UTLA reaches tentative agreement with LAUSD, one step closer to averting strike

By Mallika Seshadri and Betty Márquez Rosales for EdSource
Originally published on April 12, 2026

Update: This story has been updated Sunday to add details from negotiations.

Two unions — United Teachers Los Angeles and Associated Administrators of Los Angeles — have reached tentative labor agreements with the Los Angeles Unified School District, bringing the district even closer to averting a three-union strike Tuesday that could shut down schools for nearly 400,000 students.

UTLA reached its agreement with the district in the early morning hours of Sunday, while AALA’s tentative agreement was announced Sunday evening.

The agreements followed months of negotiation since both unions’ contracts expired last June, and came after LAUSD’s school board allocated additional money in a closed session Friday so that district negotiators could raise the amount they could offer in teachers’ salaries, according to Julie Van Winkle, vice president of UTLA, which represents roughly 38,000 LAUSD teachers.

“The truth has always been clear — the district CAN afford these changes. With this agreement, resources will begin to be redirected away from unnecessary spending and toward the students and classrooms that need them most,” Van Winkle said in a statement to EdSource.  

“This contract fight has never been about prolonging conflict. It has always been about securing the respect and investments that educators and students deserve. This TA is a powerful step forward and a momentous win for the Los Angeles school community,” she said, referring to the tentative agreement with UTLA.

The agreement between UTLA and the district meant that SEIU Local 99 — which represents more than 30,000 cafeteria workers, bus drivers and special education assistants, among others — would be in bargaining on Sunday, as well as AALA — which represents about 3,000 principals, assistant principals and central and regional office middle managers.

If SEIU Local 99 also reaches an agreement with LAUSD, the strike will be averted. 

“We will continue to meet with our remaining labor partners throughout the weekend with the intent to reach additional agreements that would allow us to keep schools open on Tuesday, April 14,” LAUSD said in a statement Sunday morning. 

The agreements must be ratified by each union’s members and the district board in order for them to go into effect. 

The agreements come amid mounting pressure from local community groups, parents and state officials. 

Much of the pressure had been directed at the district to settle the labor disputes.

“I know that our kids will benefit most when educators are feeling supported,” said Victor Sanchez, executive director of the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, an advocacy organization focused on economic, environmental and racial justice. 

A difficult economy 

Prior to the agreements, LAUSD projected a $191 million deficit in the 2027-28 school year while the unions pointed to $5 billion in reserves throughout their negotiations. 

The talks unfolded amid what UC Berkeley labor expert Harley Shaiken called a “volatile economy,” with the most recent inflation rates at 3.3% — higher than the 3% immediate salary increase the teachers’ union was proposing. The exact details of the contract have yet to be released.

Under the new agreement, salary scales for UTLA members would increase by 11.65%. And the new beginning teacher’s salary would be $77,000 per year, according to the district release. 

According to Van Winkle the agreement also included:

• Pay equity for early education center and career technical education teachers
• Four weeks of paid parental leave for the first time ever
• Mental health staffing 
• Increased health care for substitute teachers 
• Protections against AI and subcontracting 
• Plans to secure arts education in more elementary schools 
• Special education stipends for violations of class sizes
• Additional support for special education inclusion 

The agreement with the adminstrators’ union includes an increase to members’ salary by 11.65% over two years, followed by a reopener, which allows for further negotiations at a later date, according to a Sunday evening statement released by the district.

“Both sides are aware of the constraints,” said Shaiken who was interviewed before the settlement. He noted that economic uncertainty and global conditions likely added pressure to negotiations.  

Since March 2019, consumer prices in Los Angeles have risen nearly 30%, according to an EdSource analysis. 

Interviewed Friday before the tentative agreements, Yolie Flores, president and CEO of Families in Schools, a nonprofit focused on student success, and a former LAUSD school board vice president, said a lot of the challenges at play are statewide. California leaders should ideally step in to help, she said. 

“The fight really should be at the state level,” Flores said. “Having been a board member at LA Unified, it’s always a challenge to do all of the things that we want for our kids, for our teachers, because the fiscal constraints are always, always, just unbearable for what kids should have in an educational system.”

She added that a strike would have had a negative impact on LAUSD students. 

“The last thing kids need right now is disruption,” Flores said. “After Covid, after wildfires, after ICE immigration raids, what our kids need most is stability, and we’re not giving that to them. And this is unfortunately, the adult issues win out over what kids need.” 

EdSource data journalist Daniel Willis contributed to this report.