Last session, the UTLA team roundly rejected the 2% + 2% raise offer, yet LAUSD brought no updated salary proposal to the table. 

The one shining spot was that we reached a tentative agreement that further commits LAUSD to a safe and inclusive learning and working environment for LGBTQIA+ students and staff, including input on policies to address harassment, staff and student support systems, and recognition of affirmed names and gender identity. Codifying these rights in our contract is of urgent importance in the context of the right-wing attacks on the LGBTQIA community in our own schools.   

LAUSD made some movement on evaluations, student behavior and support, and high school counselor ratios, but minor movement will not settle this contract while educators go underpaid, schools go understaffed, and students and families continue on without needed support.  

The session headed into the Twilight Zone when the district team questioned why teachers need funding for basic instructional supplies and why schools need funding for toilet paper to last the whole school year if the LSLC has purview over budgeting. The UTLA team hit back: “People shouldn’t feel like they won the lottery when the school bathroom has soap, toilet paper, and seat covers.”  

The next bargaining sessions are October 21 and 27. We are committed to settling this contract. To that end, the UTLA bargaining team gave the district eight dates for bargaining sessions in November, including during Fall break, to move bargaining forward. We are waiting for LAUSD to confirm how many of those dates they will accept.  

It’s clear the district is trying to wait us out — waiting to see how many members turn out in the streets on November 6. We will win what we are willing to fight for: 

• Fully funded healthcare without passing costs onto employees 
• Fixing the broken salary system, resulting in an average increase of 18% in the first year 
• Enforcing class size maximums and staffing ratios with $100-per-day penalty for every violation 
• Increasing student support staffing — PSWs, PSAs, Psychologists, and Counselors 
• Increasing prep time and reduce class sizes to alleviate unmanageable workloads 
• Investing in Community Schools and BSAP 
• Investing in support for immigrant students, families, and educators and students and families facing homelessness 
• Investing in facility upgrades for clean, safe, and healthy schools 

The next bargaining sessions are scheduled for October 21 and 27. The UTLA bargaining team gave the district eight more dates in November, including during Fall break, to move bargaining forward.