SACRAMENTO – Sen. Holly J. Mitchell of Los Angeles today issued the following statement regarding the ongoing strike by the United Teachers of Los Angeles in the Los Angeles Unified School District:
“I am both a product of LAUSD and the parent of a former LAUSD student. I value the role and experience of our teachers and firmly believe that we cannot expect children to thrive in a class size of 50. That simply is an untenable environment. Proposition 13 severely impacted school district funding over 40 years ago and the voters can no longer ignore that reality.
“The governor released his budget last week and it includes help with pension liability for school districts; cost-of-living adjustments; and more money for early childhood education. While these additional resources may not fully address all the issues encompassing the strike, the state has put more money into K-14 education over the past several years than ever before in our state’s history.
“It is my hope that the district and UTLA will continue their negotiations and work toward identifying a solution that supports our children.”
