Teacher strike delayed in second-largest US school district

The union representing teachers in Los Angeles — the nation's second-largest school district — postponed the start of a strike until Monday because of the possibility of a court-ordered delay of a walkout.

United Teachers Los Angeles previously said its 35,000 members would walk off the job today for the first time in 30 years if a deal wasn't reached on higher pay and smaller class sizes.

However, a judge was considering whether the union gave legally proper notice of a strike and could have ordered teachers to wait.

Union officials said they believe they would have prevailed in court but decided to postpone a strike to avoid confusion and give teachers, parents and others time to prepare.

The Los Angeles Unified School District, with 640,000 students, said the delay provides an opportunity to keep talking and avoid a strike.

Teachers are hoping to build on the "Red4Ed" movement that began last year in West Virginia, where a strike resulted in a significant raise.