Sacramento City Unified teachers, staff vote no confidence in Superintendent Jorge Aguilar

Sacramento City Unified School District teachers and classified staff overwhelmingly voted no confidence in Superintendent Jorge Aguilar, claiming fiscal mismanagement and failure to provide services.

Out of the district’s 2,200 certificated educators, 1,350 teachers voted no confidence, with just 55 voting the other way for a 96% vote against Aguilar. About 62% of the educators cast a vote.

Of the 2,000 classified staff, which includes bus drivers, custodians and food services, 97% of those who voted chose to vote no confidence in the superintendent. SEUI 1021 did not release how many members voted.

Both the Sacramento City Teachers Association and SEIU 1021 independently surveyed their members.

A vote of no confidence is a statement about whether or not a public official is deemed fit to hold their position. SCTA and SEIU 1021 say Aguilar is not.

“Teachers and support staff who work directly with students are tired of the fiscal mismanagement, the broken promises and the lack of consideration for the needs of students,” SCTA President David Fisher said in a statement. “This is a critical time for our district as we continue the shift back to in-person instruction and away from virtual learning. Educators have no confidence in Mr. Aguilar’s ability to manage this transition and we’re deeply disturbed by his lack of vision for SCUSD. Our District needs to move in a new direction, our students have suffered long enough.”

Both the teachers and classified unions stated that Aguilar oversaw budget mismanagement that resulted in unnecessarily cut programs, repeated warnings of a state takeover and nearly 1,000 pink slips letting staff go in the last three years.

In a statement to The Sacramento Bee, Board President Christina Pritchett said the district will only thrive when all parties take responsibility for their role in creating the conditions that will allow them to succeed together.

“After shepherding the district through the most challenging years in modern history, our superintendent remains laser-focused on the needs of our students who have suffered great harm from a global pandemic,” Pritchett said. “We must not allow ourselves to be distracted from the educational goals shared by board members, parents, students, teachers and staff throughout our district.”

Outside agencies including the Fiscal Crisis Management Assistance Team and the California Collaborative on Education Excellence have criticized the district for its business operations and slammed the district for failing to serve foster and homeless youth, English learners and students with disabilities.

Aguilar joined the district as superintendent in 2017 after the district experienced a revolving door of superintendents prior to his hiring. State audits have long slammed the district for leadership instability and financial trouble; Aguilar was the sixth Sacramento City Unified superintendent in that time.

While the Public Employment Relations Board issued several complaints against Sacramento City Unified in the past, PERB decided on June 9 that the SCTA “violated the Educational Employment Relations Act by refusing or failing to meet and negotiate in good faith with the district over a successor to their expiring collective bargaining agreement and after it had, in fact, expired.”

PERB also found that the SCTA did not reach out to bargaining team members in a timely manner for possible negotiation dates. SCTA denies any violation of EERA, according to the PERB finding.

This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 3:16 PM.