Los Angeles Schools and Teachers’ Union Agrees to Reopen Classrooms

The Los Angeles Unified School District and its teachers’ union have reached a preliminary agreement to restore personal education, paving the way for the reopening of some classrooms in one of the last large school districts in mid-April to return students in large numbers. to bring. .

The agreement, depending on the vaccination of teachers against the coronavirus, extensive health measures and the province’s imminent withdrawal from the state’s most restrictive health regulations, was announced in a joint statement by district superintendent Austin Beutner and union president on Tuesday night. , Cecily Myart-Cruz.

“The right way to reopen schools should include the highest standard of Covid safety in schools, the continuous reduction of the virus in the communities we serve and access to vaccinations for school staff,” they said. “This agreement achieves the shared set of goals.”

The agreement is subject to approval by the district school board and ratification of the membership of United Teachers Los Angeles, the union. The two parties have been negotiating the terms of a personal return for eight months.

According to the preliminary agreement, primary school and needy students – those with learning disabilities, problems with access to technology and other academic matters – will be brought back within about six weeks, to give officials time to return to school workers. familiar with district negotiations.

As middle and high school teachers are vaccinated, students will then be phased in, with the aim of offering all students personal options by May.

Officials said the tuition would be at most a mixture of remote and personal tuition, enabling students to go to school for a few hours a week in small, stable groups while still taking online lessons. The last day of school is June 11, and the district expects to host summer school again.

California began immunizing teachers across the country this month, with Gavin Newsom government setting aside 10 percent of new doses for school workers. About 38,000 of the Los Angeles District’s 86,000 teachers and other support staff have been vaccinated, given appointments or relinquished the privilege, Mr. Beutner said. Most of them are employed in kindergartens and primary schools.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said many schools, especially for younger grades, could be reopened at least in part with the necessary safety measures before all staff members were vaccinated.

The Los Angeles district, with more than 600,000 students, was the only one of the country’s ten largest school districts not to bring back a significant number of students, and it is one of the last major districts in the state to be on a reopening plan. decision. with its unions.

This was in part due to a brutal increase in coronavirus infections in Southern California. But the backlog also arose as a result of lengthy labor negotiations with teachers, who refused to return without vaccinations for each school employee who would be personally recalled, and who insisted on a significantly lower daily rate of new cases of coronavirus in Los Angeles County.

The union also demanded extensive health precautions, including coronavirus tests and improved ventilation in school buildings.

In a vote last week, more than 90 percent of union members endorsed the three conditions for returning to classrooms. This week, with the virus declining in the region, Los Angeles County is expected to leave the strictest level of regulations.

It is unclear how many families benefit from personal training. In the latest district survey conducted in the fall, two-thirds of households said they would not return their children in the near future.

Only among white families did the majority of respondents personally want to return. Eighty percent of the students in the district have low incomes and 82 percent black or Latino, all groups excessively affected by the pandemic.

In the governor’s state of the nation address on Tuesday, Mr. Newsom said: “there is nothing more fundamental to a just society than to get our children back safely in the classrooms.”

“Look, Jen and I live it as parents of four young children,” Mr. Newsom said, reflecting the pandemic frustrations of many parents in California. ‘To help them cope with the fatigue of’ Zoom School ‘. The loneliness of missing their friends. Frustrated by emotions they do not yet fully understand. ”

He also noted that the state has dedicated $ 6.6 billion to education, summer school, extended school days and mental health programs.

“We can do it,” the governor said. “Science is healthy.”