We are making progress. The two sides were bargaining until late last night and have been bargaining around the clock since Thursday. We resumed talks early this morning. It is important to know, whether or not we reach an agreement late tonight, we will NOT be going to work on Tuesday.
UTLA members closed out the first week of our historic strike with a raucous and joyful rally with parents and students in front of City Hall, just steps away from where UTLA was bargaining with LAUSD. After four rainy days on the picket lines, the rally crowd basked in the sunshine and in the power of the collective movement we have built.
Today, we hit the streets as hard as the rain hit us. We marched, rallied and picketed all across the city and flooded the streets with red. We began our first bargaining session since the strike, and expect to continue on tomorrow. As of tonight, the bargaining teams are at City Hall in closed session.
Our voices echoed across the District today with our press conference at Hamilton HS with Diane Ravitch and musician/actor Steven Van Zandt walking with students, parents and teachers at Hamilton High School. Our seven regional rallies brought our members, parents, students and community supporters in droves despite the rain.
Today teachers at three south Los Angeles charter schools operated by The Accelerated Schools wrapped up their second day in what is the first ever charter school strike in California’s history. After two days of spirited picketing and an outpouring of support from Accelerated parents, fellow LAUSD educators and community members.
For a second day in a row, UTLA members and supporters took to downtown Los Angeles in a massive demonstration of solidarity and resolve. Our rally in front of the California Charter Schools Association focused the attention of the city, the state, and the nation on the runaway problem of unregulated corporate charter schools.
Los Angeles flooded with public education supporters, demanding a reinvestment in our public schools. Not just a declaration and show of support for public education and teachers, but a rebuke to Austin Beutner’s agenda to starve and privatize our schools.
There is relief for federal student loan debt available to striking UTLA members. On Tuesday, January 15 at 5 pm PT, AFT will be running a webinar for UTLA members on free federal income-driven repayment plans for federal student loans. Also, California Credit Union is offering members payroll disruption relief assistance.
As your officer team, we wanted to connect with you in this historic moment. As we prepare to strike together on Monday, we wanted to share how profoundly moved we are to be with you. We are about to do something together that will improve schools for hundreds of thousands of students.
Today, Austin Beutner presented a bargaining proposal which permanently increases class sizes up to 39 in middle school, 46 in high school and would only allow increased staffing for one year, and not at all schools. He said ‘this is the best we can do,’ not to the UTLA bargaining team, but to the media, a few floors away from where he was expected in bargaining.
