Catherwood LibraryILR School

The Los Angeles teachers strike is now in its fifth day, and parents of special needs students have had quandaries over whether to send their students to school. Some parents stated that they didn't know whether their students would be accommodated; special needs students can have a variety of staff members that they rely on, including speech and occupation therapists, in addition to special education teachers. The Los Angeles Unified School District has more than 60,000 special-needs students, more than 12% of overall enrollment. The school district had stated that communications to students and families had been sent prior to the strike, asking for parents to call or reach out to find out which employees would be working on any given day. School district attorneys had sought a court order prior to the strike to impel employees who work with students with disabilities and special needs to come to work, stating that the district has operated under a consent decree since 1996, after a student was denied services required under federal law.