No talks scheduled as LA teacher strike enters day 3

Los Angeles school administrators urged the union to resume bargaining as tens of thousands of teachers planned to walk picket lines for a third day today, after being joined on strike for the first time by some of their counterparts from independent charter schools.

Unified School District Superintendent Austin Beutner said "We need our educators back in our classrooms helping inspire our students." Teachers are pressing for higher pay, smaller class sizes and more support staff that school officials say could bankrupt the nation's second-largest system.

Teachers with the independent Accelerated Schools charter network — who are also union members but negotiate their contract separately — walked off the job yesterday to demand better working conditions and in support for public school educators.

Los Angeles is experiencing the same tension over charter schools seen in other states, with critics arguing the privately run public schools hurt district finances by drawing away students and the money that goes with them.