Sacramento City Teachers Will Officially Go On Strike

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) -- The Sacramento City Teachers Association and the SEIU Local 1021 will strike on Wednesday after a deal was not agreed on with the Sacramento City Unified School District.

SCUSD schools will close Wednesday, according to a statement from SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar earlier in the week, Teachers and classified staff will be on picket lines Wednesday, according to a statement released late Tuesday, starting as early as 7 a.m. at McClatchy High School and 11 a.m. at the Serna Center, the district offices.

The disagreements are months, even years in the works, as negotiations continued on SCTA's contract with the district that ended June 30, 2019. Due to pandemic-related delays, bargaining took a backseat, and has continued to the impasse in 2022, and now a strike.

"We have to be willing to possibly walk out in order to make sure every child has a teacher in the classroom," said SCTA President David Fisher. 

Fisher said teachers do not believe SCUSD leaders respect their work and roles, as it is not reflected in pay, benefits, or staffing. Staffing shortages, according to Fisher, have led to hundreds of students without teachers every day.

Hours before the strike would be announced to happen, the union representing school administrators and principals released a letter to the public directly addressing SCUSD and Superintendent Aguilar. In it, United Public Employees wrote that their members are willing to take a vote of "no confidence" in Aguilar.

The UPE letter said it part:

"The current path that SCUSD's senior leadership is on is unsustainable, and UPE members can no longer be the proxies for what the district cannot accomplish through appropriate negotiations at the bargaining table with other labor partners. In fact, it is because of the District's current unrelenting, hard driving and inflexible approach, that two thirds of our members are either actively looking for jobs outside the district, taking early retirement, or are prepared to do so. Others have already left their positions this year."

Within hours of the letter, Superintendent Aguilar released a statement to CBS13:

"School site leaders have worked tirelessly to ensure that the needs of our students and families were met prior to and throughout the pandemic. Principals have often personally filled in for absent teaching staff and covered other roles to ensure that we support our students' personal and academic growth - inside and outside of school. I share UPE's commitment to maintain a collaborative and mutually respectful relationship, and am listening to the concerns of school principals. We hope to work together toward restoration of trust in order to continue serving the needs of our Sac City students."

All athletic practices, competitions and extracurricular activities are canceled for the duration of the strike.

Meals will be available at several convenient community locations for pick up between 11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. each day. Meals will also be available in limited quantities at all SCUSD school locations if necessary, according to SCUSD's website, during the school day, but we recommend that you visit one of nine convenient community locations.

Grab and Go Community Distribution Locations:

Shiloh Baptist Church
3565 9th Avenue

YMCA
2021 W. Street

Boys and Girls Club
5212 Lemon Hill

La Familia Maple Neighborhood Center
3301 37th Avenue

Old Florin Tech School
24th and Florin

Raley's Supermarket
4690 Freeport Blvd.

Raley's Supermarket
8391 Folsom Blvd.

Clayton B. Wire Campus
5100 El Paraiso Ave

Floyd Farms
401 A McClatchy Way
*Walk up service only

Free meals are available for each child 18 years of age and younger during the work stoppage, and meal distribution will continue until regular schedules resume.

In:
• Sacramento