The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) announced that 72,000 students opted to spend part of their winter break in its newly introduced "acceleration days."
The acceleration days were offered to students Monday and Tuesday as an "opportunity" to catch up on their studies after an erratic pandemic school schedule.
"Acceleration Days are designed to help address learning loss associated with the pandemic by providing additional instruction and enrichment opportunities for students," LAUSD Superintendent Albert M. Carvalho said in a tweet Monday.
Carvalho added that the program was designed to focus on individual students through a one-on-one tutoring style.

Pleased to see the learning at @FremontPath on Day 1 of Acceleration Days. The ratios we have planned are small enough by design in which students can get individualized attention and support they need and deserve. #IBelieveInLAUSD pic.twitter.com/HsKATs5BB0

— Alberto M. Carvalho (@LAUSDSup) December 19, 2022

The acceleration days were unanimously approved by the LAUSD Board of Education in April and later negotiated with United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), for the chosen dates.
"Doing the same thing that we've always done is quite frankly not acceptable," Carvalho said after the changes to the academic school year were announced in April. "The accelerated learning days will be designed to provide a deep level of supplemental academic support for our students who need it the most - students who have lost the most ground, students in foster care, students with English language limitations or one or more disabilities."
The additional days of instruction were not initially supported by staff and teachers, however, with LAUSD teachers threatening a boycott in August.
UTLA, who represents the district's teachers, filed a complaint with LAUSD, saying the union was not consulted with and did not support the original plan to extend the 2022-2023 school year.
“Educators are the ones in the classroom day to day, not Superintendent Carvalho, yet they are being left out of conversations on how to most effectively invest in student learning," UTLA president Cecily Myart-Cruz said in a statement last August. "We strongly urge LAUSD to rectify this situation by withdrawing the additional days and bargaining in good faith, so that we can prioritize funding for the programs and initiatives proven to ensure student success."
The two sides met and came to an agreement on September 27, which led to the decision to run the acceleration days over winter and spring breaks, in lieu of randomly selected Wednesdays throughout the school year, which was the original plan.
The next two-day batch of acceleration days will come on April 3 and 4 of 2023, at the start of the student's spring break period.

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