Posts tagged Los Angeles Unified
Commentary LAUSD avoided a strike and now wants a state taxpayer bailout to avoid fiscal disaster
May 1, 2026 // Caving to union demands is easy, but paying for them might prove difficult. LAUSD spends more money than it receives each year from federal, state, and local governments. They project a $1.3 billion budget deficit this year and a $1.5 billion hole in fiscal year 2027. A big reason for the deficits is that the district has too many non-teachers on its payroll. Despite losing about 75,0000 students since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, LAUSD has reduced staff by only 321 employees. Birth rates are down, families are moving out of the region, and parents are seeking other options, such as private and charter schools.
A California school district is having its first teachers strike in 150 years
April 17, 2026 // Vasquez said that in the last few years the district has spent more than the revenue it had received, and used reserve funds to continue to subsidize benefits and students services.
Wave of California teacher strikes ‘is no coincidence’
March 4, 2026 // Thousands of California K-12 teachers have walked off their jobs or voted to strike in the past few months, as part of a strategic, statewide effort by the California Teachers Association to boost salaries and benefits — and get the public’s attention. “All these districts going out on strike — it’s not a coincidence at all,” said David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, the state’s largest teachers union. “Everywhere in the state there are people with unmet needs. The conditions have been ripe for a long time.”
San Francisco Teachers Walk Out for the First Time Since 1979
February 10, 2026 // David Goldberg, the California Teachers Association president, said that teachers have watched their colleagues win sizable pay increases by going on strike. Teachers in Richmond, Calif., across the bay from San Francisco, negotiated an 8 percent raise over two years after a nearly weeklong strike in December. “Folks, frankly, are learning from each other,” Mr. Goldberg said in an interview. “It’s something we’ve never done, and it’s a very exciting model for how to really build power in a huge state like ours.”
California teachers unions consider strikes amid ongoing contract disputes
December 15, 2025 // There are at least 14 school districts around the state that are at an impasse with teachers unions over contract negotiations. They are: Los Angeles Unified, San Francisco Unified, Oakland Unified, Berkeley Unified, Madera Unified, Evergreen School District, Little Lake City, Upper Lake Unified, Duarte Unified, Newport-Mesa Unified, Oak Grove Union, Apple Valley Unified, Twin Rivers Unified and Natomas Unified.
UNIONS’ STRIKE HURTS L.A. STUDENTS AND FAMILIES
March 20, 2023 // The unions are demanding huge pay raises despite financial reports showing LAUSD is already upside down $16.4 billion. Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99 is demanding a whopping 30% increase in wages for school employees like bus drivers and cafeteria workers. United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) is also joining the strike, seeking a 20% raise for teachers. “The unions strike and close down schools regardless of how much it will hurt students and their families,” said Lance Christensen, Vice President of Education Policy and Government Affairs at California Policy Center.