News Messenger 08/31/15

Welcome!
Looking Forward to Making 2015-16 a Real Success

With the 2015-16 school year just days away from beginning, we wanted to extend our warmest welcome to those educators who are returning as well as to the dozens of new hires to the District.

With enhanced revenue to the District as a result of the State’s Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF), for the first time in a long time, our District is in a position to discuss make real improvements towards our goal of making Sac City a Destination District.

On behalf of the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) we’re looking forward to working with you again this year to be the advocate that Sac City educators, parents and students so vitally need.

Nikki Milevsky,President, SCTA

David Fisher, 1st Vice-President, SCTA

Election of SCTA Worksite Reps
Process Will Begin Soon

SCTA educators throughout the District will soon be holding elections to determine the local, worksite reps throughout the school district.

Worksite reps are the heart and soul of SCTA.  Our Representative Council, which meets monthly, consists of worksite reps from throughout the District.

In addition to serving on the Rep Council, worksite reps help to keep our association organized by keeping co-workers informed through staff meetings and other updates and ensure that the contract is enforced.  Typically, worksite reps also coordinate Liaison Committee which facilitate discussion between teachers at schools and their administrators.

We expect sites to complete the election process by October 1st.

CTA Membership Cards
Should already have arrived

CTA, our parent association, recently mailed out membership cards to SCTA members.

Membership in CTA provides an number of benefits, some of which can be viewed here.

Because there movement of teachers over the years, without correcting being made, it is possible that the worksite listed on your card does not match your actual worksite.

If there are errors in your membership card, please correct the information on the card and return it through a District mailer to us at the SCTA office, 5300 Elvas Avenue, Sacramento, CA 95819.

Teacher Shortage Draws National Attention
And creates big opportunity here at SCUSD

Recently, the New York Times published a story on the teacher shortage across the country, which you can view here.  The shortage is especially acute here in California where some estimate approximately 25,000 job openings.

This recent attention highlights what we have been strongly advocating with the District, the need to spend resources to recruit and retain teachers.  From our perspective recruitment and retention has at least four components.   First, make the working conditions in schools such that teachers want to come to Sac City and stay here, by having class sizes that are manageable and the most conducive to learning.  Second, pay competitive wages, which is why we have proposed re-opening the contract to raise teacher salaries.  Third, the District needs to stop its attacks on educators’ benefits.  The healthcare “change” was a fiasco that should never be repeated.  And fourth, the District needs to work with us create a recruitment plan to identify the best and brightest new teachers and to mentor those new teachers to encourage them to make their careers in Sac City.

Contact:

SCTA
(916)452-4591 or visit our website.