LA Unified teachers went on strike in 1970, 1989. The gains sometimes didn't last
LOS ANGELES - As the strike fever built, Los Angeles teachers assembled at Hamilton High School and solemnly placed a casket into a hearse.
The funeral cortege then headed to LAX with a message for Sacramento: Public education is dead.
That was a prelude to the last strike by L.A. teachers, nearly 30 years ago. Today, teachers are once again on the brink of a walkout, saying public education is in peril.
If the strike takes place Monday, as planned, it would be the third in the five-decade history of United Teachers Los Angeles.
The earlier strikes, in 1970 and 1989, brought turmoil to the school system and angst to the city as students languished at schools with light supervision, played hooky or demonstrated while union and district officials wrangled in court and in the media for the upper hand. The threatened walkout could
