Officials at the Los Angeles Unified School District said Thursday, April 9, that a labor agreement was reached with the United Teachers Los Angeles union on terms of remote schooling amid closures for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the agreement teachers will be able to create their own work schedules and not be required to teach classes using live video conferencing platforms, key demands made by UTLA President Alex Caputo-Pearl ahead of negotiations that began last Thursday.
The deal will “provide the flexibility and support educators need to do their best work in these extraordinary circumstances,” wrote district superintendent Austin Beutner and Caputo-Pearl in a joint statement. “Our shared goal is to help students continue to learn and support students and families most in need.”
Under the agreement, which expires either on June 30 or when schools reopen, teachers “shall create, share and follow” a regular weekly schedule that includes teaching and student support. Methods of distance learning can include online instruction, printed instructional materials, phone calls, emails, text reminder applications and video conferencing — which “is encouraged, but shall not be mandatory.”
Teachers will be required to provide instruction and student support for four hours per day under the agreement, including a one-hour faculty meeting or professional development training session per week. They will also be required to host three office hours for students every week.
According to a proposal on distance learning terms released by LAUSD in March, the district sought more stringent use of video conferencing and more administrative oversight. Live video engagement should be used “whenever possible … in order to sustain the bonds with the school community and help families cope with the effects of isolation, teachers and health and human services,” according to the proposal.
The agreement came days after harsh criticism from Caputo-Pearl regarding professional development training and other pressures on teachers during the first weeks of school closures. “Members need to be left alone to do their work,” he said, decrying “ridiculous micromanagement, onerous directives and time wasting regimes.”
Caputo-Pearl and other union officials also complained about delays in the district’s main online learning management platform called Schoology. On Monday, Superintendent Beutner said the district has hired a “major tech company” to help rebuild the system.
In the weeks since schools shuttered and L.A. Unified began a transition to remote learning, the district has made some progress in part by addressing what Beutner calls “a digital divide” between students with and without access to technology and at-home wireless internet connection.
After systematic distribution of school-issued Chromebooks to students, Beutner said Monday that 74% of LAUSD students of all levels have made contact with their teachers online. In the first week after school shuttered, that number stood at 43%.
Students can receive free wifi at home from Verizon or an offer from Spectrum for 60 days of broadband free to K-12 student and college households. Teachers, however, say some of their students are still without it as district figures show more than 100,000 students have yet to report to teachers online.
