Federal judge rejects L.A. school district’s bid to stop teachers from striking
With the clock ticking on a strike by teachers in the Los Angeles Unified School District, a federal judge rejected a bid by Superintendent Austin Beutner’s administration to limit or stop the labor action from happening as scheduled this Thursday.
Attorneys for the nation’s second largest school district went to court on Thursday, telling U.S. District Judge Ronald S.W. Lew that students with special needs would be denied education services that are guaranteed to them under U.S. law.
Lew swiftly rejected the argument, saying Friday that the district was attempting to bring an unrelated issue into the contract dispute and that it had failed to show how the union, United Teachers of Los Angeles, would be liable if special education laws were not followed.
More than 30,000 teachers in Los Angeles are preparing to go out on strike on Thursday after more than 1½ years of unsuccessful contract talks with the district, with strike leaders meeting Saturday to make plans.
District officials said they have taken steps to keep schools open, including hiring hundreds of nonunion substitute teachers to fill in for educators walking picket lines. And they went to court.
United Teachers Los Angeles has demanded, among other things, a 6.5 percent pay raise; more money for schools; a boost in the number of counselors, nurses, social workers and librarians; a reduction in standardized testing; and an expansion of community schools.
The union has accused the district of claiming to have fewer resources than it really has, but Beutner’s administration says the district cannot afford many of the concessions and warns that the district could be insolvent in a few years.
A fact-finding panel tasked with trying to find a resolution to the contract impasse agreed with both sides on some points, saying that teachers do deserve a raise but that the district can afford only the 6 percent being CONTINUE READING: Federal judge rejects L.A. school district’s bid to stop teachers from striking - The Washington Post