LOS ANGELES — Before the sun rose, Yadira Martinez, a special education assistant at Florence Avenue Elementary School in South L.A., shuttled around her tiny kitchen, sauteing eggs and potatoes to share with her fellow strikers earlier this week on the picket line.
She joked about the tight confines: "You turn around, take one step and you're at the sink."
Martinez, 53, has worked for L.A. Unified for 28 years, spending her days caring for young children with disabilities, changing their diapers, feeding them and teaching them. She makes about $32,000 a year and lives in low-income housing, paying $1,450 a month for a two-bedroom, one-bath, 750-square-foot apartment.
