Welcome to L.A. Taco’s teachers strike coverage, where we will be covering the latest UTLA strike developments.
Monday, 3:36 pm
Mayor Eric Garcetti spoke to the press for about 20 minutes on the strike. Garcetti led his press conference by saying he supports the teachers. He also said he supports a cap on new charter schools, and any new schools, citing declining enrollment across the district. L.A. Unified’s projections, that say they will deplete the $1.8 billion reserve, would be moot if they stopped losing enrollment, according to Garcetti.
Monday, 10:15 am
Shortly after 10 am, Superintendent Austin Beutner and School Board rep Monica Garcia held a press conference reiterating the fact that schools will be open during the strike. However many programs like early education (except for special education) and nursing will be closed, Beutner said.
Monday, 9 am
Teachers all around the city held demonstrations like this dance that went viral after it was reshared on Twitter by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the Democratic congresswoman from New York.
LA teachers are on strike for smaller class sizes and more support staff. The district has funds to spare but the administration is lying about it because they want an excuse to sell off public education for private profits.#StrikeReady #UTLAStrong #RedforEd pic.twitter.com/ooB8WkLQy1
— Evan Geary (@EvanGeary) January 14, 2019
Many parents opted not to cross the picket lines and took their kids to rec centers and parks throughout the city.
Some parents in #HighlandPark are dropping off their kids at a rec center instead of sending them to classes. #UTLAStrike
Video by @Philip_Iglauer https://t.co/whBj0zcIaK pic.twitter.com/qganPMeS1d
— L.A. TACO
(@LATACO) January 14, 2019
(@LATACO)
Los Angeles-Boyle Heights, CA – Jan. 14: Teacher protesters from Sheridan Street Elementary School marching at Soto and Cesar Chavez during the LAUSD Teacher Strike on January 14, 2019. (Brian Feinzimer)
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Teachers, parents, and students were on the picket line at Roosevelt High School.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Protesters picketed at Hollenbeck Middle School during the LAUSD teacher strike. Some brought their kids, friends, and even dogs.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Supporters gathered at Sal Castro in Westlake.
Photo by Lexis-Oliver Ray.
Strike supporters were also outside Luther Burbank Middle School in Highland Park.
Photo by Melanie Gonzalez.
Photo by Melanie Gonzalez.
Photo by Melanie Gonzalez.
UTLA supporters bundled up at Garvanza Elementary in Highland Park.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Some parents in Highland Park dropped off their kids at a rec center instead of sending them to classes.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Picketers moved from their respective schools to downtown L.A., to a big rally and march by UTLA.
UTLA supporters at Highland Park Metro. Photo by Melanie Gonzalez.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Monica Studer from Venice High marched in the last teachers strike in 1989
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Melanie Gonzalez.
Photo by Melanie Gonzalez.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
Photo by Philip Iglauer.
The rally moved from City Hall to LAUSD headquarters.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Sam Ribakoff.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Photo by Brian Feinzimer.
Monday, 8 am
UTLA President Alex Caputo Pearl led a press conference Monday morning under a tent where he reiterated the union’s stance on smaller class sizes. “Here we are on a rainy day in the richest country in the world, in the richest state in the country, in a city rife with millionaires, where teachers have to go on strike to get the basics for their students.” Pearl told the crowd of students, teachers, and other supporters.
The rain has not dissuaded @UTLAnow supporters in #BoyleHeights
@bfeinzimer pic.twitter.com/tyb4sfW7iZ
— L.A. TACO
(@LATACO) January 14, 2019
Teachers and supporters all around Los Angeles have told L.A. reporters that the strike is primarily over classroom sizes. “We are fighting for our students,” said an elementary school teacher outside Highland Park. “For smaller class sizes and safety.”
— United Teachers Los Angeles (@UTLAnow) January 14, 2019
Monday, 6:30 am
Thousands of teachers, parents, students, and district managers and personnel of the Los Angeles Unified School District are affected by the city’s first strike in 30 years, that began officially at 7 am on Monday, January 14. Rain and tacos greeted picketers.
LAUSD campuses will remain open, the district said, and students are required to attend. But many parents are keeping their kids home, in a show of support for the teachers union amid a nationwide wave of educators taking to the picket lines.
UTLA educators, #LAUSD parents, and students on the picket line this morning in the rain demanding smaller class sizes and justice outside RFK. #UTLAStrong #Red4Ed pic.twitter.com/1D4RomJeE6
— United Teachers Los Angeles (@UTLAnow) January 14, 2019
Even before the first picket line is assembled, the tense battle between the country’s second largest school district and ULTA, the 30,000-strong union, spilled over into the halls and quads of several schools since the strike vote was announced in late August. On some campuses, UTLA held special prep meetings at lunch, charter schools sent out notifications that that campuses will remain open during the strike, and students have held rallies and sign-making parties in support of the teachers.
Last week, a student who did the morning announcements at John F. Kennedy High School was relieved of her post for an impromptu rallying cry supporting the teachers.
For two years, the union and the district have been negotiating a new contract never coming close to an agreement. Many UTLA members have told L.A. Taco that district and Beutner have wanted it this way. “It’s like broke on purpose,” Arlene Inouye, UTLA’s chief negotiator told L.A. Taco. “He says, there’s no money so we have to do this. He already has a plan to re-imagine LAUSD and these 32 clusters.”
The district has repeatedly said it doesn’t have the money to give in to the union’s demands, which include a 6 percent raise and the money to hire new teachers, nurses, and psychiatrist to help manage growing class sizes. Beutner, the former banker and executive tapped to lead the troubled district last May, says he projects the district will lose lose about a half-a-billion dollars each year for the next three years, cutting deep into the $1.8 billion district reserves.
Both sides have filled formal labor complaints against each other. They have battled in court and in the press. And now the parents and students of Los Angeles hold their breaths as the battle turns to the picket lines.
UTLA protesters from Sheridan Street Elementary School in Boyle Heights were marching at Soto and Cesar Chavez during the LAUSD Teacher Strike this morning.
Brian Feinzimer, Melanie Gonzalez, Danie Hernandez, Philip Iglauer, Lexis-Oliver Ray, and Sam Ribakoff contributed to this report.
RELATED: Video: Who Is L.A. Teachers Union’s Chief Negotiator? ~ Meet Arlene Inouye
The post The Strike Is On! ~ Updates from the L.A. Teachers Strike: Garcetti Speaks appeared first on L.A. TACO.