Top US Democrats back major teachers strike in Los Angeles

Major Democratic figures have expressed support for 30,000 Los Angeles public-school teachers who are on a strike for higher pay, greater school funding and more support staff.

The walkout, which began on Monday after 20 months of failed negotiations, effectively shut down education for about 640,000 students at 900 schools.

Senator Kamala Harris, who is considering a 2020 presidential bid, was first to voice support for the teachers.

Representative Adam Schiff also took sides with the teachers, calling on state officials to address their needs.

“For the first time in 30 years, teachers from the LA Unified School District are on strike, fighting for fair pay, smaller class sizes, and better resourced schools for our kids,” Schiff told Huffington Post. “When we fail to support our public school teachers, we fail our students too. I stand with our teachers every step of the way.”

The support went beyond California, a largely blue state, as Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, both likely 2020 White House contenders, also joined the wave.

Braving rain and cold weather, thousands of teachers working for the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) held separate protests across the city on Monday, carrying signs that called on California authorities to raise their pay and provide them with better working conditions.

The city’s education officials hired thousands of substitute teachers in an attempt to keep the schools open during the strike, which is the first industrial action of this size in America’s second largest school district over the past three decades.

PressTV-Over 30,000 Los Angeles teachers strike over wages

Tens of thousands of Los Angeles teachers are striking after contract negotiations in the second-largest US school system.

Despite some attempts by district officials to meet some of the teachers’ demands, they argue that fulfilling all of them would bankrupt the education system, which is already under immense pressure from rising healthcare and pension costs.

The district is considered overwhelmingly low income as over 80 percent of its students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch.

This is while roughly 75 percent of all students in the district are Latinos. Whites and African-Americans each account for less than 10 percent of overall enrollment in the area, which expands far beyond Los Angeles itself.

Governor Gavin Newsom, who took office earlier this month, called for negotiations to end the strike.

“This impasse is disrupting the lives of too many kids and their families,” he said. “I strongly urge all parties to go back to the negotiating table and find an immediate path forward that puts kids back into classrooms and provides parents certainty.”

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