Hundreds of teachers across Twin Rivers Unified School District showed up at their school Thursday morning, but instead of going to their classrooms they gathered outside with picket signs.
Today marks the first day of the Twin Rivers teachers’ first strike in the history of the district. Union leaders say they are fighting for improved compensation, fully paid employer healthcare and smaller class sizes.
The district serves roughly 25,000 students spread across 49 schools in Sacramento, North Highlands and Rio Linda. It was created in a 2008 merger of several elementary school districts with the Grant Joint Union High School District.
This story will be updated throughout Thursday, as the strike proceeds.
Rally near district office
Hundreds of teachers and supporters coalesced at the Twin Rivers district office at McClellan Park around 10:30 a.m., dancing and drumming to the music of Lorde, Latin artist Luis Fonsi and Aretha Franklin’s iconic anthem, “Respect.”
Hordes of educators took over Dudley Boulevard, where the district office is located. They created a sea of yellow and red just in front of the office. Their colorful signs read “We can’t wait for the future our students deserve” and “On strike for students.”
Katelyn Petifer, a new teacher at Village TK-8 School, said that managing a class of 31 fifth graders has been “extremely difficult” and that large special education caseloads prevent students from getting the services they need in their home schools.
By 11:15 a.m., around 1,000 teachers, students and supporters were in attendance.
Several speakers, including Twin Rivers United Educators union president Brittoni Ward, California Teachers Association President David Goldberg and several other local union leaders spoke to the crowd from atop a truck in the middle of the street.
Bargaining chair Sara Cavalari led a popular chant: “Martinez, you’re no good. Sign our contract like you should.” The chant referenced outgoing Twin Rivers superintendent Steve Martinez, who recently announced that he will leave in October.
In her speech to the crowd, Ward commended fellow teachers for showing up and chastised the district for “creating the crisis” Twin Rivers schools by not moving on their end of negotiations.
She said that in their most recent bargaining session, the only change the district made to their proposal was the correction of a typo. “For over a year now we have been willing and ready and prepared to bargain in good faith. We tried that out again on Tuesday and you know what? They just fixed a typo, y’all,” Ward said, prompting a wave of boos from the crowd.
Princess Moss, vice president of the National Education Association, spoke about local teachers’ struggle and conditions in the profession across the United States.
“You know Twin Rivers, I love you, but this fight is so much bigger than Twin Rivers,” Moss said. “Every educator in this country deserves to earn enough to survive on the one job they love, educating our future.”
Hundreds of striking teachers and supporters coalesce at the Twin Rivers Unified district office at McClellan Park on Thursday, the strike’s first day. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com
The crowd dispersed around noon, grabbing catered tamales on their way out.
Ward said it was emotional and beautiful to see teachers at the rally.
“It is really just a testament to how strong our union is, how much they care about their students, that they’re here,” Ward said. “They’re doing this so we can do better for them.”
Ward said they last heard from the district Tuesday and they are waiting to be invited back to negotiate. If not, pickets at school sites and another rally will follow Friday.
How many Twin Rivers teachers are striking today
The teachers are members of the Twin Rivers United Educators union, or TRUE.
Jackie Howard, a CTA spokesperson said in an emailed statement that 1,500 TRUE members would picket Thursday. Howard’s statement noted that the strike came “despite over 14 months of good faith bargaining by TRUE.”
TRUE is one of several teachers unions across the state clashing with their employing districts, part of a statewide campaign by CTA to improve conditions for teachers and mount upward pressure on state legislators to provide more funding for education.
Marching alongside teachers of Grant Union High School was Goldberg.
“Working people are saying ‘we’ve had enough’ all across the state,” Goldberg said. “So this is driven first and foremost by the conditions here at school sites.”
David Goldberg, president of the California Teachers Association, joins Twin Rivers Unified School District teachers during a strike in front of Grant High School in Sacramento on Thursday. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com District responds: ‘This strike did not have to happen’
In a statement provided at about 10 a.m. Thursday, Twin Rivers spokesperson Zenobia Gerald called on union leadership to resume negotiations and for teachers to return to their classrooms.
