The Los Angeles Unified School District and the United Teachers Los Angeles are at a crossroads. On Wednesday, the union that represents about 33,000 teachers in the LAUSD announced it will strike on January 10, if a labor agreement is not reached before that date. 

At issue are overcrowded classrooms, lack of school counselors and nurses, as well as inadequate technology and a 6.5 percent pay raise.

"We didn't plan on striking regardless," said Alex Caputo-Pearl, president of United Teachers Los Angeles, during an apperance Thursday on The Beat on 1. "We started this process 20 months ago, then we went to the table for 20 months with the district trying to stall ... We want to see the district genuinely address the issues we've brought to the table."

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News of the strike came after LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beuther said the district is willing to negotiate with UTLA, but increased salaries would lead to less money being allocated to other areas.

The teachers union has said it does not plan to return to the negotiating table.

"We have lost faith in the traditional bargaining process," said Caputo-Pearl. "The district knows what our demands are, lower class sizes, additional counselors, additional nursers for our schools... We would like to see a dramatically different approach from the district for us to continue those talks."