Letters to the Editor: Why must LAUSD workers keep taking extreme measures for fair pay?

To the editor: My children attend school in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and we just had another educational interruption. I absolutely supported the district workers who went on strike, but I am saddened and frustrated that again, it came to this extreme measure. (“LAUSD and union workers who led massive strike reach tentative settlement,” March 24)

Why do our public workers have to do this for such basic requests? Every person deserves a living wage, and those who provide vital services at our public schools deserve even more.

I know this is supposedly a local matter, but I believe it goes beyond that. Gov. Gavin Newsom should increase per-pupil spending in California, which has so much wealth.

I’ve heard it said that a budget is a moral document — it shows our priorities as a society. Let’s spend more on putting a child in school than we do on putting a person in prison. And, let’s make sure that per-pupil spending is not tied to the classist, punitive and unfair metric of attendance.

Valerie Hurt, Los Angeles

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To the editor: It was nice to read that the underpaid support staff in LAUSD are being granted long overdue raises.

Supt. Alberto Carvalho, who once warned that union demands could put the district on the brink of insolvency, now states that the “deal was structured in a way that staggered the spending, making it affordable,” according to your reporting.

Assuming for the moment that this statement is accurate, it raises the questions: Where exactly is this money coming from, and why wasn’t this done years ago to help the hard-working support staff if the funds are available?

Joe Grauman, Los Angeles