As Sacramento teacher strike approaches, a key negotiator isn’t involved
Sacramento City Unified School District teachers are planning their first strike in 30 years Thursday, and the man who brokered a last-minute deal to avoid a strike 18 months ago is not involved this time around.
Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who hosted key negotiations between district and union officials at his Greenhaven home two days before a planned strike in November 2017, offered his help this time around. But the mayor has remained on the sideline this time, after his defense of School District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar upset the Sacramento City Teachers Association, the union representing roughly 2,500 educators in the district, the mayor said Monday.
The mayor said union leadership is upset with him because he issued a statement defending Aguilar after the union called for a state investigation of Aguilar and the district in February.
“I didn’t think (the union’s call for an investigation) helped the situation in any way,” Steinberg told The Sacramento Bee on Monday. “I’ve always had a good relationship with the teachers and labor movement, I’ve been a friend of organized labor for a long time, but fair is fair and I did not think it was productive or fair to attack the superintendent.”
Sacramento City Teachers Association President David Fisher said Steinberg has not been asked to be a part of the negotiations this time around because both sides have agreed to use a state-appointed mediator.
Teachers voted Friday to approve a one-day strike set for Thursday, claiming the administration is not honoring the terms of the contract, such as using the savings from a lower quality health plan strictly toward improving student services. The district, which faces a $35 million budget gap, is under the threat of a state takeover if the district can’t pass a balanced budget by the end of June.
The union believes the district has other options it could utilize before a state takeover would occur, Fisher said.
Steinberg agrees with the district administration on one major issue – health plan savings should be used for addressing the district’s $35 million deficit in order to avoid a state takeover, he said.
The union believes the deal Steinberg brokered in 2017 stipulated the health plan savings would be used to improve school services, not to put toward the $35 million deficit, Steinberg said.
“The intent was to use health benefit savings to try to improve the schools. (Sacramento County Superintendent of Schools) Dave Gordon intervened after that and said you’ve got a major math problem here, and so the circumstances changed,” Steinberg said. “Ultimately I believe those health benefit savings should and can go to improving the schools – decreasing class sizes, CONTINUE READING: Sacramento Mayor Steinberg not involved in teacher strike talks | The Sacramento Bee
Sac Unified teachers at crisis point, part 1: How did we get to now? https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article228980354.html
