Teachers have returned to the classroom today in the Los Angeles Unified School District after reaching agreement on a new contract and ending a six-day strike in the nation’s second-largest district.
The deal between the United Teachers Los Angeles and the district includes what amounts to a 6 percent raise for teachers, some reduction of class sizes, and increases in librarians, nurses and counselors.
The Los Angeles Daily News reports that the labor deal includes provisions for hiring nurses, librarians and counselors, along with class-size reductions phased in over three years.
According to a summary of the proposal published by the United Teachers Los Angeles, the 6 percent pay raise included in the proposal includes a 3 percent boost retroactive for the 2017-18 school year, and another 3 percent retroactive to July 1, 2018.
The deal also calls for the hiring of 150 full-time nurses in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, enough to “provide a full-time nurse at every school five days a week.” It also call for the hiring of 41 teacher-librarian positions in each of those years, providing a “full-time teacher-librarian at every secondary school campus five days a week.”
In addition, 17 additional full-time counselors will be hired by Oct. 1 to create a counselor-student ratio of 500-1 per secondary school, according to the union summary.
The proposal also outlines a phased-in reduction of class sizes over the next three school years, with additional reductions for “high needs” campuses.
Union president Alex Caputo-Pearl said the issue of class size is a key element of the pact. He said the district agreed to eliminate contract language he dubbed an “escape clause” that allowed the district to circumvent class size caps.
