Failing math
Sac schools flirting with disaster
Members of the Sacramento City Teachers Association announce March 15 that they have the votes to strike if the district doesn’t agree to their demands over a 2017 labor agreement.
PHOTO BY SARAH HANSEL
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Among the Sacramento City Teachers Association’s demands were salary increases, reduced class sizes and additional nurses and school psychologists. At the time, the district was in the black and the parties fleshed out an agreement with the help of Mayor Darrell Steinberg.
Less than two years later, the district is in the red and trying to avoid both a state takeover and its first teacher strike since 1989.
At a March 15 press conference, SCTA President David Fisher cited the district’s “unlawful, unfair labor practices” as the reason that 92 percent of the union’s members authorized a strike. Fisher said SCTA, which represents about 2,500 teachers, librarians, psychologists and others, has requested a sit-down with Superintendent Jorge Aguilar at the end of March to work on a solution and avoid a strike.
“We don’t want to go to a strike,” Fisher said. “However, that is our lawful way of getting the district to live up to its commitments.”
At the same time, the district is on the brink of a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall.
Last August, the Sacramento County Office of Education rejected the district’s adopted budget for 2018-19, citing a projected $62.1 million deficit over the next two school years. Subsequent revised budgets were also rejected.
A December 2018 report from the Fiscal Crisis & Management Assistance Team, or FCMAT, projected the district would be insolvent by 2019. The team, which helps California school districts identify, prevent and resolve financial issues, called for $30 million in reductions, imploring the district to focus on cuts that could be made immediately.
“Without action, state intervention is certain,” the FCMAT report summarized. “Failure to act quickly and CONTINUE READING: Sacramento News & Review - Failing math - News - Local Stories - March 21, 2019
Big Education Ape: STEINBERG AND SERNA: Sacrifice and compromise necessary to avoid insolvency, protect Sacramento schools #Unite4SACKids #WeAreSCTA #WeAreCTA #strikeready #REDFORED #SCTA #CTA #UTLA - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/03/steinberg-and-serna-sacrifice-and.html
Big Education Ape: Sacramento Unified School District on Verge of Insolvency While Super Takes $35K Junket to Harvard - California Globe #WeAreSCTA #WeAreCTA #strikeready #REDFORED #SCTA #CTA #UTLA - http://bigeducationape.blogspot.com/2019/03/sacramento-unified-school-district-on.html
