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Parents at LAUSD meeting criticize union negotiations and call for transparency
Summary
Public commenters at the March 16 Los Angeles Unified School District special meeting criticized the board's alignment with union negotiating positions and demanded transparency and measurable academic results ahead of labor talks.
Several speakers used their two-minute public-comment slots at the Los Angeles Unified School District special meeting on March 16 to criticize labor negotiations and urge the board to prioritize community interests.
Diana Guillen, who identified herself as a parent liaison, said trustees face negotiations with multiple unions and argued the board's agenda is "compromised" by union interests. "You don't have a community agenda. You have the agenda that has to do with the teachers' unions," Guillen said, urging the board to demand measurable academic results and to be more transparent about bargaining discussions.
Earlier in the meeting the Clerk had read the closed-session negotiators and listed employee organizations that will be part of bargaining, including United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), SEIU Local 99, Teamsters 2010, the California School Employees Association and others.
Juan Magandi told trustees that negotiations resemble a "sharing the cake" exercise and alleged that campaign financing limits competition for board seats. He accused outside "mafia groups" of financing candidates and said the current leadership yields mediocre results for students.
No board responses to those criticisms are recorded in the public transcript. The board recessed into closed session following public comment and returned later with no report out.
Why it matters: The remarks frame upcoming labor negotiations as a matter of public accountability and transparency, tying bargaining outcomes to community concerns about school performance and district priorities.
