In September 2018, 98% of UTLA union members authorized a strike over numerous disputes and a failure of months of contract negotiations. Demands included familiar issues such as salary increases and classroom size reduction, though a new issue predominated the discussions: the authority and control over the proliferation of charter schools. The fact-finding report failed to resolve matters; UTLA stated that a strike would proceed on January 10, 2019.
Strike and negotiations
On January 14, 2019, 30,000 teachers walked out in what was the first teacher's strike in Los Angeles since 1989. The strike lasted six days. Schools remained open, with replacement teachers and administrative staff filling in for the striking teachers, but school attendance was estimated to have dropped to less than half during the strike. Teachers and their supporters held rallies around the city, including at City Hall and LAUSD headquarters. UTLA and LAUSD reached a deal on January 22, 2019, after an all-night negotiating session. The agreement included a 6 percent pay raise for teachers, a reduction in class size by 4 students per class for grades four through 12 over the course of three years, the removal of a provision that had previously allowed larger class sizes during times of economic hardship, and a "commitment to provide a full-time nurse in every school" as well as a librarian for every middle and high school. The deal also included the establishment of 30 community schools around the district, modeled after similar programs in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Austin, Texas, seeking to provide students with social services and learning experiences in the arts. The deal contained no binding agreements on charter schools, but it did include a non-binding resolution calling on the state to establish a cap on charter schools.
Post-Strike Successes: Legislative and Electoral
Following the strike, UTLA, together with the California Teachers Association, successfully lobbied California Governor Gavin Newsom to sign two bills into law to hold charter schools more accountable and to give school districts the power to deny charter authorizations. Senate Bill 126, previously vetoed by former Governor Jerry Brown, requires charter schools to conduct open meetings, produce requested records under the California Public Records Act and avoid conflicts of interest in contracts. Assembly Bill 1505 empowers school districts to deny charter authorizations that might negatively impact the fiscal health of the district and to close charter schools that fail to adequately serve special education students. On the electoral front, in May, 2019, a few months after the strike, UTLA celebrated the overwhelming election of the union endorsed candidate, Jackie Goldberg, former LAUSD school board member and former assemblywoman, to represent District Five on the LAUSD school board, shifting the balance of power to support existing neighborhood schools.
Response
This was first teachers' strike in the LAUSD in 30 years. The strike encouraged a walkout in Virginia, a longtime right-to-work state scheduled to begin on January 28, 2019 if the Virginia Education Association does not have their demands met by the Government of Virginia.
