Who can help fix Sacramento City schools? Here are The Bee’s school board endorsements

SCUSD is going broke.

When Sacramento City Unified School District runs out of money, the state will give it a bailout and take control. It will take years — if not decades — to repay the state-issued loan.

Four independent audits have suggested modest changes to healthcare plans can save tens of millions of dollars. There are other ways to find savings, including some independent of bargaining. But those responsible for reaching an agreement have been unable to do so. And insolvency looms.

There are other, more urgent problems. The school district is the only one in Sacramento County that has not reached an agreement on a distance-learning plan, nevermind a safe return to in-person learning.

There are more than 40,000 students in SCUSD. A majority are children of color and they are overwhelmingly eligible for free-and-reduced lunch programs. They are struggling to connect with teachers on Zoom and they miss their friends. The first instruction many receive each day is to put themselves on “mute.”

There are many people in this fight — the administration, union representatives, school board members — and it goes back decades. The stakeholders — students — don’t get to choose who is entering the ring on their behalf.

But you get a vote. You get to choose how SCUSD emerges from the pandemic and you can shape whether it avoids insolvency. You are parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. You are business leaders who are recruiting workers and their families to Sacramento.

For too long, we have not paid enough attention to the challenges in our district.

This fall, many are understandably focused on what the outcome will be for the race at the top of our ballot. We submit that the most important election for the next generation of Sacramentans is this one.

If you care about making sure the most vulnerable among us are served, you have an opportunity. Vote in your local school board election.

Please read on for The Sacramento Bee’s endorsements.

Area 3: Northeastern Sacramento

In Area 3, incumbent Christina Pritchett understands the fiscal crisis that SCUSD is facing. Her challenger, IT specialist Jose Navarro, does not.

The two-term board member fully appreciates the complex political and labor dynamics that distinguish SCUSD from the 12 other public school districts in the county.

This is not to say that we don’t hold Pritchett and her fellow SCUSD board members to account for their role in the district’s massive cash shortfall. We do.

And in his interview with The Bee, Navarro was shockingly oblivious about core issues. He said he had not reviewed the series of independent audits showing the district has a substantial structural deficit. At one point, he claimed the audits had not been public. This is false. The Bee has published multiple stories about the audits and the audits themselves are available on SCUSD’s website.

Navarro did little more than parrot the irresponsible talking points of the Sacramento City Teachers Association, the local teachers union. SCTA’s political action committee, along with the California Teachers Association and another labor group, has poured more than $160,000 into his campaign.

That these organizations would commit that much money to a candidate as ill-prepared as Navarro says a lot, little of it positive. If they are going to hire an actor to run for the school board, they should at least instruct him to learn his lines.

The Bee Editorial Board endorses Pritchett for reelection.

Area 4: Elder Creek/Fruitridge

There are two first-time candidates for Area 4.

Jamee Villa is a communications specialist with the California Retirees Association who has focused on pensions and healthcare. She has a daughter who is an SCUSD student.

Nailah Pope-Harden is a community organizer and mother to a young child. She is rightfully concerned about high rates of expulsion for minority students, and says they are “why she’s running.”

She believes the cost of benefits is just one issue with respect to the district’s financial challenges, and that with the endorsement of SCTA she has a relationship that will get the union to the table for tough conversations (Pope-Harden has received more than $140,000 in campaign contributions from unions).

Unfortunately, we know this hasn’t worked in the past and it is unlikely to work in the future. Elected officials answer to unions. Not vice versa.

The Bee Editorial Board board endorses Villa, who brings experience in her work with California’s retirees to discussions about benefits and who also will charge toward critical fiscal reform.

Area 5: South Sacramento

Chinua Rhodes is a community activist and the father of five children. Four are SCUSD students.

Vanessa Areiza King is a licensed marriage and family therapist based in south Sacramento. King is the mother of an SCUSD student.

Both are first-time school board candidates.

Rhodes would first address significant looming insolvency by reviewing budgets monthly, holding positions open, examining contract work and reviewing internal and external borrowing actions. In the longer-term, he said he would examine a long-standing agreement with SCTA’s healthcare provider that for years has been on the list to review.

King said she would examine healthcare and salaries as the district looks to avoid insolvency. She drew a hard line at special education, noting we need more support in this space, not less.

With more than 90% of the district’s budget going to salaries and benefits, four independent audits have emphasized healthcare benefits must be addressed.

Both candidates represent a change from the status quo, which is necessary and appreciated. Area 5 needs thoughtful, independent representation. It will have it with either candidate.

“We believe everyone has the same opportunity but for our students that’s not true,” Rhodes said. “Across generations, it’s been denied.”

The Bee Editorial Board endorses Rhodes, who has done a year’s worth of preparation for this race and who is prepared to work first for students. We hope King remains engaged, as a parent in the district and a thoughtful leader.

Area 7: Oak Park, Hollywood Park and south Sacramento

In Area 7, incumbent SCUSD Board President Jessie Ryan is the clear choice.

Ryan, who is the mother of two students in the district and is executive vice president at the Campaign for College Opportunity, brings a deep understanding of the budget and practical, implementable solutions to the board. Not only that, she eschews further political ambitions. This is refreshing in Sacramento, which can be hyper-political.

She fully understands the challenges in unifying SCTA and the district.

“Despite the challenges compounded by distance learning and the threat of insolvency, I have to believe this is also an opportunity to confront the courageous conversations and actions people have avoided (in the name of labor peace) for far too long,” Ryan said.

Ryan’s opponent, Lavinia Grace Phillips, did not attend The Bee’s endorsement interview. She also declined to meet with parents. Phillips is an SCTA-selected candidate who does not have the experience that Ryan brings. Phillips does have more than $200,000 in campaign contributions from union PACs.

On the board, Ryan is a leader on racial equity issues as well as the rights of disabled students. She was responsive to minority parent’s concerns about the overuse of the “willful defiance” criteria in suspensions, which led SCUSD to have the highest minority suspension rate in California.

The Bee Editorial Board endorses Ryan for reelection.

This story was originally published October 8, 2020 at 6:00 AM.