A vote by trustees of the Sacramento Unified School District to close the low-performing Sacramento City High School and turn it into a charter school is no more than a veiled attempt by administrators to rout the teachers union, says the Sacramento City Teachers Association, which is vowing to fight the decision at the State Board of Education.
"We believe the major reason for the school board's decision is to get rid of the teachers' contract, pure and simple. It was the wrong decision by the board; it is the wrong decision for students, teachers and the community," says Sacramento City Teachers Association President Tom Rogers.
The board of trustees voted Jan. 22 to close the venerable but troubled high school and allow a faith-based group the opportunity to turn it into an independent charter school. At this point, the group in line to make the charter proposal to the district is the St. Hope Corporation, an organization directed by former basketball star and Sac City alumnus, Kevin Johnson.
Although state law allows the conversion of an existing school to a charter if half of the current faculty agrees to the change, the district instead sought to close the school completely at the end of the school year in June. Days after the vote, Superintendent James Sweeney admitted his rationale for closing the school was to circumvent the district's collective bargaining agreement with the SCTA.
SCTA and CTA are contemplating a number of responses to prevent it from happening.
The second oldest high school west of the Mississippi, Sacramento City High has been plagued by problems for several years, and, in 1999, was volunteered into the state's Immediate Intervention/ Underperforming Schools Program (II/USP). However, after two years in the program, the 2,000-student school failed to improve and now faces sanctions and a possible takeover by the state as a result. The school joins 23 others on a list of schools statewide that could face sanctions.
Teachers at the school maintain the district made a number of crucial errors in implementing reforms without enough forethought and resources, and abandoned programs that showed promise. Several programs were introduced and then cut due to budget problems, while others never worked in the first place.
"We know changes need to be made at Sac City High School, but abandoning the school, closing it down, and opening it as an independent charter school is not in the best interest of all students," says Rogers.
SCTA along with parents and community members, the NAACP, the Urban League, and Area Congregations Together (ACT) had urged the trustees to let the state intervene and impose sanctions rather than close the school. They've packed two school board meetings with hundreds of people who support keeping the school open.
"The district and the board are looking for an easy way out, when there is still time to find a solution that will benefit the students of Sac City," says Rogers. "I think that's what our community really wants."
Dale Martin
