Teachers on strike decide to do an expressive energetic dance to keep their spirits high

Regardless of the rain that has not stopped since the strike began, thousands of teachers have left during the last four days to march for what they have defined as their cause: public education.

The rain has not stopped since the strike began, but the teachers either: under umbrellas and ponchos, dressed in red in unity, the teachers continue marching.

A group of teachers has found a particular way to stay motivated during the protests; dancing. Despite the bad weather, this cheerful group of teachers stays warm with rhythmic steps of the dance.

After 20 months of negotiations between the LAUSD and the union (UTLA, United Teachers Los Angeles) that came to a standstill on Friday, January 11. Read more on our Twitter account @amomama_usa.

More than 30,000 teachers went on strike since Monday, January 14, to demand not only better salaries but above all classes with fewer students and more support staff such as nurses, counselors, and psychologists.

The schools are still open, but the classes are stopped because the district has hired a small number of substitute personnel that basically only take care of the students.

The few who attend (less than a third of the student population) spend the day watching films locked in auditoriums.

But the vast majority of students (and parents) support the strike and that is why they are staying at home to help put pressure because with each passing day the school district loses millions of dollars.

The state funds they receive depend on the assistance students. So far, the losses are estimated at $ 40 million, an average of $ 10 million a day.

The strike is estimated to affect about half a million students in 900 schools, most of them Hispanic, since 74% of the student population of the Los Angeles Unified School District is Latino.

In the meantime, negotiations between teachers and officials will keep taking place until both parts meet an arrangement.

In another story, dozens of teachers at Whitmer High School in Toledo, Ohio surprised a crowd of students when they took the floor at the pep rally for a flash mob dance routine. A video uploaded to YouTube shows the teachers dancing to the hit song “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars.

The surprise took place before the school’s Homecoming football game. It started with one of the teachers interrupting the principal at the pep rally, telling the latter to take a seat. Then a few teachers began dancing to the catchy tune to the surprise and delight of the students.