LAUSD Strike: Who's the Big Winner Now That the Strike is Settled?

This strike is a bunch of thieves and bums rushing to make their mark and make off with the most money from us taxpayers, but the ones paying the highest price are the students.

Or are they?

The strike has now ended, and it's been about three weeks since the settlement was passed and agreed to be all parties concerned.

Who are the big winners? The big losers?

Who could come out strong in the LAUSD teachers' strike when all is said and done?

A week ago, Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner went to Sacramento to nail down support for the school district if teachers decided to go on strike.

He came back sounding very optimistic that lawmakers understood the district’s finances were so perilous that it could not afford what the teachers were demanding.

Unions do not care whether there is enough money or not. They will always claim that the leadership, the administrators are holding out on the teachers and the students. They can make the argument that the school board members and upper-level staff are paying themselves big money, while so little money and talent is going to the classroom.

But the images of teachers marching in the rain, often cheered by parents and students, have amounted to powerful politics in this blue state, and have weakened the district’s hand.

The unions still wield an incredible amount of power in California, even post-Janus. Most of the teachers don't know anything but union representation and support. They can't imagine a career without the union representing them.

The teachers have told personal stories that many find hard to argue with: that too many students shouldn’t be crowded into classes, that schools should have nurses on hand every day. And that has up to now trumped Beutner’s grim financial diagnosis, even though it was largely endorsed by a county oversight agency.

The Los Angeles County Office of Education has signaled that the fiscal problems in LAUSD are immense. If the district doesn't get a hold on its finances, the district will go insolvent and the county office will have to take over.

Now, some lawmakers Beutner met with less than a week ago have scheduled a news conference Friday “in support of teachers and families to demand that LAUSD negotiate fairly.”

As the L.A. teachers’ strike enters its fifth day and a new round of negotiations begin, two realities are emerging: The tremendous enthusiasm over the walkout and the toll its taking on the school system.

This report had gone out during the strike. Looking back three weeks later, the teachers didn't get concrete gains, but some promises. They are going to get pay increases retroactive to when the previous contract had ended. The district is already drowning in debt, but they have still agreed to higher salaries, more support staff, and a promise to deliver smaller class sizes and less testing.

Of course, promises are just words. Where's the action to back up these promises?

Inside campuses, skeleton crews of supervisors, subs and remaining workers have herded students into large spaces, showing movies and plugging students into online coursework. About two-thirds did not show up, even though many working parents depend on schools to provide childcare and even meals.

To add financial insult to injury, the district lost hundreds of millions of dollars over the week of strikes.

The district estimates that each day of the strike is costing $10 million to $15 million, and Thursday’s student attendance was the lowest during the strike.

Garcetti's Presidential Bid
Has Gone Up in Flames

L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti, whose possible entry into the 2020 presidential field has been challenged by the strike, is now trying to take a leadership role in ending it.

His leadership role pretty much sunk his election chances. Plus the fact that Kamala Harris has more name recognition and national presence than a mayor for a large city. Garcetti never really had a chance to begin with. 

This was evident Thursday when he hosted negotiating teams from the school district and union at City Hall. They were the first talks in a week.

“The mayor asked and received commitment for both parties to stay at the table until they reach an agreement,” said spokeswoman Andrea Garcia on Thursday. “Mayor Garcetti has cleared his schedule and is in regular contact with both parties and state leaders, including the governor.”

Let's not kid ourselves. Garcetti was hoping to get this strike out of the way as soon as possible. He was probably spending more time testing the waters with key special interests in Los Angeles and throughout the country to see what they had to say about his efforts as mayor. They probably gave him the by and large sense that they did not like his style or his substance.

I cannot recall the number of times people criticized Garcetti for giving into special interests and developers in the region. Some of his most vocal critics actually compared him to Donald Trump!

That was never going to help his bid for President. As the chief executive who ultimately had to balance budgets and provide public safety, he was alwasy going to run progressive activists the wrong way.

Given his possible presidential ambitions, the strike’s outcome needs to be a win, and preferably a quick win. Garcetti had paid limited attention to the nation’s second-largest school district until the labor unrest.

Gov. Gavin Newsom seemingly has much less at risk than Garcetti, but he, too has been pulled into the fray.

Thanks to higher tax revenues, his new budget proposal for the state delivers added funds that could contribute to a settlement. He also faces pressure from a key ally — teachers unions — to do something to control charter schools — either by increasing oversight over them or limiting their growth, or both.

The higher revenues or a smokescreen. The wealth is fleeing California, and fast. There is no way that they can continue to spend so much money on pensions and benefits for teachers, administrators, and the rest of the bloated support staff.

Politics around charters are tricky though; both unions and charter supporters are powerful special interests.

United Teachers Los Angeles, whose power in L.A. schools had been diminished by the rise of charter schools, seems to be on roll this week. But that might not last.

It won't. If parents cannot get their kids to attend good schools in Los Angeles, they will just move out of the area, or out of the state entirely.

Parents know what is best of their children

The organizing momentum has energized members. That’s especially important because a Supreme Court ruling last year made all union dues and fees optional. And, at this point, members can look forward to a deal that meets or exceeds reasonable expectations.

Union President Alex Caputo-Pearl has raised the expectations of his members — and their animus toward Beutner — to a fever pitch. And yet a final deal may look a lot like the district’s most recent offer in the key particulars.

Peripheral elements could prove crucial — like a pilot program using union-backed reforms. Tougher accountability for charter schools at the state level also would be something the union could sell as a win.

The length of the strike also matters, as does the unknown depth of public support. For Caputo-Pearl to win policy concessions on charters at the state level, timing could be everything.

