WOODLAND HILLS (CNS) – Educators at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills are on strike again Tuesday after months of negotiations between the United Teachers Los Angeles and management have yet to produce a contract both sides can agree to.
Educators at El Camino Real High School in Woodland Hills went on strike Monday at 8 a.m. with union leaders at a news conference giving updates on negotiations. According to a UTLA representative, teachers have been working without a contract since July and two mediation sessions have failed to produce a new deal.
The El Camino Real High School teachers are demanding a fair contract to reflect the rising cost of living and are planning to strike until they can come to a deal with the board of directors for the school.
The teachers will strike each day starting at 6:30 a.m. until 9:30 a.m. and return to picket from 1:50 to 4 p.m.
At a news conference Monday, the school released a statement announcing what it calls an unprecedented 15% salary increase for the 2024-25 academic year “reaffirming our commitment to recognizing and rewarding the dedication of our exceptional educators.”
“This salary adjustment, among the highest in California and potentially the nation, reflects our unwavering support for our teachers and their invaluable contributions to student success,” the school’s statement said.
Because of the strike, some classes had no teachers or substitutes. Students who attended school were marked present for the day and some spent the day in the school’s auditorium.
The last meeting with the administration and UTLA was on Friday. The last teachers contract expired on July 1, 2024, and the teachers are negotiating for better pay.
An agreement between the school and the teachers in place since 2011 that the teachers disconnect from Los Angeles Unified School District in exchange for salaries 6% above the district pay is not being met, the union says.
It was revealed at a Board of Directors meeting in December the administration received a 15% salary increase retroactive to July 1, 2024. It was followed by a vote of 5-1 in January to cut 44 credentialed positions, including five counselors, five English teachers, one school psychologist and nine SPED teacher.
“With this substantial 15% salary increase, credentialed teachers at El Camino Real Charter High School will now earn between $73,067 and $126,965 annually. These figures surpass the salaries offered by Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and neighboring charter schools, including Birmingham Community Charter High School, Palisades Charter High School, and Ivy Academia. In addition to competitive salaries, El Camino Real continues to offer comprehensive health benefits covering employees and their entire families at no cost, along with full benefits for retirees and their spouses/domestic partners’ `Lifetime Benefits’ a benefit many other institutions have scaled back or eliminated,” according to a statement from the school.
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