A neutral analyst sided with striking teachers over Sacramento schools. He was right
The Sacramento City Unified School District and its teachers have deep-seated differences. The distrust between the two groups is years if not decades old. And because their disagreements require so much context to fully understand, it can be difficult to assign blame for the most recent showdown, which affects over 40,000 students and the entire community.
Pulling kids out of school when they have just returned to classrooms closed by the pandemic is understandably infuriating for many Sacramento families. But before parents blame the Sacramento City Teachers Association for yet another educational disruption, the community would benefit from a neutral assessment of the situation – a much-needed apolitical take on an intensely politicized feud.
A neutral fact-finding report jointly agreed to by the district and the union largely supported the union’s concerns and demands. The California Division of Occupational Safety and Health also cited the district this month over unsafe COVID protocols.
Major disagreements that persist between the two parties concern staffing shortages, filling vacant positions and extra pay for substitute teachers as well as nurses who conduct COVID contact tracing after regularly scheduled work hours. Joe Lindsay, the neutral fact-finder, concurred with several key union proposals, recommending that the district provide retroactive COVID sick leave; increase pay for special education teachers who voluntarily accept additional students; grant additional sick pay; and provide an across-the-board raise proportionate to the superintendent’s cost-of-living increase.
Lindsay also recommended that the district adopt the union’s proposed recruitment and retention committee to get to the heart of one major difference between the district and the union.
Still, Lindsay did not agree with every union proposal and did side with the district several times, including its proposed daily pay increase for substitute teachers. The teachers’ union publicly accepted his entire report, while the district sharply criticized several parts.
It would be easy to blame the union for causing what appears to be a selfish disruption of learning at the expense of students. The union’s most pressing proposals, however, address staff recruitment and retention of teachers and support staff represented by SEIU Local 1021. Altogether, this would significantly improve student learning.
One day of school lost to the strike pales in comparison with the learning loss experienced by nearly 600 district students who are still on the waiting list for the district’s independent study program. Staffing independent study has been a point of contention between the district and the teachers’ union. Ingrid Hutchins, a second grade teacher at Golden Empire Elementary School who participates in the program, said that when students finally get off the waiting list, they are “months behind,” describing the situation as “educational malpractice.”
The district needs to hire more teachers to accommodate these students. In the union’s eyes, the district would rather cut corners and costs than invest in students.
According to teachers’ union President David Fisher, 10,000 district students don’t have a regular teacher in the classroom every day because of staffing shortages. Meanwhile, students with disabilities are going from classroom to classroom because there’s not enough staff.
Who would blame teachers for leaving this stretched, struggling district? And what young, new teacher would apply to fill these vacancies knowing the district’s turbulent relationship with its staff?
In Fisher’s words, the district is struggling with “a priority crisis.” Indeed, to get students back in the classroom full-time, the district would benefit from some honest self-reflection.
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 5:00 AM.