Sacramento City Unified School District

The issuing by the Sacramento City Unified School District of potential layoff notices to dozens of veteran teachers because they haven't earned a special credential to teach English-language learners has some crying foul. Teachers and their union representatives said the school board made an arbitrary decision to change the deadline for earning the credential, placing teachers with decades of experience in danger of losing their jobs.

The issuing by the Sacramento City Unified School District of potential layoff notices to dozens of veteran teachers because they haven't earned a special credential to teach English-language learners has some crying foul. Teachers and their union representatives said the school board made an arbitrary decision to change the deadline for earning the credential, placing teachers with decades of experience in danger of losing their jobs.

As workers saluted themselves across California on Monday at traditional Labor Day gatherings or headed out to barbecues and the beach, teachers in three school districts made preparations for possible strikes. The atmosphere was not relaxed in Sacramento and San Jose, where three school districts faced potential teachers strikes as school was set to open. A walkout in the Sacramento City Unified School District and the neighboring San Juan Unified School District would affect 94,000 children.

If educators are looking to evaluate California's impending school reforms, they need only visit the state capital. There, Sacramento's own campuses have already established the types of bold changes that lawmakers have recently mandated for the state's 8,000 schools. Sacramento ranks its campuses by test scores, holds schools accountable for academic progress and requires regimented phonics programs in its elementary and middle schools.

In a decision hailed by advocates for the handicapped, a federal judge ruled that a 9-year-old mentally disabled girl should be allowed to attend a regular public classroom. U.S. District Judge David Levy rejected the argument of Sacramento City Unified School District officials that Rachel Holland should spend at least half of her time in a special-education class.

Striking Sacramento teachers rallied at the state Capitol on Friday as talks broke down with no date for resumption. More than 1,200 of the Sacramento City Unified School District's 2,000 teachers remained off their jobs for the fourth day Friday. Negotiations broke off at 12:30 a.m. Friday. Paula Caplinger, spokeswoman for the Sacramento City Teachers Assn., said the district walked out of the meeting.

About 2,500 teachers, counselors and nurses on Tuesday rejected the Sacramento City Unified School District's offer and went on strike on the first day of classes after negotiations that stretched into the early morning. In the nearby San Juan School District, however, teachers earlier agreed to postpone their threatened strike while they seek the help of a mediator in their talks. And in San Jose, a tentative contract settlement was announced shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

If educators are looking to evaluate California's impending school reforms, they need only visit the state capital. There, Sacramento's own campuses have already established the types of bold changes that lawmakers have recently mandated for the state's 8,000 schools. Sacramento ranks its campuses by test scores, holds schools accountable for academic progress and requires regimented phonics programs in its elementary and middle schools.

Teachers of the Sacramento City Unified School District, seventh largest in California, went on strike today after the collapse of contract talks. Administrators said that the district's 75 schools were open and that most students were attending school, although some classrooms had no teachers. About 400 substitutes from a pool of 700 were believed to be working along with a few hundred teachers who did not honor picket lines.

As it faces a possible $27-million budget shortfall, the Sacramento City Unified School District may eliminate or combine some of its elementary schools as one of many cost-cutting measures under consideration. Declining enrollment in elementary schools -- and indications that that trend will continue -- led to the school closure study, district officials said. The study has not been completed or presented to the school board for a vote.

In a decision hailed by advocates for the handicapped, a federal judge ruled that a 9-year-old mentally disabled girl should be allowed to attend a regular public classroom. U.S. District Judge David Levy rejected the argument of Sacramento City Unified School District officials that Rachel Holland should spend at least half of her time in a special-education class.

Striking Sacramento teachers rallied at the state Capitol on Friday as talks broke down with no date for resumption. More than 1,200 of the Sacramento City Unified School District's 2,000 teachers remained off their jobs for the fourth day Friday. Negotiations broke off at 12:30 a.m. Friday. Paula Caplinger, spokeswoman for the Sacramento City Teachers Assn., said the district walked out of the meeting.

About 2,500 teachers, counselors and nurses on Tuesday rejected the Sacramento City Unified School District's offer and went on strike on the first day of classes after negotiations that stretched into the early morning. In the nearby San Juan School District, however, teachers earlier agreed to postpone their threatened strike while they seek the help of a mediator in their talks. And in San Jose, a tentative contract settlement was announced shortly before 1 a.m. Tuesday.

As workers saluted themselves across California on Monday at traditional Labor Day gatherings or headed out to barbecues and the beach, teachers in three school districts made preparations for possible strikes. The atmosphere was not relaxed in Sacramento and San Jose, where three school districts faced potential teachers strikes as school was set to open. A walkout in the Sacramento City Unified School District and the neighboring San Juan Unified School District would affect 94,000 children.

Nickolas Siokos, assistant superintendent of personnel services in the Placentia Unified School District, became acting superintendent Tuesday. The school board is seeking a permanent replacement for Supt. Keith Larick, who will become superintendent of the Sacramento City Unified School District. The board has said that finding a new superintendent may take up to six months. Siokos has been with the school district since 1971.