Thursday, January 17, 2019
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Teachers walked rainy picket lines today at Los Angeles schools for a fourth day ahead of a new round of contract negotiations that a union leader said is unlikely to quickly end the walkout.
"After 21 months of negotiations I think it would be an unrealistic expectation to say that this is going to be over after today because there are hard issues to work through," said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles.
The office of Mayor Eric Garcetti announced it would facilitate the latest talks at City Hall. The announcement didn't indicate whether any new contract offers would be on the table.
The mayor does not have authority over the Los Angeles Unified School District but he has sought to help both sides reach an agreement.
Talks broke off last week, sending tens of thousands of teachers onto the street.
Clashes over pay, class sizes and support-staff levels in the district with 640,000 students led to its first strike in 30 years and prompted the staffing of classrooms with substitute teachers and administrators.
Parents and children have joined the protests despite heavy rain that has drenched the city. Overall attendance fell to 132,000 students Wednesday.