Can the LAUSD Ensure Student Safety During a Strike?
– Exhibit A in LAUSD Court Filing
For over 25 years the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) has been unable to satisfy the terms of a Consent Decree meant to ensure that students with special education needs receive the education that they are entitled to by law. Yet when faced with a strike by United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), the District has suddenly shown a concern “that students with disabilities not be deprived of legally-mandated services.” Therefore, lawyers for the District asked the court to enjoin “UTLA, its officers, and representatives from causing, encouraging, condoning, or participating in any strike, slowdown, or other work stoppage by any UTLA bargaining unit member who provides educational services to LAUSD special education students.”
Included in the motion filed by the LAUSD is a statement that “students with serious disabilities will be placed in extreme danger of injury due to lack of trained personnel or supervision.” According to the District, these students “could get hurt, hurt themselves, or hurt others” if teachers, counselors, school psychologists, and therapists are allowed to participate in the strike. In summary, a strike would threaten “the health and safety of students” and “affected special education students will be irreparably harmed”.
Without commenting on LAUSD’s claims about the danger faced by CONTINUE READING: Can the LAUSD Ensure Student Safety During a Strike?