The superintendent came into office last May on a divided vote, and the mixed loyalty is showing, too. Board President Monica Garcia has often been by Beutner’s side at news conferences this week. Others on the board have been less visible.

Board member George McKenna, who voted against hiring Beutner, called this week for an immediate settlement — and he seemed to be talking to Beutner more than to the union.

Scott Schmerelson, who also voted against Beutner, issued a statement openly siding with teachers, saying he could no longer accept that board members should present a united front.

Final Reflection

I am not sure that there are winners in this debacle, ultimately. Teachers are still overwhelmed with classes that have so many students in them. There is no assurance that proper leevel sof support staff will be hired to help the teachers and the students.

What about the students, anyway? Will they learn? Will Johnny be able to read? The failure of government education has become too great for parents to tolerate long-term mediocrity. They demand the best for their students, and Los Angeles Unified is simply not delivering.

The teachers are still not paid enough, illegal aliens are straining the system to its breaking point, special interests are calling all the shots, and kids are learning to hate this country more than to honor and respect the greatness that made the United States what it is.

LA Unified Teachers on Strike: Halldale Elementary, Torrance (Really, Harbor Gateway) -- Photos

Extended Reflection on the Upcoming UTLA Strike

I worked in Los Angeles Unified for a little over one year, although I student in an LAUSD School when I got a second chance at it.

I worked in the new school, South East High School, located on Tweedy Blvd. in South Gate. An old General Motors plant was turned into a middle school and high school, both situated right next to each other.

Finally, I had survived my second student teaching assignment. I was at Dana Middle School in San Pedro, a school which has stood in the San Pedro area for decades, and connected to San Pedro High School right up the hill next door.

Within two months, I was hired as a French teacher at South East High School. Like many teachers, I cried every day for a week, a month, a year blah, blah, blah. The stress was beyond unreal even then.

I ended up walking off the job a year later. I tried working in other school districts, and I even scored a job at a charter school. I ended up walking off that job, too. I was in the wrong profession, to put in mildly.

At any rate, I know what goes on in Los Angeles Unified. It's an overwhelming bureaucracy, there is so much micromanaging, there is also so much unrepentant liberalism that it is sickening.

I taught in classrooms that were bursting at the seams with students. I worked in classrooms that had a grand total of 17 students. I have seen the worst and the best. The charter school paid me a much better salary, and yet it was still a misery.

At any rate, let me tell you what I have learned from a teacher who lives near me.

He really hates his job now. If he had a choice, he would not be a teacher anymore. He would do something else with his time. Today, he just hopes that he can hang on long enough so that he can get the lifetime benefits which LAUSD currently provides to its employees.

During my short time with the district, I attended some of the UTLA meetings. They were on the whole quite boring, and most of the time it seemed that the lead teachers recruited to help new teachers were more interested in getting out of the profession. They get the term "Dead wood" because they just hang around like dead wood, waiting to retire so they get the full pension, benefits, etc. Not good.

I would imagine that many of the teachers striking are in the younger generation of teachers right now.

What I have heard from one of my contacts, however, may suggest that this strike will not play out as well as the other one had in 1989.

First of all, there is a growing cohort of teachers right now who simply cannot afford to go on strike. The housing costs are outrageous, and on top of that there are other quality of life concerns that have made Los Angeles nothing short of unaffordable. The teachers want a 6.5% raise retroactive to 2016. Wow! That's a long time not to have a stable contract.

They also want more support staff, including nurses, psychologists, etc. They want smaller class sizes and fewer testing demands. I could not agree more. What teachers are expected to deal with is nothing short of outrageous. What teachers have to contend with when it comes to other teachers, parents, administrators, and legal demands is just unreal. It was bad enough when I was there. Now it has gotten so much worse.

I have yet to read what the absenteeism rate is for Los Angeles Unified. I have no idea how many teachers show up to work, or even how bad the teacher shortage has become. The student absence rate will skyrocket going into the strike tomorrow. It's not going to be good, I can tell you that. UTLA and other left-wing interests throughout Los Angeles County are urging parents, students, and other community leaders to show solidarity with the teachers and not go to school.

To be honest, more parents should be boycotting the crappy public schools throughout the state of California. There is so much abusive, perverse indoctrination happening in government schools, I can't think of a better way to hold them accountable than for parents to keep their children at home. Imagine the loss of revenue for the districts and the regressive, left-wing agenda they have been pushing on the students!

But back to the plight of the teachers ...

My contact in the district informed me that teachers are expected to picket outside of their assigned schools from 7:30 in the morning until 4:00pm. How many teachers can stand to stay in their classrooms for that length of time?! They usually don't, but they are expected to stay on strike for that length of time.

On top of that, union leaders have informed their members that if they are not outside their schools on strike, they won't get any money from the union fund to help through their financial difficulties. Also, teachers who don't strike can expect to see their cars scratched up. Unions rely on violence and intimidation, not just against their bargaining opponents but also against their members if they don't get in line and picket.

Los Angeles Unified School District practically doubled the salary of their board members. They have too much bureaucratic bloat which takes away from the classroom, from teachers, and thus from the students. The corruption, the waste, the misappropriation of funds is beyond ridiculous.

The whole LAUSD/UTLA conflict is a big mess, and a massive result of too many greedy special interests investing in improving their own lot at the expense of doing what is best for students and parents.

Honestly, taking students out of Los Angeles Unified is precisely the way to go forward. Parents should not allow their children to suffer in such crappy schools to begin with. On top of that, I hope that LAUSD does collapse. This maneuver is precisely what it will take to put an end to the fiscal lack of discipline and the corrupt indoctrination which has overwhelmed the district for the last 30 years.

The federal government has been shut down. The Second largest government-run school district is about to shut down. It looks like a true revolt against government overreach and overspending is going to be working in our favor.