School Board OKs Deal to Pay Back Teachers

The Los Angeles school board has formally ratified an agreement with United Teachers-Los Angeles to repay teachers for the 3% pay cut they took this year.

The agreement, unanimously approved during a special meeting Tuesday, establishes a schedule to pay back teachers, with interest, over a three-year period. Board members also approved contracts with employee groups representing instructor aides and operations-support personnel.

After threatening to strike over the pay-cut issue, UTLA members voted to accept the one-year contract last December, with the understanding that their salaries would be restored to 1990-91 levels after July of this year, and that they would be paid back for a districtwide salary cut. The board initially had ordered the salary cuts as one of several drastic measures needed to help balance the district’s nearly $4-billion budget.