The union representing Los Angeles Unified School District’s (LAUSD) teachers voted to ratify its contract with the district last week, meaning the union’s 35,000 members will get a 21 percent bump in pay over the next two years.
United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA) announced that 94 percent of their members voted to ratify the tentative agreement on May 5.
The deal was initially reached on April 18 after ten months of negotiation.
LAUSD Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said on April 18 the agreement aligns with his strategic plan for the district and addresses “years of pay inequity and inflation.”
‘Retroactive’ Pay Raise, Reduced Class Size, More Mental Health Workers
The agreement is set to cover the years 2022–2025, and the district’s teachers will receive a 7 percent “retroactive” pay raise, while the following increases will alternate between 3 percent and 4 percent raises every January and July until January 2025.The agreement also covers additional pay increases for non-teaching staff—including a $20,000 annual salary increase for nurses, a $3,000 increase for counselors, and a $2,500 increase for special education staff members.
The district also committed to decreasing the size of each classroom by two students and pledged to increase mental health support staff—such as psychiatric social workers, attendance counselors, academic counselors, and school psychologists—for specific campuses where such support is needed.
Raise Might Lead to Layoffs Amid Declining Enrollment, Funding: LAUSD Teacher
However, some said the raise is unaffordable to the district amid enrollment drop and funding decline.LAUSD teacher Yvonne Juarez told The Epoch Times that as a UTLA member, she voted against the contract, saying the district may have trouble paying such wages in the future.
“Enrollment in the district is declining, and the school’s budget is based on enrollment numbers—so the numbers don’t add up to me,” she said.
Juarez said she’s concerned that the district may need to lay off teachers in the future if they can’t come up with the funds.
A one-percent decline in enrollment can result in a loss of approximately $55 million in funding for the upcoming school year, according to the budget report.
In addition, Carvalho said at the time he was preparing the district—which received about $5 billion in federal pandemic aid last year—for the time when such funding is no longer available.
The agreement comes one month after SEIU Local 99—the union representing LAUSD’s 30,000 non-teaching staff, including cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, and special education assistants, among others—led a three-day strike that resulted in a 30 percent wage increase and healthcare benefits for its members.