In Sac City Unified, it’s time to rebuild trust and come together for students

Our schools are more than just places to learn. Our schools are safe havens for many kids who do not have one. Our staff and teachers are like family to our children, and the important role they play in kids’ lives inspires me.

As the son of immigrant farmworkers, I see the struggles I faced as a youth in the eyes of many of our students. It’s the reason I’m passionate about education, and it’s why my wife and I chose to move our family to Sacramento and enroll our four children in the Sacramento City Unified School District. Although we had never moved our family before, we believe there’s something special about Sacramento schools and we want to be a part of it.

Four months into my job as superintendent of the Sac City Unified, I found myself sitting with Mayor Steinberg and leaders of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, trying to avert a teachers’ strike. What none of us fully understood at the time was the looming fiscal crisis we are in today.

Since then, I have immersed myself in our district’s past budgeting and financial practices. I now know well that our financial problems are rooted in a longstanding culture of poor budgeting philosophies that were decades in the making, such as using one-time funds to pay for collective bargaining agreements. Independent analyses from outside entities have confirmed these unsustainable practices. This is in addition to missed opportunities to reduce the amount the district spends on employee health benefits, a step suggested by fiscal experts for at least the past 15 years.

Looking back, I acknowledge that we averted the 2017 strike through a handwritten agreement that was less than clear and has resulted in disagreements over interpretation of key provisions. I learned from that experience that hastily-crafted agreements to avert labor actions do not allow for our best thinking on how to serve our students.

This is why, while we are again on the verge of a strike by SCTA, our community cannot afford to rush into any “take it or leave it” proposals that are not subject to meaningful discussion and developed through collaboration with SCTA. I have asked, and will continue to ask, that SCTA leaders agree to meet with the district to continue important discussions about our budget. We must find a way to step back from this precipice and move our district forward in a way that benefits all stakeholders, most importantly our students.

We teach our students every day to be problem solvers. I’m committed to doing the same to save our schools from a state takeover. This will require shared sacrifices that can only be achieved by re-engineering management-employee relationships and changing how we interact with employees and employee groups.

I’m grateful to the hard-working leaders and members of United Professional Educators, SEIU 1021, Teamsters and Teamsters Classified Supervisors for stepping up and committing to make sacrifices to save our schools from a state takeover. We follow their lead and I’m committed to sharing in those sacrifices.

We started by making $1 million in cuts to central office administration even though we already spend less on our general administration than surrounding districts. Furthermore, we put a cap on future administrative spending, implemented a central office hiring freeze and are taking other measures to reduce administrative costs. These cuts are already starting to impact services to families. However, I recognize that cutting from the top is necessary in a fiscal crisis and we will make additional painful cuts before our June 30 budget deadline.

I’m committed to listening carefully to SCTA and learning how I can be a better leader for our district and its students. I understand that our students need teachers in their classroom who come to work every day knowing that their superintendent and district fully support them and their hard work.

I will be actively seeking those conversations with SCTA leaders to rebuild trust between us and find sustainable solutions to ensure our shared vision of equity, access and social justice for our students can become a reality.