Union-backed candidates sweep Sacramento school board election. Was teacher strike behind it?

Three newcomer candidates won Sacramento City Unified school board seats with backing from the teachers union in November’s election.

But although the election followed a contentious eight-day teacher strike in the spring, two of the winning candidates believe that frustration over the way the district handled the labor dispute was not the primary issue in voters’ minds.

Tara Jeane, who won the Area 1 seat vacated by Lisa Murawski, said that while she was campaigning, “Yes, the strike was mentioned. But it wasn’t a consistent thing.”

Instead, she said, voters seemed to see the strike as a symptom of something deeper. “Just about everybody that I talked to has a sense that something’s broken in Sac City,” Jeane said. “Something isn’t working. And the strike showed that.”

Jasjit Singh and Taylor Kayatta, who both beat incumbent school board members, said communication was one of the biggest issues voters brought up during their campaigns: Parents felt they didn’t know what was going on with the district.

“Folks were really just concerned about the lack of transparency and information they were receiving from the district,” said Singh, who beat Leticia Garcia to represent Area 2, which covers East Sacramento and parts of adjacent neighborhoods. “Most people were just concerned about the day-to-day business of the school district and how they just don’t feel heard. They don’t understand what’s going on at the district level.”

The superintendent, Jorge Aguilar, has had a troubled relationship with school labor unions. In 2021, votes by teachers and unionized school staffers showed over 95% of participants had no confidence in his leadership. Though the district had proposed cutting teacher pay in December 2021, both faculty and classified staff got raises and bonuses after the strike. Before the 2022 strike, teachers had walked out in 2019 and almost walked out in 2021 and 2017.

Jeane, Singh and Kayatta said they are entering their new relationship with Aguilar with open minds.

“I have told everyone since I decided to run: I’m not running to throw out the superintendent,” said Kayatta, who unseated Darrel Woo to represent Area 6, which covers Pocket/Greenhaven. “I don’t necessarily think that’s the answer. … I think that if he can work with the new board, and kind of follow the direction that we are prepared to give, that it can be a collaborative experience.”

Aguilar said something similar: “I have been in contact with all three incoming trustees and look forward to developing positive working relationships with them in service of all students in our district.”

With the 2022 wins by Singh, Jeane and Kayatta, a majority of the board members are people who were backed by the teachers union.

“We are very pleased,” said David Fisher, the president of the Sacramento City Teachers Association. He continued, members “appreciate that voters, as well as educators at all levels in the district, clearly want to see a new, more collaborative, direction at SCUSD.”