Reya Pope pickets with teachers and supporters outside the Washington Unified School District office in West Sacramento on Tuesday.
JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS
jvillegas@sacbee.com
As teachers unions from two Sacramento-area school districts continued to strike on Tuesday, a third district’s teachers association is one step closer to joining the picket lines.
The Washington Unified School District and the West Sacramento Teachers Association began their fact-finding process Tuesday with a meeting at the district’s offices on Westacre Road in West Sacramento. Outside the building, educators from the district held a rally, holding signs and shouting chants in support of the teachers association.
Fact-finding is a step in the process triggered when a district and its union are unable to agree upon a contract. A panel consisting of a representative from the district, a representative from the teachers association and a neutral third member will offer recommendations to help the two parties reach a resolution. A failure to reach a resolution in the fact-finding process could lead to a strike.
Teachers and supporters rally and picket outside the Washington Unified School District office in West Sacramento on Tuesday. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
Teachers can strike as soon as two days after the fact-finding report is released.
The school district said in a March 13 statement that its “ongoing focus is to work toward resolution and to avoid disruption to student learning.”
Members of the teachers association gathered at Tuesday’s rally, banging on drums and shaking tambourines in support of their bargaining team inside the building.
According to Aisha Johnk, an intervention specialist at the district, the rally was a way to show their bargaining team and their students they care about the district and West Sacramento.
“We’re out here today just to show that we still are caring, we still are here, and we still want to support our students in any way possible,” she said.
“We’ve had a very high turnover in this district. In the past three years, we’ve lost 130 teachers either to other districts or retirement. We’re letting the district know that we are not okay with that turnover. We hate losing our colleagues to other districts, and we want to be able to stay here in West Sacramento.”
The district serves about 7,500 students in the city of West Sacramento.
Aisha Johnk, an intervention specialist with the Washington Unified School District, pickets with teachers and supporters outside the district office in West Sacramento on Tuesday. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
The teachers association’s stalemate with the Washington Unified School District is part of a broader trend of standoffs between teachers unions and school districts over salaries, retention and benefits. The Twin Rivers Unified School District educators have been on strike due over issues that include pay and health benefits since March 5. The Natomas Unified School District educators followed suit, launching a strike over similar issues on March 10.
Megan Heringer, PTSA President at Westmore Oaks Elementary School, pickets with teachers and parents outside the Washington Unified School District office in West Sacramento on Tuesday. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com 
Amanda Angel, a fifth-grade teacher at Stone Gate Elementary School, rings cowbells as teachers and parents picket outside the Washington Unified School District office in West Sacramento on Tuesday. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com 
Teachers and supporters picket outside the Washington Unified School District in West Sacramento on Tuesday. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com 
Teachers and supporters picket outside the Washington Unified School District office in West Sacramento on Tuesday. JOSÉ LUIS VILLEGAS jvillegas@sacbee.com
The Sacramento Bee
Award-winning visual journalist José Luis Villegas first joined The Bee in 1992. He has shared a general news Pulitzer Prize for Bay Area earthquake coverage, and teamed with Bee colleague Marcos Bretón for two books on Latino baseball players.