Natomas teachers threaten to strike, alleging low pay and unsafe conditions
After months of contract negotiations and public protests, Natomas teachers are threatening to strike if district leaders do not soon agree to raise wages, offer better health benefits and improve classroom conditions.
Hundreds of Natomas Unified School District teachers and supporters rallied in the district parking lot Wednesday night, chanting and clanging cowbells as the school board conferred with their labor negotiator in closed session inside the district office.
“Teachers are the reason this district has survived this long, and survival is not enough,” parent and advocate Ashley Battle yelled into a megaphone. “If you want strong schools, pay people who build them.”
Natomas Teachers Association has been in negotiations for their new contract with the district since February, finally reaching an impasse last month. Union members say that the district has refused to meet their demands that they say would help retain quality teachers and create a better learning environment for students, particularly those with disabilities.
The union, which includes teachers and nonteaching staff like social workers, psychologists and nurses, are asking for competitive salaries with neighboring districts, fully paid health benefits and staffing ratios that would allow nonteaching staff to have manageable case loads, President Nico Vaccaro said.
“We don’t want to go on strike, but we do want to be strike-ready to let the district know that we will fight for a fair contract for our teachers, our students and our schools, if that’s what it takes,” he said.
Nine out of every 10 NTA members have signed the strike petition. The first mediation session is scheduled for Dec. 10.
Teachers cite safety concerns
NTA leaders say that understaffing at Natomas schools has created an unsafe environment for both teachers and students, particularly in special ed classrooms. Teachers who spoke Wednesday night relayed personal stories about injuries they suffered in their classrooms that they say could have been avoided by improved staffing.
Special education teacher Catherine Moras told the board about a concussion she suffered after a student hit her with a clipboard in her classroom.
“When I radioed for help four times, no one came,” she said.
About a week later, still in excruciating pain, Moras said she was kicked in the chest and stomach and again hit over the head by a student before collapsing. Later in the month, she was concussed again by another student.
“It took not just my principal, not just my vice principal, not just my special education director, but all three of them to deal with one of my aggressive students,” she said. “I am in pain and I am done.”
Another special ed teacher, Michelle Rodriguez, told the board that she is hit, punched and spit on nearly every day in her classroom, and that her students are also being harmed by the lack of support in her classroom.
“I’m extending an invitation for all of you to come to room 162 at H. Allen Hight (Elementary School), but not just for five minutes,” she said. “Stay for a couple hours so that you can see it’s not okay to turn your backs on the students and on your staff pleading for help.
Disagreement over salaries, reserves
Many school districts have been forced to confront the realities of financial hardship and economic uncertainty this year, especially as the threat of withdrawn federal funding looms, but the teachers union is alleging that the district is prioritizing maintaining high reserves and paying their top administrators over compensating teachers.
A Natomas Unified board policy requires that the district maintain reserves at 9% of general fund expenditures for economic uncertainty, 6 percentage points higher than required by the state. District spokesperson Deidra Powell said that reserves are one-time funds that should not be used to fund ongoing salary or benefit increases.
“Our reserve protects us against unexpected expenses or changes in funding,” she wrote in a statement. “This allows us to continue to pay staff, utilities and other basic services, all while maintaining consistent support to students.”
Teachers and their supporters are also taking issue with the amount of money spent on administrative staff. The district spends nearly $14 million on 93 management positions. Superintendent Robyn Castillo will be paid $347,783 in base salary this year. A public commenter pointed out that this was a higher salary than Gov. Gavin Newsom is paid.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 9:17 PM.
