By Jane Ross and Andrew Hay

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – After being told to return to remote education in the fall, Los Angeles teachers are demanding greater technology support to avoid the chaos they say they faced when the COVID-19 pandemic forced schools to abruptly switch to online learning in March.  

The nation’s second-largest school district and the union representing its 30,000 teachers were due to open negotiations on Thursday to hammer out work rules governing instruction for some 700,000 children at home.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) and United Teachers Los Angeles have so far spoken only in broad terms about how they aim to improve an online instruction formula that Grace Regullano, the union’s research director, called “crisis learning.”

She and other union members said increased funding for better connectivity, equipment and information-technology support – especially for students with disabilities and those from poorer households –