The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is on the brink of a historic, district-wide shutdown as three of its largest unions are poised to strike in one week, threatening to close campuses for approximately 390,000 students.
For the first time, United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 99, and the administrators' union, AALA/Teamsters 2010, are threatening to walk off the job simultaneously on April 14. An action of this scale involving teachers, principals, assistant principals, and a vast range of support staff would make it impossible for the district to keep schools open, officials confirmed on Monday.
The impending strike forces families across Los Angeles to make urgent arrangements for child care, weekday meals, and online learning. The disruption also looms over critical academic schedules, including state testing and college-admissions exams like the SAT and Advanced Placement tests.
In a statement, LAUSD urged families to begin preparing for the disruption. The district recommended parents ensure their children can access the online learning system, Schoology, and have a reliable device and internet connection. Families are also advised to identify local food distribution sites and have up-to-date contact information registered with the district to receive updates.
A scramble for child care and resources
With the widespread closures, LAUSD is exploring contingency plans, including the possibility of setting up regional hubs where parents with no other options could drop off their children. However, the logistics of such a plan are immensely challenging. These hubs would not necessarily be at school campuses, which may be impossible to staff during the strike.
Staffing these centres would be a major hurdle, as would transportation, given that district-employed bus drivers, represented by SEIU Local 99, would be on the picket lines. While some bus drivers are employed by third-party contractors, they are also unionized and may refuse to cross picket lines in solidarity. Access to school meals would also be cut off, as food-service workers are also part of the striking union.
The district has stated its intention to partner with city and community organizations to provide supervision and potentially meals, but the scale of the need is daunting. “At the end of the day, there is no other infrastructure other than LAUSD that can get to the scale of serving all the kids in Los Angeles,” said Ana Teresa Dahan, executive director of the civic-advocacy group Thrive L.A. “So when you close LAUSD schools down, there is no alternative entity.”
The state of negotiations
The three unions remain far apart from the district on key issues of compensation and working conditions, citing the high cost of living in the region and the impact of inflation.
UTLA, which represents about 37,000 teachers, nurses, and counsellors, is seeking what it describes as a 17 per cent average raise for its members. The union's proposal includes a significant 13 per cent jump in the starting salary for new teachers, from $68,695 to $77,670, and changes to the salary schedule that rewards experience and education credits. In response, the district has proposed a one-time 3 per cent bonus for the current year, followed by staggered permanent raises of 4 per cent on July 1, another 4 per cent in January 2027, and 2 per cent in January 2028. District officials say the UTLA proposal alone carries an ongoing annual cost of $480 million. SEIU Local 99, representing over 30,000 support staff like teacher aides, cafeteria workers, bus drivers, and custodians, is also at an impasse. The union states the average salary for its members is just $35,000 a year. It is demanding significant pay increases beyond the district's offer of 13 per cent over three years. A key issue for Local 99 is securing stable work hours, as recent budget cuts have reduced schedules for many members, in some cases causing them to lose eligibility for health benefits. In Auckland, Auckland Transport plans Western Line level crossing removal, presenting similar logistical challenges, and the union is also demanding that the district rescind approximately 700 recent layoffs that disproportionately affect its members.
Fact-finding process fails to bridge divide
A mandatory step in the negotiation process, known as fact-finding, concluded last week without bringing the parties closer to an agreement. The process involves a three-person panel with a neutral chair approved by both sides. The goal is to establish a common understanding of the district's finances.
The core of the dispute is a fundamental disagreement over the district's financial health. The unions point to a projected $5-billion reserve and healthy state tax revenues as evidence that the district can afford more generous contracts. In contrast, LAUSD warns of ongoing deficit spending that it projects will exhaust those reserves within three to four years.
The neutral fact-finder, Donald S. Rascka, largely sided with the district's financial assessment. He wrote that he had confidence in the district's proposal, stating they “would not have made an offer they cannot afford,” while remaining “less certain” about the union's claims. Critically, he noted that verifying the union's financial analysis was beyond his expertise. The union's appointee on the panel, Brian McNamara, strongly disagreed with the report’s conclusion. “What was needed of the Fact Finder was a dive into the financial analysis of both parties to determine what portion of the budget could be allocated to these needs,” McNamara wrote.
With mediation failing and the strike date just a week away, negotiations are scheduled to resume this week. UTLA and the district will meet on Wednesday, while SEIU Local 99 has a session scheduled for Thursday to discuss the impact of layoffs. For the approximately 390,000 students and their families, the coming days will determine whether schools remain open.
