LOS ANGELES (AP) – Dressed in red and raising signs into the air, thousands of teachers filled a downtown Los Angeles park Thursday to demand higher wages and smaller class sizes amid stalled contract negotiations.
“Everybody in this country is watching this struggle,” said Joshua Pechthalt, president of the California Federation of Teachers. “It’s a fight about the nature of public education. What is public education going to look like?”
The rally was the largest action yet amid an escalating standoff between union and district leaders. United Teachers Los Angeles is demanding an 8.5 percent salary increase, which interim Superintendent Ramon Cortines says the district that teaches more than half a million students cannot provide without significant layoffs.
The union declared an impasse in February and is set to meet with the district and mediators in March. If a resolution still isn’t reached, a fact-finding panel will convene. Though it’s still several steps away, union officials say they are prepared to strike if necessary.
UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl and other union leaders have visited hundreds of schools in recent months, talking to teachers and handing out commitment cards. The cards ask teachers to pledge support for a variety of actions, from leafleting to a strike. About half have been returned so far.