Los Angeles Schools on the Brink
Los Angeles School Workers at a demonstration last month. Source: LA Times.
On Tuesday, April 14th, nearly 70,000 employees of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) – teachers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, special education assistants, and even principals – are set to walk off the job in a three-union strike that would close schools for approximately 400,000 students. If it goes as planned, it would be the largest coordinated school labor action in the district’s history. The surface dispute is workers’ pay. The unions are demanding wage increases of around 17% over two years, smaller class sizes, and expanded student services. LAUSD has offered an 8% raise and a one-time 3% bonus, which the unions have rejected as insufficient. SEIU Local 99, which represents bus drivers, cafeteria workers, and classroom aides, reports its members make an average of $35,000 a year, in one of the most expensive cities in the country. But beneath the numbers is an even more uncomfortable story. The district points to a $191 million projected deficit in the 2027-28 school year and a recent vote to potentially lay off 650 employees. The unions point back to the district's $5 billion in reserves, which is far more than California law requires, and argue that LAUSD is manufacturing a crisis to avoid a fair contract. The human stakes are real. Some undocumented and mixed-status families may feel unsafe accessing food distribution sites if schools close, adding another layer of hardship for the city's most vulnerable students. As of Thursday, both sides remain at the table and mediation sessions are ongoing, with another bargaining session scheduled for Saturday, but no deal has been reached, and the clock is running out. What is unfolding in Los Angeles is a preview of what happens when decades of underinvestment in public education meets a workforce that can no longer afford to absorb the cost. The striking workers are not the cause of this crisis – instead they are its most visible symptom. Tuesday will make that impossible to ignore.