As she waited to walk on stage and announce the end of an historic teachers' strike, Arlene Inouye, struggled to hold back tears. The emotional day ended weeks of planning and marathon negotiations to lower class sizes in the Los Angeles Unified School District. 

When the strike began, Inouye had no idea how it would all end. More than 30,000 teachers had walked off the job and about 600,000 students hung in the balance. Superintendent Austin Beutner had made his final offer, saying UTLA's demands would bankrupt LAUSD. 

Few details have emerged about what actually happened behind closed doors at City Hall as both sides met face-to-face to end the strike. As the top negotiatior for the union, Inouye said she threatened to walk out if class size numbers did not go down.