United Teachers Los Angeles responded to comments made by the Mayor on Wednesday. The union disputed the Mayor's claim that they were holding up school reforms, and said that they will not take pay cuts or link test scores to teacher evaluations easily. The UTLA's top priorities are keeping class sizes down and restoring days cut through furloughs. The union says that these goals would help students as well as teachers. Los Angeles has laid off around 5,000 employees since July 2009, and has cut the pay of many others. The district is considering suing to stop layoffs from being based on seniority, something the UTLA says it will defend. The contract between the union and the school district expires in June.
See "L.A. teachers union won't accept pay cuts, 'value-added' evaluations", Howard Blume, Los Angeles Times, December 15, 2010