Mayor Karen Bass on LAUSD strike: 'It's absolutely a disappointment'
Bass does not have control over schools in L.A. but is hopeful the strike only lasts one day.
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- On Mayor Karen Bass' 100th day in office, she finds herself in the middle of an Los Angeles Unified School District strike.
"It's absolutely a disappointment," Bass said.
Bass does not have control over schools in L.A. but is hopeful the strike only lasts one day.
"We're talking about LAUSD employees that make very low wages and some of them are really struggling to meet their basic needs so you should know I have been deeply engaged with both the superintendent and the head of the union and I am hopeful that they will be able to come to a resolution very shortly," Bass said.
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Tens of thousands of workers walked off the job Tuesday, closing schools for over 400,000 students in the second largest school district in the country. The strike is scheduled to last three days and labor talks have been at a standstill.
"Whatever it takes to bring both sides together to get resolution, that is what I'm going to do," Bass said. "We can't have the schools shut down. We went through how many months, how many years. Two years of schools being shutdown. Kids need to be in school. Families need to be at work."
The city of Los Angeles is providing LAUSD families with resources so students can be cared for and parents and keep working. The Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks is offering grab-and-go meals at 21 recreation centers as part of LAUSD's food distribution program.
One of the recreation centers offering grab-and-go meals is the Granada Hills Park recreation center in Chatsworth.
"It's not bad. It helps. The milk and the cereal. Every little bit helps out. Everybody's on a fixed income. You hear it everywhere," said Frank Martinez, who picked up for for his niece and nephew.
In addition to the grab and go meals, the Los Angeles Zoo is offering free admission to LAUSD students K-12 and a $5 fee for accompanying chaperones.
Los Angeles' public libraries are open and are offering science workshops, craft programs, chess clubs and other hands-on activities.
