LOS ANGELES – The United Teachers Los Angeles is claiming its members haven’t received a raise in “7 years” and is demanding a 17 percent raise. The recently approved $6.6 billion budget for Los Angeles schools reportedly doesn’t include a pay hike for unionized employees.

Fox 11 reports:

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The union apparently doesn’t count automatic “step” raises as actual raises. An analysis by EAGnews in 2012 found the school district spent $47 MILLION on automatic “step” raises the previous school year alone, which are awarded not for performance, but because the employee survived another year.

The Los Angeles Times reports LAUSD’s most recent graduation rate was 67.9 percent.