More than 30,000 educators participated in picket lines outside school buildings and in downtown marches that drew massive crowds. | Scott Heins/Getty Images California LA teachers poised to end strike

The Los Angeles teachers union and leaders in the nation's second-largest school district reached a deal on Tuesday to end the six-day teacher strike that's gripped the city's schools.

Under the agreement, teachers would receive a 6 percent raise, classroom sizes would be reduced over four years and more counselors, librarians and nurses would be hired.


The deal, which allows teachers to go back to school on Wednesday, was approved by a supermajority of teachers, Alex Caputo-Pearl, the president of the union, said Tuesday evening.

Caputo-Pearl announced the deal earlier on Tuesday, alongside Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti and Superintendent Austin Beutner, all of whom praised the accord. The agreement ends a strike that started on Jan. 14.

"Today is a day full of good news," said Garcetti, who does not run the schools but helped facilitate five days of negotiations between the two sides.

Garcetti said union and district leaders stuck with the talks and agreed "it's time for a new day for education in Los Angeles."

"That new day begins now," Garcetti said. "This is not the end. This is the beginning of making sure that LA gets the schools that they deserve."

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Caputo-Pearl said that the "great agreement" would give parents and traditional-school teachers more say related to charter schools co-located in the same building, an issue in the negotiations.

The strike is the first in three decades in Los Angeles. More than 30,000 educators participated in picket lines outside school buildings and in downtown marches that drew massive crowds.

While the district did keep schools open for instruction and meals, a large share of children stayed home most days.

The two sides fought over salary, charter school policies and funding to reduce classroom sizes and pay for nurses, librarians and counselors. Beutner repeatedly said that he wanted to do more, but the district couldn't afford it based on what it receives from the state. Union leaders, in turn, accused the district of being disingenuous about the state of the district's finances.

About 8 out of 10 schoolchildren in Los Angeles qualify for free or reduced lunches, and the teachers argued that schools with class sizes of more than 40 were not acceptable.

Beutner said the contract won't fix 40 years of disinvestment in education in the Los Angeles, but he's hopeful it's a move in the right direction.

“Public education is now the topic in every household in our community. Let’s capitalize on this. Let’s fix it so students won’t continue to miss out on opportunity for the next 40 years,” Beutner said.

He said the district's teachers will be welcomed back with "open arms and warm hearts."