With a potential Los Angeles Unified strike days away, some families across the district are scrambling to prepare for disruptions to work, child care and student learning, while others say they are ready to stand with teachers, even as the uncertainty takes a toll.
For a special education assistant at Los Angeles Unified School District who asked not to be identified, a strike would not only keep her daughter out of school, but also cut into her own income.
“It’s financially devastating for me,” said the employee, a single mother. “I still have bills to pay and I won’t be able to pay them if I don’t get my full paycheck.”
As a classified employee paid biweekly, she would lose income for each day of the walkout, even as she supports the teachers’ demands, she said.
“I very much support the teachers,” she said. “They deserve better pay, and we do too.”
She said the disruption could also affect her daughter, a high school senior preparing for a spring musical.
“Her spring musical is in two weeks, and they can’t rehearse,” the employee said. “Hopefully she won’t get behind in classes.”
Other families said they’re approaching the possibility of a strike in different ways.
Rachel Wagner, an Encino parent and co-leader of parents advocacy group Parents Supporting Teachers, said she plans to support teachers on the picket line if a strike occurs, and to bring her 12-year-old son along as part of what she described as an educational experience.
“I would make my child go and actually stand with them and strike, and see that, when workers aren’t being paid fairly, or don’t have proper work conditions, this is what they do,” she said. “I would try to make it a little educational if I could.”
Still, she acknowledged the disruption would mean adjusting her work schedule and finding ways to balance supporting teachers with caring for her child.
Another parent, Yomara Ochoa McGrew, said she’s “100% behind” the teachers, though she worries about the potential loss of instructional time for her children.
“The loss of education is more the concern than child care, ” she said. “And my plans are basically to do what I can do to support our teachers and our staff as I am 100% behind what they are doing and what they are fighting for.”
Some parents said they plan to withhold district-provided services during a walkout to show solidarity with striking school employees.
“I believe collaboration empowers a positive outcome,” said Emy Villatoro, another LAUSD parent. “My children will not login to any source of LAUSD while the strike is ongoing.”
But for some families, particularly those with fewer resources, the prospect of a strike presents more immediate challenges.
Evelyn Aleman, founder and CEO of Our Voice/Nuestra Voz, a nonprofit that works with immigrant Latino and Indigenous families, said many parents she works with are “distraught” and unsure how they would manage.
“They don’t know what they’re going to do if a strike were to happen,” she said. “They already feel like this is an added stressor on top of everything that they’ve gone through.”
Aleman said many of these families rely on schools not only for education but also to enable parents to work and access essential resources.
“Resources are going to be scarce for these families that are already on the margin when it comes to accessing needed resources,” she said.
Some parents, Aleman added, have no backup plans. One mother she spoke with said she would not feel safe going to district food distribution centers due to fear tied to immigration enforcement. Another worried her children could fall behind academically, while others lack transportation to access available services.
“The impact of this is physical, mental and economic,” she said.
Education leaders said the impact of a strike would vary widely across the district.
“Families across the districts have different levels of resources and different levels of access, and some communities have more than others,” said Ana Ponce, CEO of Great Public Schools Now, a Los Angeles-based education nonprofit. “There will be a disproportionate impact on families.”
Through Aleman, who translated for her, one Spanish-speaking mom who asked to remain anonymous told this publication the situation would be “very complicated,” adding that her family is already struggling to cover basic needs.
“We are worried and stressed about this situation,” she said.