L.A. School Problems

There is a very real possibility that this year Los Angeles will see the first full-scale teachers’ strike since 1970. As a teacher of 20 years, many of my friends ask me why the teachers are so angry at the Los Angeles Unified School District?

The teachers know that they and their classrooms are not the top priority of this school board. Consider, last year the cost to run our state Legislature was $114 million. The cost last year to pay the salaries of the top 1,904 administrator/bureaucrats in the Los Angeles Unified School District was $124 million! And that does not include the cost of their cars, chauffeurs, secretaries, office supplies, etc. The true cost of the LAUSD bureaucracy has to be in excess of $200 million.

In 1970, the district devoted 39% of its budget to teacher salaries. This year it will devote only 31%. Why has the share of the budget that goes for teachers dropped by a full 8%? If teachers were still worth 39% of the budget there would be no talk of a strike. The teachers of Los Angeles are proud of their profession. We teach the young people of this community. We provide the service for which the school district was established. But, we know that we are not respected by the current school board. We know that all board members are willing to give us is lip service. We know that the bureaucracy of the district is the school board’s No. 1 priority. We want to make the classroom and teaching the top priority, and that’s why we are talking strike.

JOHN PEREZ

North Hollywood