Just in from United Teachers of Los Angeles:

MEDIA ADVISORY
Contact: Anna Bakalis, 213-305-9654

UTLA members vote 81% yes to ratify agreement

Following a six-day strike that reshaped the future of public education in Los Angeles, UTLA members voted 81% to ratify a 3-year, concession-free agreement that provides class-size caps across all grades in all schools, a full-time nurse in every school, school counselors for every 500 students, funding for new community schools and a real process to cap charter schools. With 73% — or 24,720 members voting — 20,024 said yes and 4,696 voted no.

The TA vote took place within a 6-hour period yesterday and initial tallies from school sites overwhelmingly showed that members approved of the tentative agreement, allowing educators to go back to school today. Because of the inherent challenges of voting while on strike in a huge school district, UTLA is extending the vote to Friday at 6 p.m. for those who haven’t had a chance to cast a ballot. During the voting process, once again LA educators showed amazing flexibility and focus. There was a lot to consider and discuss: The contract agreement makes progress in more than 20 different areas, and we will continue to talk with each other about the positive impact on our schools.

“Our strike expressed our collective power as a union and as a city and said ‘enough is enough’ to underfunding of our schools,” said UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl. “Six days and one contract can’t immediately solve 40 years of disinvestment in public education, but what this strike has taught us is that we can dare to raise our hopes and expectations for our schools. The fight for fully funded schools is not over, and we have activated a community of parents, students, and supporters who are willing to fight for public education with us well into the future.”

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Anna Bakalis
UTLA Communications Director
(213) 305-9654 (c)
(213) 368-6247 (o)
Abakalis@UTLA.net
http://www.UTLA.net
http://www.WeArePublicSchools.org
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