SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) has set a strike date for April 11 after they say the district committed more than two dozen violations to the collective bargaining agreement.
According to a press release, the strike will only last one day, with teachers returning to work on April 12.
"This is about the leaders of our district keeping their word and honoring their promises to our students,” said David Fisher, a second-grade teacher and the president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association. “If the district simply abided by the terms of the contract and obeyed the law, there would be no reason to strike."
The SCTA said they identified 30 violations to the collective bargaining agreement, including using money earmarked for lowering class sizes and improving student services to instead pay for administrative salaries.
The Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) is facing a major budget deficit entering the 2019-2020 school year. According to a report by the Fiscal Crisis and Management Assistance Team, the district needs to make $30 million in reductions to avoid a state takeover.
SCUSD issued the following statement regarding the proposed strike:
"This 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.
Our 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."
Prior to the vote to strike, Superintendent Jorge Aguilar a letter to the SCTA, regarding the terms of an interim proposal with the union. Tap here to read that letter.
This is a developing story.
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