15,000 Sac City Students Went Without a Regular Teacher Today. Tomorrow Will Likely Be Worse.

As Superintendent Jorge Aguilar Continues to Demand $10,000 Per Year Cut in Teacher Take-Home Pay While Taking a New, Massive Increase in Total Compensation for Himself

The crisis for students at Sac City continues to worsen.

Since classes resumed on January 3, the number of students without a regular teacher in the classroom has skyrocketed to 15,000 or nearly 40% of all Sac City students.

According to information provided by SCUSD, today (Wednesday January 5), there were 145 certificated vacancies where no substitute teacher was available and another 345 certificated vacancies that subs were used.

In total, 490 regular certificated positions went unfilled with regular staff.

This does not include hundreds of vacancies of classified staff, including instructional aides, campus monitors, office managers, custodians and bus drivers.

Superintendent Aguilar’s response to the staffing crisis? To continue to demand cuts in the average teachers’ take-home pay of $10,000 per year.

At the same time, Mr. Aguilar has just accepted a new contract that significantly increases his total compensation.

Mr. Aguilar’s compensation increases include:

1. A Beginning Base Salary of $327,071.
2. An Additional Estimated 5.6% salary increase ($18,316) based on the California Consumer Price Index for this year
3. Additional Lump Sum “Longevity” bonuses of 4% ($13,802) in July 2022, 5% ($16,353.55) in July 2023, 6% ($19,624)in July 2024, and 7% ($22,895) in July 2025 (based on his base salary.)
4. A Second Supplemental 403(b) Retirement Plan in which the District will contribute “an amount equal to the employee’s maximum allowable” by law, which according to the IRS is currently $20,500.
5. Expense Reimbursement of $750 per month.
6. Lifetime Retiree Health Insurance Benefits,
7. A new $6000 benefit per year to purchase life insurance. (The District currently contributes $13.32 per year for other employees.)
8. A new Disability Insurance benefit “not to exceed $7,700 per year.” (The District currently does not pay anything for disability for other employees.)

Our students deserve better.