Statement from SCTA President David Fisher regarding the Health Plan Savings and the Budget Fiasco at SCUSD

Statement from Sacramento City Teachers Association
President David Fisher regarding the
Health Plan Savings and the
Budget Fiasco at Sacramento City Unified School District
December 6, 2018

The unprecedented rejection of the Sacramento City Unified School District budget by the Sacramento County Office of Education in August was the clearest statement of the fundamental problems in our school District.
 

To address the budget crisis, the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) made a proposal to the District on September 13, 2018, that would immediately save the District $16.6 million, by primarily curbing bureaucratic bloat and ensuring that any cuts did not affect the classroom.  The District has not responded to our proposal.
 

In addition, last November 2017 (even before there was a budget crisis), as part of our contract settlement with the District, SCTA reached a written agreement with the District to work together to explore potential savings to health plans so that those dollars could be redirected from insurance companies and back into the classroom while maintaining the same level of benefits for educators.
 

As a result of that agreement, we have already helped the District to save approximately $5 million for 2018-19, with the potential for even greater savings in 2019-20 and years beyond.
 

We have been pressing the District to initiate more focused, health plan directed conversations for months, and are pleased that the District may finally be prepared to do so in accordance with the contract we signed with the District over one year ago.
 

We look forward to working with the District and representatives from the County and the State to address the long-term financial viability of the District and to address the immediate budget fiasco.