Sacramento Unified School District Teachers Set Wednesday Deadline For Strike

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — If a deal isn't reached by Wednesday, teachers are prepared to go on strike, the Sacramento City Teachers Association announced on Thursday.

The strike follows 13 months of negotiations with the Sacramento City Unified School District. Some parents are now worried about their children's education.

The strike would be the district's first since 1989.

Teachers district-wide are asking for higher wages, smaller classrooms, more art and music classes and more diversity in teacher recruitment.

While hundreds of teachers are celebrating, Kristie Corcoran is worried about her daughters' education.

She's angry over the pending strike but says she understands why teachers are walking out.

Her daughters attend Sutter Middle School, and now Corcoran says she doesn't know how long their education is going to be put on hold.

"I honestly can't even believe it, it's just crazy, and this is such a fabulous school, and to think that they are missing out on even a day of the instruction here, and the quality of teachers they have is very saddening," said Corcoran.

A spokesman for the district sent CBS13 a statement, saying in part: "We are disappointed that the union called a strike which is only going to hurt our kids. They should have waited for the resolution process to be completed before calling a strike."

The teachers union says it's been negotiating with the district since last year.

The district says more than 1,000 substitute teachers from around the region have already applied to fill in when the strike begins.