Fact-Finding Ends With No Agreement: LAUSD Is Forcing a Strike

After Monday’s fact-finding presentations, the 150-member UTLA bargaining team was prepared to stay all day to work out a mediated settlement and avoid a strike, but mediation ended today at 12:30 pm with no agreement. 

On Monday, the district brought in a paid consultant (LAUSD just can’t seem to stop spending money on outside contracts!) whose presentation to the fact-finding panel was offensive on many levels, and implied that our healthcare coverage takes resources away from students. LAUSD made no acknowledgement in their presentation of what educators and students struggle with every day — under-resourced schools, communities under attack by ICE, educators who can’t afford to live in the communities where they teach.

The UTLA bargaining team brought updated proposals on issues where we are still far apart in an effort to reach an agreement with LAUSD.

With billions in reserves, LAUSD could have settled a fair contract today that prioritizes the needs of educators and students — and they chose not to. LAUSD has committed $6.7 billion in multi-year contracts to private companies since 2022 but comes to our contract negotiations offering scraps.

We force them to rethink that decision by rallying tens of thousands strong at the March 18 rally and showing we are ready to strike if they don’t change course.

Key elements of UTLA’s updated proposal: 

SALARY 

• Fix the broken salary schedule with a 12.6% retroactive increase to the first cells of all salary schedules — which filters through every step on the scale. (This proposal is movement from the original 16% proposal.)  
• Additional 3% raise this July.   
• The new wage scale would have an $80,000 start rate and a top rate of $133,972 on the T-Table and corresponding improvements on all other salary schedules.   
• This proposal results in an average salary increase of 17% over two years.

SPECIAL EDUCATION 

• Address Special Education class size and caseload enforcement with a $75 per day penalty, commitment to following caps in all settings, protect paraprofessionals, improve/confirm ratios for Adaptive PE, Speech and Language, Resource Specialist Teachers, and Recreationally Therapy.    
• Commit to Modified Core Curriculum cap at 8.  
• Address needs related to Inclusion with funding for planning time and professional development, ratios for RSTs working with students in the Inclusion model at 20:1, protecting IEP decisions, and more.  

STAFFING 

• Add 125 PSAs, 125 PSWs, and 125 School Psychologists to the existing centrally funded allocation with additional support for educational options schools.  
• Improve ratios for secondary counselors (maintains agreement that we are close to reaching with LAUSD) 

CLASS SIZE  

• Reduce class size for 11th and 12th grade academic classes.  
• Enforce all class size and staffing ratios with a $75 per day penalty for all violations paid to the impacted educator.  

ELEMENTARY PLANNING AND MORE ARTS & PE 

• Provide elementary planning time by allocating a half-time Arts or PE position to all elementary schools with less than 300 students and a full-time position to all elementary schools with more than 300 students.  

PARENTAL LEAVE 

• Provide four weeks of Parental Leave at full pay.  

SUBCONTRACTING & AI 

• Protect against subcontracting and AI replacing educator jobs.  

ONSITE OBLIGATION 

• Fix the onsite obligation impacting special services staff and School Psychologists. 

Plus, other important improvements in rights and working conditions.