For Immediate Release
March 13, 2012
Contacts:
Blanca Gallegos 213-500-9594
Terry Carter 213-700-5617
As LAUSD Board decides on budget cuts, Cafeteria Workers, Custodians, Bus Drivers rally to save critical student services
LOS ANGELES, CA – As the Los Angeles Unified School District Board voted on a
budget that includes significant cuts to student programs and services for the 2012-13 school
year, Custodians, Cafeteria Workers, Bus Drivers, Early Education Workers, Teacher
Assistants, and other school workers rallied in front of LAUSD Headquarters to demand that
Sacramento legislators “fix this mess” and support a budget that doesn’t force local schools to
make further drastic cuts to student programs and services.
The 2012-13 state budget proposal presented by Governor Jerry Brown calls for big cuts to
education, including home-to-school transportation and the dismantling of funding for other core
student services. In response to the Governor’s proposal, the Los Angeles Unified School
District (LAUSD) approved significant cuts to student services including early education
centers, cafeteria services, maintenance, transportation, and after-school programs if additional
revenue is not approved by voters. The District estimates it will need to lay off 8,000 – 10,000
classified employees who provide these services. At their March 13 meeting, the LAUSD
School Board took the first step toward adopting this crisis budget by voting on program
and staffing cuts.
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SEIU Local 99 is a union of more than 40,00 education workers in K-12 schools, early education and child care, and community colleges throughout Southern California, including nearly 30,000 teacher aides, custodians, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and others providing essential student services at LAUSD. Nearly 50% of SEIU Local 99 members are also parents or guardians of school-aged children.
