SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) announced Thursday afternoon that it plans to have its members strike on March 23rd.
Hundreds of teachers, parents and students were rallying outside of the Serna Center in Sacramento prior to the announcement.
Teachers had authorized a strike nearly a week ago, citing frustrations over staffing and support for students at the time, but no official date was set. The union represents about 2,800 certificated staff at the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD).
"As always strike is a last resort and there’s plenty of time between now and that date for the district and the superintendent to come to the table, follow the recommendations of the neutral fact-finders that they wanted to bring into the process and come to an agreement so we don’t have a work stoppage," SCTA President David Fisher said.
Ahead of the rally and prior to the announcement, the SCUSD Board of Education cited financial problems in a press conference, adding that the district has struggled to balance their budget for years and have spent more than they're getting from the state and federal government.
Leaders said a potential strike would impact their students and families who are already grappling with the lingering effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
"Our families will suffer from uncertainty and lack of stability in the event that our schools are forced to close due to the strikes." SCUSD Board President Christina Pritchett said. "The concern for our students is matched by concern for our teachers, and our frontline staff who are caught in the middle of these situations, So many of them have told me personally, that they simply want their labor leaders and the district to manage negotiations at the bargaining table so that they can focus on teaching and learning."
Pritchett said labor negotiations have to take into consideration the district's efforts to be responsible with its revenue.
On Thursday, Fisher, surrounded by rallying teachers, said calling for a strike was their last resort.
SCUSD board member Leticia Garcia said the district and teachers need to reach an agreement so they can address the COVID-related impacts of the past years that took kids out of the classroom.
"We've all gone through three incredibly rough years. Students are behind. Parents, teachers and staff are tired and burnt out," she said.
Fisher said there are already disruptions at school due to staffing issues.
"We understand the issues of disruption. It's been going on now, pre-pandemic it was bad. It's gotten worse and to continue to make it worse by demanding these giant cuts in educator take-home pay is just beyond what any reasonable person would be doing," he said.
Susan McKellar, one of many people at the teachers rally, said the last two years of COVID disruptions brought this situation to a head.
"My school, all of the teachers are taking extra classes. We take everybody else's classes on our prep just to make it work so the kids are in a classroom," she said.
If all the sides don't reach a deal, the teachers union and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021, which represents staff like custodians and bus drivers, will take the picket line March 23.
WATCH ALSO:
