r/LAUSD

I regret to inform everyone that SPED did not get any raise on this paycheck 😤🤬 SHAME on you SEIU and LAUSD😤😤 I see so many mistakes happening on our retro, I'm sure they are doing this on purpose.

When I was in elementary school the cafeteria ladies would sell these huge chocolate chip cookies for 50¢. If you were a cafeteria worker around that time, or if you are the child or grandchild of one that you can ask, can you please tell me if they were made from scratch and if so if you have the recipe? Or if it was pre-made dough what brand was it? Until now, I’ve never had a chocolate chip cookie that lives up to that one. I will be forever grateful 🙏

UPDATE: I tried the Otis Spunkmeyer cookie dough and while it does make a good cookie, it didn’t taste remotely similar. Next step is gonna be baking them from scratch, using that recipe that’s been floating around, but I need to go buy the supplies so it might not be any time soon. I’ll report back as soon as I do. Thanks every one.

I’ve done a search within the thread and online already so I’m coming to the boards

I am deciding on benefits and I was set on PPO apply to find it’s a EPO. Bummer because I had a surgery in mind and they won’t cover it as my current insurance (that I will lose) does cover it.

That’s not really my concern - my concern is that I have been on a GLP for over a year completely covered and I can’t seem to find information that LAUSD insurance covers it at all.

I will not go Kaiser so that’s out of question. I use Tia and would prefer to stay but if one of the other HMO’s available cover it, I would take that.

I do live in the Valley and prefer to also go to West Hills UCLA as well.

Any insight from colleagues would be great.

I’m trying to understand why LAUSD asks for a complete release of all photography, voice, video to edit as desired and biographical information of our student and their likeness.

In this day and age, no parent should be signing this.

Why can’t they just ask for a release for classroom photographs? Why do they have to have an ownership over our children’s likeness? Their release is insane

Thoughts?

Are any other subs (who have to call in like me) noticing that they changed the phone operating system this morning. I’m so confused I’m used to the old one and it doesn’t seem like this new one places us on hold. But let me know if it’s just me.

Hello,

Those with 2 days early paychecks and will be getting paid tomorrow August 19th.

Since no paystub until Saturday night,
Hourly employees and those who fall under the contract with SEIU Local 99.

Do yall think our new pay will in this first check of the new school year?

They had finally given specifics on the retropay check being September 8th.

And new pay was listed to start July 1, 2026
Wondering if those paid tomorrow will be able to tell if there is a pay increase.

I’ve been checking the app to accept jobs, but there’s nothing. Is it like this for anyone else or just me? Is it cause it’s the beginning of the school year?

Hi everyone,

High school teacher here. My school is trying to implement the screentime limits this year and it's very frustrating. We have 600 minutes a week which is shared between subjects. Here are some of the more annoying parts:

1. Our school does things like Leader in Me and IXL. These eat into our minutes for the week and are not excluded.

2. Apparently the district is gathering data and tracking whenever students use their SSO. That counts as screen time. This includes students checking their school email and Schoology at home

3. I have classes without textbooks. The school never assigned them. Have no idea what we're gonna do there. We used to use an Open Stax book.

4. I used to make a bunch of paper copies. Our school never has paper for teachers (and yet enough to print out thousands of flyers for back to school night). Also right now the majority of our copiers either have no toner or are just straight up broken. All teachers are sharing one copier

5. I have an AP class. College Board counts as screen time.

6. Most importantly, I see so many parents loving the new screen time policy. I get it. I have young kids. But this is high school. It's my job to prepare kids for life after school. This could be work or college. But the rest of the world is not going back to paper and pencil. It's going the opposite direction. I also didn't have screens when I was in high school. But i also didn't have a cell phone at all. My parents did taxes on paper. My aunt who studied graphic designed worked with scissors and paint. My dad taught me how to use an accounting calculator because he said it would be a vital skill. The world is not the same now.

The cherry on the cake is we were told this the day before school started

Would love to hear people's thoughts

Our school is going into priority status (tier 3) this year. I’ve heard pretty bad experiences from schools with experience as tier 3 schools. Lots of visitors, lots of micromanagement, lots of pressure to put the pacing plan above everything, lots of getting in trouble for not doing what ETO wants.

Today, UTLA sent out an email talking about being Tier 3.

Here’s what they said:

“The Priority Schools (ETO) label does not override our contractual rights. Nowhere in the UTLA-LAUSD contract are Priority Schools recognized. They are an internal LAUSD program that should not be conflated as agreed-upon language. The labeling of a school via a district’s initiatives shall not circumvent our contract. 
 
This means there should be:
No micromanaging of instruction and curriculum: The Educational Transformation Office (ETO) does not prescribe implementation of instructional approaches. Working with ETO should not feel like working with the “gotcha police.”
No intrusive or disruptive classroom visits: Classroom visits should be related to impact reviews and should last no more than 5-7 minutes. Interrupting ongoing instruction is not allowed and should be reported. 
No co-opting of professional development: Our contract guarantees that 50 percent of PD is designated by the LSLC (more at Community Schools) and any attempt to use the label of Priority Schools to circumvent this contract language should not be allowed and should be addressed immediately.
No punitive or disciplinary feedback: ETO resources are provided as supports and should not be prescribed, required, or mandated.”

