In a speech to state leaders in California, the Mayor of Los Angeles blamed the United Teachers Los Angeles union for blocking education reform in the city. The Mayor said that the UTLA had been resistant to reforms in areas like tenure and teacher evaluations, and that they needed to stop in order for education reform to take place. The teachers union says that the Mayor is attacking them even though they are working with the school district for measures that will help students, like smaller class sizes. It was also pointed out that the teachers took a pay cut to help the school district. Some felt that the Mayor went too far, but others said that he was right on the mark in criticizing the union.
See "Villaraigosa takes on teachers union", Patrick J. McDonnell and David Zahniser, Los Angeles Times, December 9, 2010