[dropcap size=big]M[/dropcap]ayor Eric Garcetti last week said he would mediate a last-minute bargaining session between a L.A. school district and teachers union seemingly incapable of bridging their differences to avoid a strike that in the mayor’s own words has become “all but inevitable.”
But come Monday morning, Garcetti was nowhere to be seen as the meeting at LAUSD headquarters on Beaudry Avenue in downtown Los Angeles went on without him. Those talks failed to bring the two sides any closer, with a Thursday strike date looming large.
They agreed to meet again on Wednesday.
The mayor offered to play the role of mediator between the teachers union and the school district twice, and twice his offer was accepted by L.A. Schools Superintendent Austin Beutner, but rejected by the union.