SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Earlier this year, the Carnegie Foundation announced a summit focusing on improving education.
The summit just wrapped up after several days in San Diego. One of the speakers originally scheduled to attend was Sacramento City Unified School District Superintendent Jorge Aguilar.
However, days before the summit was scheduled to begin on March 27, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 1021 and the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) went on strike.
The strike, which started on Wednesday, March 23, has included nearly 4,600 staff members and teachers, canceling classes at 76 schools impacting 43,000 students. Both unions and the school district are at odds over issues such as staffing, better pay, training, and health benefits.
Because he was on the list of scheduled speakers, several members of the community have reached out to ABC10 about this issue.
"Today, we learned that our Superintendent, Jorge Aguilar, has been unavailable for negotiations because he has traveled to San Diego to attend and present at the Carnegie Foundation Summit. I have attached the link, so you can investigate this claim," one email to ABC10 said.
THE QUESTION
Did Superintendent Aguilar attend a conference in San Diego during a teacher strike in Sacramento?
THE SOURCES
- Sacramento City Unified School District
- The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
What We Found
A spokesperson for the school district said the superintendent has been in Sacramento during the duration of the strike.
"Superintendent Aguilar was scheduled to speak at the Carnegie Mellon Summit this week in San Diego but canceled to remain in Sacramento to work toward resolving this strike.”
A representative for the Carnegie Foundation also confirmed Aguiar did not attend the San Diego conference.
"I can confirm to you that Superintendent Aguilar did not attend the Carnegie Summit on Educational Improvement in person or virtually and communicated this was because his first priority was to address issues in Sacramento," said Lisa Gonzales, spokesperson for the Carnegie Foundation.
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