Teachers and their supporters picket outside John Marshall High School in Los Angeles, California on the first day of the teachers’ strike, on January 14, 2019. (Robyn Beck)

Los Angeles (AFP) – More than 30,000 public school teachers in Los Angeles walked off the job on Monday to press their demands for better pay, smaller class sizes and more educators.

The strike — the first in 30 years — is affecting some 500,000 students in the nation’s second largest school district, with intense negotiations in past weeks failing to lead to a breakthrough.

“Here we are on a rainy day in the richest country in the world, in the richest state in the country, in a state that’s blue (Democrat) as it can be — and in a city rife with millionaires — where teachers have to go on strike to get the basics for our students,” Alex Caputo-Pearl, the head of the teachers’ union, United Teachers Los Angeles, told a news conference early Monday.

“Here we are in a fight for the soul of public education,” Caputo-Pearl added. “The question is: do we starve our public neighborhood schools so that they (become) privatized, or do we re-invest in our public neighborhood schools for our students and for a thriving city?”

Although the teachers’ union and the school district agree that class sizes — some at more than 40 — must shrink, teacher salaries must improve and more support staff are needed, they differ on funding.

School district officials insist they have taken great pains to avert a strike and negotiate with the union and say the district simply doesn’t have enough money to meet all of the demands.

A revised offer submitted on Friday and calling for roughly $24 million more in funding and 1,200 more teachers for the upcoming school year was rejected.

Despite the teachers’ walkout, the 1,100 schools in the district remain open, the officials said, with classes taught by administrators and substitute teachers.

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