How well does ETO and LAUSD follow these expectations? Did I just get a small sample size of school teachers that have been in tier 3 that left me feeling confused?

Our school was informed GoGuardian is out and we’re moving at “District Lightspeed.” Like any new program the schools don’t have to pay for it until they do.

These vendors and the District are drug dealers giving out free smack and then charging the addicts later. I wonder who signed off and the money involved. JFC.

i was on a temp contract last year, now i’m a long term sub in the same social science position i had. anybody else in the same boat?? have they told you how long your assignment is? some friends say all year, but they told me until norm day!

Hi everyone!

As mentioned in the title , i recently become eligible to become a library technician and wanted to know what to do next.

Do I wait until I move up on the rank list or should I start calling/emailing schools to introduce myself + ask about library openings? I just don't know what to do lol

I've read mixed reviews on what to do next and wanted to see what other fellow library technicians did but any insight is very much appreciated <3

I was doing some preliminary research and found out about the “supplementary authorization” option. I have a lot of units from undergrad in art and art history - so I believe I could add single subject arts with just one more “crafts” class - with the goal of being an itinerant arts teacher.

For context I taught elementary in the district previously, but am currently taking a career break to take care of my young children (not yet school age). Trying to figure out if it makes sense to attempt this path with the hope of teaching elementary art in the next 5 years or so.

When I signed my temporary contract in June of 2025, I was told that I was more than likely going to get a probationary contract by the end of the school year if my principal evaluations go well.

I followed all requirements to a tee - used academic language in all my lesson planning documents, intentionally used my student data, incorporated differentiation, small groups, etc. - my feedback was exceptional (I even printed it to keep as evidence). I had an amazing first year of teaching, I got to know my students, their families, my coworkers, and even admin. That being said, I do not want to diminish the fact that I also went through the typical first year struggles.

I was very excited to finally work as a teacher, and, as a leftist, extra excited about being in a union. I attended all UTLA meetings, rallies, and wore my red shirt every Tuesday.

When I found out around March of this year about the possibility of not getting a contract, I contacted everyone I knew that could potentially help me. I talked to my school rep, they said they would ask. However, it was crickets…

Now, I am a long term sub for a school with an unfilled position with FIVE different preps. They particularly inquired for a credentialed sub! I am getting sub pay and essentially have to wait (?) for my health benefits. My stress is all time high that it’s affecting me physically, and I don’t even know if I can go to the doctor.

I’m obviously feeling very upset and hurt with this all, but especially the union. I shouldn’t have been a member and saved the extra dollars. It was a waste of my time and money. I know I’m being pessimistic, but having no support has been the absolute worst. Anyone else feeling the same? I am still feeling so alone in the process. Pardon my frustrations, I needed to vent.

Hello, everyone. I am a newly credentialed BSN-prepared new grad nurse and would like to apply for a position within the LAUSD. I do not have prior nursing experience, but I had a wonderful 9-week clinical experience during my Public Health rotation and felt at home. Every nurse precepting me was outstanding. I enjoyed working with the children, the autonomy, and the culture of school nursing. Would anyone be willing to share their experience working as a school nurse within LAUSD and what the odds are that the district will consider hiring a new grad without having worked within the hospital system? Is it incredibly difficult to get hired? Any suggestions? Thank you in advance.

Without the unions, you’d have no free healthcare.

Without the unions, you’d have no retro pay coming.

Without the unions, you’d be making less than you already are.

Without the unions, you’d be working as many hours as your principal wants you to.

Without the unions, the district would spend the money that you deserve on more outside contracts.

Are they perfect? No.

Are they always right? No.

Are they valuable and essential for public employees like us? Yes.

Don’t forget it.

Hoping to get perspective from teachers here. My 4yo just started in TK in LAUSD this week, and we’ve been surprised at how much tv time there seems to be in class. When we arrived on the first day, the teacher had some sort of animated clips playing (maybe Cocomelon?), seemingly from YouTube, as there were ads. That day my kid reported that they’d watched a Gingerbread Man “movie” as well as other videos in class. On Thursday they watched Spidey and Friends. On Friday, Cocomelon.
I don’t take my kid’s reports as gospel truth, but we were able to confirm most of these with other parents who have kids in that class.
Is it normal for teachers to play non-educational videos every day in a TK classroom, especially given the recent screen time policy change? I hope these are only short videos, maybe during movement breaks, but my kid is too young to really remember much detail.

K-5 both of my sons had breakfast inside the classroom.
The two schools I student taught at also did it that way.

Now, as a first year teacher, the school I’m at most of the teachers eat outside in a covered area, but it’s up to the teacher if they’d prefer to eat inside.

I’d love to hear your horror stories about kids eating inside and help me figure out if I should probably avoid doing that with my first graders too.

If you are married to an LAUSD employee and on their insurance, can you also get LAUSD insurance? Or is that double dipping and they'll deny you?