Los Angeles mayors have no official authority over local schools, but they have a big stake in their success. And the kind of political capital that can make people listen.

For that reason, Los Angeles was fortunate that Mayor Karen Bass stepped up last week to mediate a labor impasse between the Los Angeles Unified School District and 30,000 low-wage workers that shuttered schools for three days.

Talks between the district and Service Employees International Union Local 99, which represents cafeteria workers, custodians, bus drivers, teacher assistants, after-school program workers and gardeners, had broken down in this month over the size of pay raises and other issues. Many of these employees are part-time and earn on average $25,000 a year. When SEIU members went on strike last week, they were accompanied by most of the 35,000 members of United Teachers Los Angeles, who walked out in solidarity. Click here to read more: https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2023-03-28/la-ed-lausd-strike-mayor