The prolonged Little Lake teachers strike takes on outsize, statewide significance

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The small Little Lake school district, which serves mainly low-income families in southeast Los Angeles County has become the setting for one of the longest teacher strikes in state history — reaching the the 10-day mark on Wednesday — as its 200-member union takes on significant issues straining districts throughout California.The teachers have walked out over health costs increasing by $14,000 a year for some, crowded special education classes and proposed class size increases in a district grappling with declining enrollment and unsustainable past spending.The teachers aren’t asking for a pay raise — but their high-cost benefits are tantamount to a big pay cut.While a settlement appeared close with negotiations to resume Wednesday afternoon, the dispute has taken a toll.

Although schools are open with substitutes, the strike has consumed about 6% of the academic year.Most parents have kept children home, while scrambling to manage disrupted work and home routines — especially difficult in a school system where about 80% of students qualify for a free or reduced-price lunch because of family poverty.

Teachers have typically lost several thousand dollars of pay that they are unlikely to get back.“We’re trying to stay positive but every day feels like a punch to the gut,” Sabrina Ireland, a 6th grade math and science teacher, said on the picket line Wednesday in front of her campus, Lake Center Middle School.“I’m losing sleep...

We have some teachers that both the husband and the wife teach here.They have no income right now.”It’s hard for Little Lake to be noticed alongside the mammoth L.A.

Unified School District, which has about 390,000 students.An L.A.

Unified strike was dramatically averted with hours to spare on April 14 in a conflict that commanded local and national attention for weeks.California With a major LAUSD strike averted, Tuesday cha...