Sacramento City Unified School District superintendent deserves blame for budget mess
The Sacramento City Unified School District approved 102 layoffs of certificated employees during a Board of Education meeting on May 9, 2019, as it continues to struggle financially and contends with a possible state takeover.
Four weeks into this new school year, more than 100 teaching vacancies remain unfilled. Thousands of Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) students are in classrooms without fully credentialed educators. At C.K. McClatchy High School, one government teacher surveyed her class and found that more than half of her students had a temporary substitute teacher for some of their classes.
How did we get into such a mess?
In February, SCUSD somehow failed to count 730 students in its enrollment figures – which could have been an $8 million per year mistake. Incredibly, District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar and the county administrator charged with overseeing the district’s finances confirmed the error on April 1, but hid this information from the public. Nevertheless, SCUSD plowed ahead in May with layoffs.
While the district reports substantially lower numbers, we know that more than 400 staff were laid off – including 175 certificated teachers – making SCUSD the only major school district in California to implement mass layoffs during a national teacher shortage.
Now the district can’t fill positions. Would you want to work in a school district that lays off dynamic young educators based on dodgy budget numbers?
In March, a top state education finance official, Michael Fine, said he has “no confidence” in the district’s financial data and that he has other serious concerns. District leaders also kept this information from the public and even from members of the school board.
In the face of poorly staffed classrooms, improper budgets and “no confidence” from state officials, what’s the path forward for Sacramento public schools?
Sacramento Bee columnist Marcos Bretón thinks he has the answer: He says teachers should sit down and shut up. Breton believes the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA), which represents district educators, should accept whatever the school board demands. He maintains teachers should agree to set aside the collective bargaining agreement, a contract that was personally negotiated by the superintendent with union representatives and unanimously approved by the school board.
Bretón also says teachers and others who care about our schools should stop organizing, stop talking and stop holding our elected school board accountable.
You are wrong, Mr. Bretón. This situation is too critical to stay silent and, as education activists, we won’t apologize for robustly advocating on behalf of our students and families.
Bretón also makes the absurd claim that everyone in Sacramento should feel grateful that the superintendent has moved to live in Sacramento rather than close to his parents in Fresno. Many teachers have made far greater sacrifices to teach in Sac City, joining thousands of our students CONTINUE READING: Sacramento’s school district needs to own up to its mistakes | The Sacramento Bee
