[dropcap size=big]L[/dropcap]os Angeles schools are supposed to be on winter vacation, but the atmosphere is teeming with acrimony and strife as teachers, amid a volley of accusations against the district, set a firm date — Jan. 10, 2019 — on which they will launch the first teachers strike in 30 years.
“We’ve reached a point where enough is enough. We’ve established Jan. 10 as a strike date,” Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, said during a press conference at the union’s office in downtown L.A.
UTLA represents some 33,000 teachers, and its members months ago voted to authorize a strike if an agreement could not be reached.
“We have not accepted the district’s offer to go back to the table. We are not going to go back to do what we’ve already done for 20 months and sustain more disrespect to students and members.”
The union’s declaration and definitive line in the sand comes one day after the state released a fact-finding report Tuesday that recommended the adoption of the district's offer of a 6 percent salary increase, with 3 percent retroactive to July 1, 2017, and another 3 percent retroactive to July 1, 2018.