Dear Colleagues:

John Castro gets it.

At a ceremony last night, Earl Warren Elementary School teacher John Castro was named the Esquire Imax News 10 Teacher of the Year, besting 11 candidates from other districts. Mr. Castro, a fourth grade teacher, was honored for his use of technology and his tireless efforts to engage families in their children’s learning.

Mr. Castro gives all of his students his cell phone number and has a website where parents can see video clips of class projects and download homework. He also visits his students’ homes. “It’s a way to get to know their families,” Mr. Castro said in his News 10 video interview. “We don’t talk about school work. We don’t talk about how their kids are doing. That might creep into it a little bit, but I want to know what the child likes doing at home, where your family is from – those kinds of things.”

Mr. Castro understands a fundamental principle that all public urban school districts must embrace to be successful: When it comes to our mission of educating children, we can’t do it alone. We need partners. We need teamwork. We need cooperation and collaboration.

This idea was reinforced at two other events this week. On Tuesday afternoon, we opened our new Parent Resource Center at the Serna Center. By working with community partners and staff, a vacant first-floor area was transformed into a place where parents can get information about how best to support their child’s education. Later that same day, the Sacramento Council of PTAs honored 17 outstanding district eighth graders at its “Growing into Greatness” awards ceremony.

As each student was called to the podium at the PTA event, a narrative about their accomplishments was read. The achievements were astounding – the students maintained high grades, played sports, participated in the arts and led by example as role models and tutors for their classmates. These students truly represent the “best and brightest,” the kind of future leaders society demands.

Of course, all of those accomplishments came with the support of school staffs, principals, teachers and families. It’s a cliché but it’s true: It takes a village to raise a child, especially in these economic times. We are grateful and appreciative of all our employees who are committed to seeing our district as one organization – one team – and have joined us in our efforts to progress toward excellence and overcome our financial struggles.

Many have made sacrifices to help ease our current fiscal crisis – a problem that we can’t wish away. Employees represented by four of our five collective bargaining units have agreed to take three furlough days next year to lessen the pain of budget cuts. We are still hoping that Sacramento City Teachers Association leadership, too, will agree to action that will save positions and programs. We are here and ready to roll up our sleeves.

During a campus visit this week, a question was raised over whether concessions from SCTA would be used to save counseling positions and teaching jobs. I would like to answer that question: Yes.  Money saved would result in the retention of teaching and counseling positions.

Additionally, I’d like to address a misconception that the Governor’s May Revise of the state budget is rosier than had been predicted and will make some cuts unnecessary. This is not true. In fact, adjustments in the May Revise increase our deficit by a couple of million dollars because we now receive less per student than what we had projected. Working to close the deficit is a top priority and will take innovation and cooperation.

Again, teamwork.

Finally, I’d like to once again thank all of our hard-working employees for all you do throughout the year to put children first. I wish you all a restful and much deserved three-day weekend.

Sincerely,

Jonathan P. Raymond

Superintendent

Sacramento City Unified School District

5735 - 47th Avenue

Sacramento, CA  95824

(916) 643-9000

(916) 643-9480 fax