SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KCRA) —þThe Sacramento City Teachers Association said it has set a strike date if they cannot reach an agreement with the Sacramento City Unified School District.þþThe union said Tuesday the strike date is April 11 and it would last one day. Teachers would return to work April 12.þþÿThis strike is not about winning a contract; we won a contract that puts students first sixteen months ago,ÿ SCTA president David Fisher said in a statement. ÿThis is about the leaders of our district keeping their word and honoring their promises to our students. If the district simply abided by the terms of the contract and obeyed the law, there would be no reason to strike.ÿþþÿThis strike is unnecessary and will only hurt students, families and employees by putting the district on the fast track to a state takeover. A state takeover will result in less money for our students and do serious harm to the city’s public schools for many years to come,ÿ the SCUSD said in a statement in response to the strike date. ÿOur students do not deserve to be put through the hardships that will be caused by this strike. We will continue encouraging SCTA leaders to work with us in the coming days to focus on saving our schools from a state takeover and finding more collaborative ways to resolve their disagreements with the District.ÿþþSCTA and SCUSD officials met last week in hopes of avoiding a strike, but no agreement had been reached at that time.þþÿTeachers and other educators signed a contract last year that called for the union to agree to healthcare savings and for the district to reduce the number of administrators and redirect funds to the classroom,ÿ the SCTA said in a statement Tuesday. ÿHowever, SCUSD Superintendent Jorge Aguilar, and school board members have repeatedly broken the terms of the agreement and promises made to students, parents and educators in violation of California labor law.ÿþþEarlier Tuesday, Aguilar sent the SCTA a letter covering several issues, including the union's claim about unfair practices by the district.þþÿWe hope that these discussions will include areas that the District has requested to discuss with SCTA leadership since at least spring 2018, including any negotiable impacts of the District’s proposals to SCTA leaders about student assessments, use of continuous improvement, elementary athletic programs, and the 2020-21 school calendar,ÿ Aguilar said in the letter. ÿWe believe these items are critical to our shared interest in improving services to our students and becoming a high-poverty, high-performing urban school district. We suggest that these discussions begin as soon as possible and that we schedule meetings prior to spring break.ÿþþThe teachers' union contract expires in June. The district and teachers struggled in the last round of negotiations and barely averted a strike in 2017. The last time the SCTA went on strike was 1989.þþSCTA represents 2,800 Sac Unified professionals, including teachers, school nurses, psychologists, social workers and others. Union members voted on March 15 to authorize a strike. The association began talks on whether or not to strike on Feb. 19 and concluded on March 14.þþOn Friday, the SCUSD held a briefing for emergency replacement teachers in preparation for a possible strike.þþThat same day, SCTA sent a letter to the school district outlining an interim agreement that would last through the end of April. SCTA sent a letter to Aguilar and specified their requirements for the short-term fix, including working with the district to avoid fiscal insolvency and using health plan savings to improve student services.þþIn Tuesday's letter, Aguilar also addressed the SCTA's proposal.þþÿAs I have stated repeatedly, a strike would be devastating to our students, parents, employees, and our community. I am committed to doing what I can to avoid a strike that would hurt our students the most,ÿ Aguilar said in the letter. ÿHowever, in my efforts to avoid a strike, I also cannot risk sacrificing the District’s immediate or long-term fiscal health as this would also hurt our students today and for many years into the future.ÿþþThis possible teachers strike comes as the SCUSD works to fight bankruptcy and a possible state takeover.þþThe teachers union is largest of five labor partners. The remaining four have joined forces and are working with the district.
Source: www.kcra.com
