Sacramento educators propose new policy to address racism among staff. Here’s what it says
A couple dozen supporters followed Luther Burbank High School teacher Erinn Leone as she approached the dais at the Sacramento City Unified School District board Thursday night, proposing a new restorative justice policy to address racism among educators in the district.
The policy proposal, signed by the Alliance of Anti-Racist Educators at SCUSD, seeks to establish accountability measures for teachers within the district who are found to be at fault in investigations of professional misconduct. Leone presented the contents of the support in a 15-minute speech to the school board. She was allotted more time to speak because more than 20 other speakers gave her their comment time.
“This proposal is a push for building an antiracist educational environment for both our students and staff,” Leone said. “It demands that educators who work in our schools are committed to upholding an antiracist environment and aligning with our vision to address systemic racism in our district.”
The alliance suggests establishing a Restorative Practices Committee, composed of representatives from the teachers union, the district, administrators, and community members to determine the appropriate response if a staff member is found to be at fault for professional misconduct. Then, that staff member would be provided with sensitivity training, which would “include the use of real experiences of systemic racism in our district to inform our practices
“This involves identifying and deconstructing how harm is perpetuated, not relying solely on hypothetical scenarios in an online training,” Leone said.
The committee would regularly check in and evaluate the educator, and if they are deemed unwilling to grow and repair the harm caused, they could be fired.
Leone concluded her comments by asking the board to decide when discussion of the proposed policy would be added to a board agenda, but Superintendent Lisa Allen told Leone that there was a process to getting anything to be agendized and that they could not say if or when the policy would be brought to the board.
“We don’t intend on waiting the entire school year for economic restorative justice policy,” Leone said.
Fighting for racial justice
Leone has been outspoken in the ways that district and union policies have perpetuated systemic racism by not adequately dealing with racist incidents on school campuses. Last month, Leone told the Sacramento Bee her personal story where a fellow teacher used a racial slur in a staff meeting — a couple days following the event, the teacher was back in the classroom after a brief paid leave while Leone was asked to create a presentation about why the word was offensive.
Previously, the Bee reported on a test with racist and targeted questions administered by Luther Burbank High biology teacher Alex Nguyen. Leone told the Bee at the time that she feared that history would repeat itself and that Nguyen would not face any repercussions. The incident is one of the things that inspired her to pursue change within the district.
Sacramento City Unified has not yet released the results of the investigation into Nguyen, but district spokesperson Brian Heap confirmed in an email that Nguyen would not be returning to the classroom at the beginning of the year.
Race continued to be a key topic in the meeting — Sacramento City Teachers Association and the district’s Black/African American Advisory Board also addressed the board, speaking about issues of racism affecting students and staff.
SCTA President Nikki Milevsky brought two members of the union’s equity team to speak about their support of the Alliance of Anti-Racist Educators and the their effort to bolster trainings for staff.
“We also value protecting our colleagues from the harms of racism, and agree that restorative practices are important tools to help achieve our shared gains,” Alma Santana, a member of SCTA’s equity team said. “We hope that we, the district and the Alliance of Antiracist Educators, can work together to bring this mission to fruition for the benefit of all of us in the district.”
Following the meeting, Leone expressed appreciation for SCTA’s support but also noted that she was somewhat skeptical of the union, which she said has not been active enough in leading this effort and has perpetuated harm in the past by protecting offending educators.
“I’m a little desensitized to all of the statements of support when they aren’t matched by actions of support,” Leone said.
She is further concerned that the process of getting the policy approved could be muddled by bureaucracy. Leone said that others floated the possibility of forming a committee to finalize the policy proposal, which made her bristle.
“While we welcome collaboration, we are demanding action and specific changes, not just more committees without real power,” she said. “Our focus remains on achieving tangible outcomes that will protect and uplift our students and communities. … We must be sure that our efforts go beyond symbolic gestures and lead to actual progress.”
This story was originally published August 9, 2024 at 1:21 PM.
