News Briefs
LA teachers plan boycott over state budget cuts
Jun 5, 2008 4:29 PM
Big California budget cuts to education are spurring members of the United Teachers of Los Angeles to take direct action. The AFT Los Angeles county affiliate organized a one-hour boycott on June 6, where members stayed outside their schools before signing in and going to class to protest the state’s $353 million shortfall for county schools. They sacrificed an hour’s pay. Their employer, the Los Angeles Unified School District, agreed on the issue but not on the tactic.
“We are in the fight of our lives with this state budget crisis,” UTLA President A.J. Duffy said. “If we don’t do something dramatic, the governor and the legislature will not get the message.”
The stakes include a freeze in wages, cuts in health benefits and larger class sizes. With bigger classes expected in September, reports have begun appearing in the media challenging the notion that small class sizes in the early grades are beneficial. Since 1996, the state has capped class size at 20 in grades K-3.
The local union, with 48,000 classroom teachers, the second-largest AFT affiliate after the UFT, also fears cuts will enable the district to declare a state of emergency, which would allow permanent teachers, along with thousands of probationary teachers, to be laid off without notice.
In the run-up to June 6, members picketed, caravanned to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s tony Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood, e-mailed and called state legislators, and reached out to parents and community leaders. Their message: “Cuts hurt kids. The state can only balance its budget by increasing revenue, such as closing tax loopholes and instituting fair — or progressive — tax policies.”
The school district failed in its effort to get a court order to quell the protest, citing concern for student safety. “We clearly support the message, but we can’t support the action,” said District Superintendent David Brewer.
The union had proposed that the school district sanction the walkout and keep students in auditoriums where they could be watched by aides and an administrator for the first hour of classes. The district cited liability issues in rejecting the proposal.
United Teacher, May 16
Los Angeles Times, May 29
Daily Breeze, June 6
