Get Ready to Escalate in the Fall: LAUSD Silent on Salary & More

The 140-member UTLA Bargaining Team met with LAUSD on Tuesday for a full-day, in-person bargaining session at the UTLA building.

Nine sessions in and still nothing from the district on salary, plus a litany of no’s on critical elements of the Win Our Future platform to support educators and students, with no explanation for rejecting educator-identified solutions to fix everyday problems.

In yesterday’s bargaining session, the UTLA member bargaining team resubmitted nearly every one of our proposals, making appropriate adjustments in the few places that LAUSD engaged in bargaining but holding the line on all core issues (the remaining two, on the virtual academy and autonomous schools will be submitted in the next session). The UTLA team went through  each proposal, section by section, to make sure LAUSD had all of the necessary information to develop a real response over the summer ahead of the first bargaining session at the start of the school year. 

We are holding the line — LAUSD must meet the needs of our schools.

SALARY
UTLA Proposal: Fix the broken salary structure to address the teacher shortage crisis. Our proposal would result in an average pay increase of 21% over two years, with an average of 18% in year one. 

Four months later…

LAUSD Response: Still no proposal.

CLASS SIZE & STAFFING

UTLA Proposals: Targeted class-size reduction where there has not been as much progress, specifically nonacademic classes and grades 11 and 12. More PSAs, PSWs, school psychologists, and counselors. Accountability when the district violates class size caps and staffing ratios — $100 a day to the impacted educator.  

LAUSD rejected every proposal, except for a small improvement in the secondary counselor ratio (which only applied to high schools). LAUSD even proposed increasing class size for Autism Alt Curriculum classes because they can’t hire enough teachers to teach them.

The UTLA team held the line on Tuesday. We presented a counterproposal regarding the secondary counselor ratios and maintained our position on all other issues. The ball is in LAUSD’s court.

WORKLOAD & SUPPORTS

UTLA Proposals: Increased prep time, limits on supervision, compensation for additional work, limits on testing, and more support and resources for Special Ed. Plus, paid parental leave so that staff do not have to choose between having a family and paying the bills. It’s time to address this issue.

LAUSD rejected all of these proposals.

The UTLA team held the line on Tuesday. We gave a counterproposal on Special Education and Inclusion that maintains our core positions, and held our position on every other issue. The ball is in LAUSD’s court.

STABILITY FOR SCHOOLS

UTLA Proposals: Increase school site budgets to reflect increased costs, provide basic supplies, commit to minimum cleanliness standards, provide transparency and a voice in any decisions on program cuts, and add protections against displacement due to subcontracting and artificial intelligence. 

LAUSD rejected all of these proposals.

The UTLA team held the line on Tuesday — and again explained our position on every issue. The ball is in LAUSD’s court.

HEALTHY, CLEAN, & GREEN SCHOOLS

UTLA Proposals: Clean drinking water, functioning HVAC systems, green spaces, shade, and playgrounds on every campus, climate mitigation, and disaster preparedness are essential basics that all schools should have. Students and educators are still drinking lead-contaminated water and suffering in 110-degree heat.

LAUSD rejected all of these proposals.

The UTLA team held the line on Tuesday — and again explained our position on every issue. We need commitments on a concrete timeline. The $9 billion bond initiative approved by voters last year can pay for these facility improvements. The ball is in LAUSD’s court.

SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS & SCHOOL COMMUNITIES:

UTLA Proposals: Support for immigrant families, students, and staff — including a $500 K immigration fund, legal clinics, stronger protocols against ICE raids — support for LGBTQIA+ students and staff, increased support for students and families facing housing insecurity, increased investment in Community Schools, and continued support of the BSAP program.

LAUSD has engaged on the proposals to support LGBTQIA+ students and staff and support for immigrant students and families. But their counterproposals fall far short of what we need, given increasing right-wing targeted attacks and the current assault on immigrant communities.

In light of the intense ICE raids and the resulting fear spreading through our communities, the UTLA team made additional proposals for immediate collaboration.  We have told LAUSD that we want to meet immediately on those proposals, separate from bargaining, due to the urgency of the situation.

The district has 63 days to come back to bargaining with real responses and movement on our proposals that reflect the $6.4 billion LAUSD has in reserves. We will come back to schools and worksites in August, fired up and ready to go day one. We will be prepared to do whatever it takes to force LAUSD to meet the demands that educators voted to fight for and the community stands behind.