Sacramento Teachers Union, District Reach Agreement To Avoid Strike

It appears there will be no teachers strike in the Sacramento Unified School District, although the tentative agreement is missing some key details regarding pension funding.

The deal was negotiated over the weekend by Mayor Darrell Steinberg.

Union membership will vote on it this week. If teachers ratify the agreement, they will receive pay raises of 11 percent during the next three years.

Superintendent Jorge Aguilar says the part of the agreement that deals with pensions and money to pay off pension fund debt has not been finalized, but would rely on healthcare savings.

"Of course, we're not interested, nor are we going to try to change coverages for our teachers. But, we believe we can achieve significant health savings that we will use to offset some of that unfunded liability," Aguilar said. 

David Fischer is president of the teacher's association.

"We reached an agreement with the district some time ago, actually, before we came to the final agreement, to have 1.5 percent of total payroll annually go towards unfunded liabilty," Fischer said. "In addition to that, years ago, we doubled our vesting and put that pot of money into unfunded liabilities, and into addition to that, we're the only group in the district that each teacher pays monthly into that pot."

The two sides also agreed to work together on a 2020 ballot measure to fund school arts and music programs. In 2016 a $75 annual parcel tax, Measure G, barely missed the two-thirds requirement to pass.

The last strike against the district occurred in 1989.