Blog / The Business Perspective
A Sense of Urgency
January 17, 2019
by Maria S. Salinas
With every passing day, the disruption of the teachers' strike, resulting from the break down in negotiations between LAUSD and UTLA, has a ripple effect across our region. However, it is the impact on our school children that is most concerning. As a mother, I know that our youngest learners need the routine of their teacher in the classroom. Our students are losing every day that this strike goes on.
I issued a statement urging both sides to resolve this situation so we can get our children back into the classroom immediately. Read my statement here.
The gap between LAUSD and UTLA may seem wide, but they are not without common ground – in fact, I think there are a few things we can always agree on. First, educating our kids – the future leaders of our businesses and our communities – is the single most important thing we can do to ensure a thriving economy and prosperity for all. And next – education in our region and across the country is woefully underfunded.
LAUSD and UTLA are the two parties in this negotiation, but they aren’t the only ones with a big stake in this issue. We can all do our part – from our elected officials to community and business leaders – to ensure that our school system thrives.
We can cite several examples where good things are happening during this time. The Mayor has City recreation centers and libraries, as well as Metro and L.A. City DASH and Commuter Express, providing additional support for families during the strike, offering places with adult supervision, lunch, resources and free transportation to students. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors has committed $10 million to support mental health needs in schools. And, Gov. Newsom’s budget proposal includes contributions to the pension fund to relieve some pressure on the district. All of these are significant factors that will hopefully enable a quick resolution to this dispute.
We recognize the complexity of the issues in this contract dispute, and we know they are not insurmountable. Teachers are asking for higher salaries, smaller class sizes, smaller special education caseloads, and more nurses, librarians, counselors and social workers. As the fact finder’s report shows, on some of these, the gap isn’t all that wide and a resolution could be reached in the short-term. Others are far more complicated and will require a long-term approach to resolution. We believe the best way to address this is to solve for what you can today, and develop a thoughtful, inclusive process for tackling the more complicated issues.
These past few days (and the weeks before them) have undoubtedly been tense. But all disputes aside, we remain convinced that LAUSD and UTLA have more common ground than not, and share the same ultimate goal. If everyone can keep that in mind and stay at the table until a resolution reached, all for the benefit of the children of our great region.
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