LAUSD Strike Warning Threatens Classes, Services for Thousands of Students

Three unions representing nearly 68,000 Los Angeles Unified School District workers set April 14 as a strike deadline, a walkout that interim Superintendent Andres Chait warned would make it nearly impossible to keep any campus in the nation's second-largest school district open.

Emergency bargaining sessions between LAUSD and the three unions, United Teachers Los Angeles, SEIU Local 99, and the Associated Administrators of Los Angeles, were underway Tuesday in what officials described as a last push to reach a deal. Even a partial walkout would trigger closures: Chait acknowledged that if all three unions moved together, keeping schools open would be "exceedingly difficult, if not nearly impossible."

Beyond canceled class days, a strike would suspend bus routes and pause meal programs that tens of thousands of low-income families rely on. LAUSD officials said they were working with outside partners to arrange emergency child care and food services should talks collapse.

Wages and affordability sit at the core of the dispute. UTLA, representing roughly 30,000 educators, and SEIU Local 99, whose 30,000 members include cafeteria workers, special education aides, and bus drivers, are pushing for a 17% pay raise over two years along with smaller class sizes. The district countered with a 13% increase spread over three years. AALA, the union for principals and assistant principals, was offered just 7% over two years.

UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz framed the conflict in terms of basic survival in Los Angeles. At a rally at Gloria Molina Grand Park in March, she told supporters: "We have people who are 30 years old, still living with their parents because they cannot afford housing in the city where they teach." In a statement issued Tuesday, she kept up the pressure: "With pressure escalating, our classrooms and students can't wait any longer for the resources and support they deserve."

Chait said the district was not indifferent to those concerns. "Nobody wants a strike," he said. "We have a responsibility to our community to provide a quality education to our students and to make sure employees are compensated fairly and equitably."

LAUSD is carrying a projected $191 million budget deficit for the 2027-28 school year and officials pointed to declining enrollment, uncertain federal and state funding, and the continued disruption from immigration enforcement as factors limiting what the district could offer at the bargaining table.

The walkout would be LAUSD's first major teacher strike since a six-day stoppage in 2019. The Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, representing more than 800,000 union members, unanimously sanctioned the strike on April 1, and the Los Angeles City Council voted unanimously on March 27 calling on the district to negotiate a fair contract, adding broad institutional backing to the unions' position as the deadline neared.