Sacramento City Unified wants to cut benefits in exchange for higher raises
But there is disagreement over whether increasing pay means the district should reduce the teachers’ health and welfare benefits, which are the most generous in the Sacramento region. The district in 2014-15 spent $20,638 on average for each of its more than 2,300 teachers, according to School Services of California, which advises school districts on budget matters.
The dispute comes as Sacramento City Unified administrators and the Sacramento City Teachers Association discuss the size of a retroactive raise for the current school year. The pay bump was triggered by an increase in state funding that enables the district to provide higher salaries to teachers.
The district offered a 2.5 percent retroactive raise. Teachers asked for 5 percent. Superintendent Jose Banda said in an interview that the district is willing to pay 5 percent – but only in exchange for limits on post-retirement health care benefits for future hires. The school district currently provides lifetime health care for employees who work enough years to qualify.
“They’re focused on pay increases,” Banda said Friday. “We’d love to give pay increases. Even though we’re not at the top in salary, we’re at the very top in terms of health benefits. It’s all cyclical.”
Teachers in Sacramento City Unified earn less in pay than teachers in most other comparable districts in the region, according to School Services data.
The district’s average teacher salary for 2014-15 was $67,009. That ranked Sacramento City Unified teachers fourth from the bottom out of 14 comparable districts in the region. It also fell below the statewide average of $73,687.
“The district’s finances are probably better than they have been in a generation,” said SCTA Executive Director John Borsos. “They are making these decisions that are crippling. The 5 percent (SCTA proposes) doesn’t put us at the top on wages. It’s modest compared to what others are making.”
Borsos said the salary disparity worsened since July 1, the start of the current school year. SCTA members received a 1 percent pay increase at the start of the fiscal year. Teachers in the San Juan district received 3.25 percent. And Folsom Cordova teachers received 4.5 percent.
Banda contends that the district’s generous benefits package makes up for the salary lag. In total compensation, School Services data show that Sacramento City Unified teachers ranked among the highest in the region in 2014-15.
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