English: On May 25, the cav­ernous L.A. Sports Arena shook to the strains of “Solidarity Forever,” as thousands of teachers brought a victori­ous end to a ten-day strike that crippled the nation’s second-largest school district.

By voice vote, members of the United Teachers of Los An­geles (UTLA) resoundingly rat­ified a new three-year contract, after almost 15 months of ne­gotiations and struggle with an arrogant, racist school district administration that controls a $3.5 billion school’s budget.

Dignity for those who teach, and a school environment made for learning — these were the issues at the heart of this strike by 23,000 teachers. As Jaime Escalante, the math teacher from East L.A.’s Garfield High (of Stand and Deliver movie fame), told Unity before the vote, “We are the ones who help produce quality education. The district needs to realize that if we fail our children, we fail the future of our country. We find it necessary to fight all the way, to demonstrate our dignity, to hang on till we win!”

And win they did. The UTLA won agreement to a form of school-based management and shared decision-making that will give teachers a greater voice in school site policies and will help empower parents; princi­pals will no longer have veto power over most major deci­sions. Teachers also won a 24% salary increase over three years.