School’s out for L.A. Teachers

United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA) members are scheduled to stay outside for the first hour of instruction June 6 to protest budget cuts proposed by the State of California. These cuts mean no raises for the foreseeable future, a move by the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) to cut health care benefits to teachers and other support staff and a dramatic increase in class size.

LAUSD is expected to declare a state of emergency, which allows them to lay off permanent teachers without notice, and thousands of jobs of probationary teachers will be in jeopardy.

Previous actions by UTLA members have included a caravan to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s neighborhood in Brentwood, e-mails and phone calls to state legislators, picketing on Day of the Teacher and leafleting in front of schools on May 27.

According to UTLA President A.J. Duffy, “If we don’t do something dramatic, the governor and the legislature will not get the message.”

Despite threats of a court injunction against the teachers’ union, the June 6 action is fired up and ready. Pro-labor people are coming out to support teachers, students and parents in the fight to save public education. For more information, see UTLA.net.