For the families of Los Angeles Unified School District students, Monday unfolded with mounting uncertainty — and, for many, deep anxiety — as it remained unclear by the close of the school day whether campuses would shut down amid a potential strike by three unions.
Two of the unions, representing teachers and administrators, reached tentative agreements over the weekend. As of Monday afternoon, Local 99 of Service Employees International Union, which represents some of the district’s lowest-paid employees had not settled. In solidarity, all three unions have pledged to walk out together if any one of them did not make a deal.
“I’m really anxious,” said Tania Rivera, the mother of two children who are disabled. “We support the teachers, and we have similar concerns. We need more aides at school. But the impact for our kids is big. Families need to be part of this conversation.”
Across the nation’s second-largest school district, families prepared for a disruption to the delicate balance of work, school and family schedules. They scrambled to arrange for childcare. And many, in a district in which more than 86% of students are low-income, fretted about feeding their kids.
Rivera, who lives in South Gate, has a 6-year-old daughter who is autistic and has attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and a 16-year-old son who is autistic and nonverbal.
Her family has in-home support aides during the weekends, but they are unable to help during regular school hours and would not be able to assist during a strike. Rivera’s mother-in-law, who helped with her youngest, died six months ago. Now, the grieving girl sometimes sits under a tree, saying she is waiting for grandma to return.
Rivera said she was deeply worried about how an open-ended strike would affect her emotionally fragile kids — and frustrated by there being less than 24 hours of notice either way.
Strike planning continues
Monday afternoon SEIU Local 99 said in a Facebook post that the district “is still hoping we won’t show up. But we’ve organized. We’ve built unity. And we’re ready. Tomorrow, WE WALK.”
The district has posted lists of food distribution sites and community-based “child supervision” sites that could take in a limited number of children. But children with moderate to severe disabilities cannot be accommodated, the district said, nor can kids younger than 4.
The uncertainty has been especially difficult for the families of kids with disabilities, said Lisa Mosko Barros, the founder and chief executive of SpEducational, a nonprofit that advocates for those families. A strike, she said, “can be very chaotic and very overwhelming,” especially for special-needs kids who depend upon consistency and routine.
Ariel Harman-Holmes, a disability rights attorney, has three children — in first, sixth and seventh grades in LAUSD schools in the San Fernando Valley — all with disabilities. All three have autism, and one has severe attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder.
On Monday, she was trying to figure out how she will make a court appearance Tuesday while having three babysitters on hold in case a strike is announced, while also preparing for school pick-up if campuses stay open.
Harman-Holmes, who lives in North Hills, said she supports the unions and hopes to take her kids to the picket lines, like she did during an LAUSD strike in 2019. She said it was poignant to see SEIU 99 fighting for better wages and working conditions. This union represents special education aides who are, she said, undervalued, underpaid and overworked.
“Really, the issue is systemic under-investment,” she said.
One mother of two teenage LAUSD students — who is a street vendor from East Hollywood and an undocumented immigrant — said the continued strike threat felt unfair because “they are negotiating with our children’s education.”
“Those who are most affected are our children,” said the woman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of her immigration status.
Students rally in support of teachers
Near downtown L.A. on Monday, several teenage students climbed onto the bed of a Ryder truck blocking a stretch of Beaudry Avenue, joining dozens of other pro-union protesters outside the LAUSD headquarters. An orange banner affixed to the trailer read “Angelino Student Union” — a name they chose to highlight their fight for better-funded schools.
Jaime Alvarez, an 11th grader at Thomas Jefferson High School in South Los Angeles, walked out of class in the morning and took the bus downtown with his friends.
“The district is spending money in the wrong places, including AI,” Alvarez said. He and his friends, he added, “want better salaries for our teachers and better programs for our students.”
Kerlin Núñez, a 9th grader at Franklin High School in Highland Park, held up a sign reading: “If your voice held no power … they wouldn’t try to silence you.”
Núñez said he came to advocate for unions — but also relished the chance to get out of class.
“I came to support my school and also to skip school,” he said.
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