United Teachers Los Angeles
United Teachers Los Angeles
United Teachers Los Angeles represents 35,000 educators united for equitable public education for all.
Educators stand as one of the most under-appreciated and under-compensated professions in the US. In today's climate, public schools are facing significant challenges, and it is imperative to shift public perceptions about educators, unions and the services students receive. This is especially crucial in light of the prevailing right-wing narratives in the media, which include efforts to ban critical race theory and ethnic studies, reduce teacher salaries, increase charters, and defund public ed.
PRESS & EARNED MEDIA
In order to support Los Angeles educators in their pursuit of fair wages, reduced class sizes, and other common good bargaining objectives that would have a positive influence on over 560,000 students, we:
Gave reporters play by play of negotiations to expose the district's refusal to bargain in good faith with educators. Countered district’s withholding of funds during massive educator shortage.
Challenged the district’s criminalization of Black and Latinx students with a report demanding funding for counselors, not cops.
Called out co-location practices that disproportionately harmed low-income students of color at community schools.
Connected the plight of educators with the growing economic and housing crisis.
ADVOCACY, RESEARCH, & WRITING
To inform the public about the challenges educators face and share valuable lessons on how we secured our contract victory, we researched, wrote, and secured earned media on:
The power of California teachers’ unions and their success of bargaining for the common good.
Shared lessons from the joint picket line that resulted in the highest salary increase for educators and educational staff in Los Angeles history.
Empowered educators to tell stories about the impact of the teacher shortage.
Called out SCOTUS on rollback of LGBTQ+ protections and student loan forgiveness, both of which largely impact the educational workforce.
RESULTS
LAUSD limited co-location charters, specifically those attempting to share space with community schools.
Orchestrated a 60,000 person strike with school support staff that shut down the second largest school district with near 100% participation.
Won historic union contract that raised salaries by 21%, lowered class-sizes and increased support for the Black Student Achievement Program (BSAP) and Community Schools.