Thousands of Los Angeles Unified School District teachers and SEIU members rally outside the LAUSD headquarters in Los Angeles Tuesday, March 21, 2023. Thousands of service workers backed by teachers began a three-day strike against LAUSD, shutting down the nation’s second-largest school system. / AP Photo

Carson, CA — Months after Los Angeles Unified School District educators came close to walking off the job, thousands of teachers and other school employees are beginning to see the financial impact of a new labor agreement that also promises additional counselors, mental health professionals and special education support across the district.

United Teachers Los Angeles announced Sept. 4 that salary increases and retroactive payments tied to its new 2025–2027 contract with LAUSD would begin appearing on members’ Sept. 5 paychecks.

The payments represent one of the first major implementation steps since the contentious contract negotiations ended in April.

Under the agreement, educators are being moved onto a redesigned salary schedule in phases. Employees are receiving a 4% retroactive increase dating back to July 1, 2025, covering the 2025–26 school year. A second increase, effective July 1, 2026, raises salaries by as much as another 5%, depending on where an employee falls on the new schedule. That portion is also retroactive for July and August.

UTLA has cautioned its more than 37,000 bargaining-unit members to examine their paychecks closely as the district transitions employees from the old salary schedule to the newly negotiated system.

Because of the complexity of moving tens of thousands of employees onto the new scale, the union acknowledged that errors could occur and released resources to help educators determine whether their Sept. 5 checks are accurate. Full implementation of the new salary structure is scheduled to be completed by June 30, 2027.

From Strike Threat to Settlement

The paycheck changes follow one of the most contentious stretches in recent LAUSD labor negotiations.

In January, 94% of participating UTLA members voted to authorize a strike as negotiations over salaries, staffing, class sizes and other working conditions stalled. LAUSD, meanwhile, warned during negotiations that declining enrollment, the end of federal pandemic-relief funding and rising operating costs created significant long-term financial challenges.

The two sides ultimately reached a tentative two-year agreement in the early morning hours of April 12, avoiding a potential disruption to schools. UTLA members subsequently ratified the agreement with 92% approval, with 24,665 members voting in favor and 2,080 opposed. The LAUSD Board of Education formally ratified the labor agreement June 16.

LAUSD said when the tentative agreement was reached that the redesigned salary scales represented an 11.65% increase and would raise the beginning teacher salary to $77,000 annually. UTLA calculates that individual movement through the restructured scales will produce an average salary increase of 13.86%, with every bargaining-unit member receiving at least an 8% increase once implementation is complete.

More Than Teacher Pay

For families, including those attending LAUSD campuses in and around Carson, several provisions of the agreement extend beyond compensation.

The contract calls for more than 450 additional positions for counselors, school psychologists, psychiatric social workers and pupil-services and attendance staff, expanding the number of professionals available to address students’ academic, attendance, behavioral and mental health needs.

The agreement also includes changes for special education, including a first-ever 20-to-1 student staffing ratio for Resource Specialist Teachers under specified conditions and additional planning time at qualifying schools.

Educators can also receive financial penalties when certain special education class-size limits are exceeded — $500 when enrollment is two students above the contractual limit and $1,000 when it is three or more above the limit during a classification period.

Other provisions establish paid parental leave for UTLA members for the first time, maintain staffing connected to the Black Student Achievement Plan, provide additional protections for immigrant students and families and give the union bargaining rights related to artificial intelligence and subcontracting.

The Black Student Achievement Plan provision may be particularly significant for communities served by The Carson Compass. The LAUSD initiative directs resources toward improving academic outcomes and school experiences for Black students, making continued staffing commitments one of the contract’s student-facing provisions.

Now Comes the Accountability

With the contract fight settled, attention now shifts from the bargaining table to whether the commitments negotiated this spring reach individual schools.

For educators, the immediate question is whether salary increases and retroactive payments are calculated correctly.

For parents, students and communities, the longer-term questions will involve whether promised counselors, psychologists, social workers and other support personnel are hired and placed where they are needed — and whether new special education protections result in meaningful changes inside classrooms.

The agreement runs through the 2026–27 school year, with some salary adjustments continuing through June 30, 2027.

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The Carson Compass will continue following implementation of the LAUSD-UTLA agreement, including its impact on staffing, student services and Carson-area schools.