“This strike did not have to happen, and it does not have to continue,” Gerald wrote. “Instead of being in classrooms with their students, teachers are on the picket line after choosing to strike rather than continue negotiations. A fair, independently validated contract offer is on the table right now.”
The statement noted that the district was offering a raise of 4.71% over the two-year agreement as well as “full Kaiser HMO family health coverage, 100% district-paid for both years.” This would include medical, vision and dental to employees and families “at zero cost to the employee, a benefit valued at approximately $27,000 per year per family,” the statement said.
Roughly 100 teachers protest outside Grant High
About 100 Grant teachers flooded Grand Avenue near the Del Paso Heights high school around 8:30 a.m., repeating classic union chants and some special to Twin Rivers, targeting Superintendent Steve Martinez.
The strike also drew support from students like Oliver Gaara, a Grant freshman.
“I have a lot of teachers here who have supported me in my academic career and I will support them through all of this, especially because I’m someone who will always side with the working class,” Gaara said.
Grant High School student Oliver Gaara, right, holds a handmade sign as he participates in a strike by Twin Rivers Unified School District teachers in front of his school in Sacramento on Thursday. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com
In a speech to striking Grant High teachers, Ward said they were ready for the district to come back to the negotiating table. “When they are willing and ready to come to bargain in good faith with a proper proposal… then we will meet. We are ready,” she said. “We will win this.”
Grant High history and ethnic studies teacher Ramon Castillo Juarez said that he has struggled due to large class sizes since he joined the school district four years ago. He said he has about 40 kids in each of his classes.
“I would definitely say the overcrowded conditions in the classroom made my first few years extremely difficult,” he said. “Just in terms of class management, every teacher has struggled with it.”
He also said that before the union was approaching a strike, he was considering applying to another school district or getting a second job to relieve his financial stress.
As the morning rolled on, more students joined their teachers. Some came directly from home, while some left a morning assembly to support teachers.
One student said that he jumped the fence to join the picket line because school police were monitoring the school entrances and exits.
James Van Buren, right, a special education teacher and drum line instructor, and Rebecca Henry, left, a curriculum support teacher, strike with Twin Rivers Unified School District teachers in front of Grant High School in Sacramento on Thursday. RENÉE C. BYER rbyer@sacbee.com Teachers rally outside Madison Elementary School
Teachers rallied outside Madison Elementary School Thursday morning around 8:30 a.m. calling for better pay and working conditions.
Drucilla Ramirez, a third grade bilingual teacher and organizing chair for the union, said some classes have as many as 34 students and teachers don’t have aides in the classroom.
“It can become very stressful for the teacher,” Ramirez said. “We want our students to thrive. But with limited resources, being one body in the classroom, it’s very difficult.”
A group of 32 district employees marched from Madison Elementary School to the Madison Avenue Interstate 80 overpass, waved signs and chanted to cars passing below. An organizer said most are Madison employees, though some work at multiple locations.
Striking teachers from Madison Elementary School, part of the Twin Rivers Unified School District, picket at the Madison Avenue Interstate 80 overpass on Thursday. ANNIKA MERRILEES amerrilees@sacbee.com
Teachers made clear that health care costs will remain a key sticking point in negotiations.
Ramirez, the third grade teacher, said her family pays $1,500 a month under her plan. “It’s a pretty tight budget,” she said.
Lisa Gant, another third grade teacher, said she and her husband pay $1,400 per month. Especially for new teachers, salaries can look appealing, Gant said. But then benefits take a hit. Gant said some of her colleagues work second jobs driving for ride share services, running Etsy shops or selling lesson plans online.
“I don’t know, after teaching all day here, how you pull yourself together to work somewhere else,” Gant said.
The teachers returned to the school, and as they marched along Madison Avenue, students crowded to the edge of the playground, waving and shouting, jumping up and down, chanting one of the teacher’s names.
“We’re celebrities,” Ramirez said.
The teachers dispersed around 9:40 a.m., with plans to gather for another union rally later in the day. “Same time tomorrow,” Ramirez told attendees through her megaphone. “Fourth grade is bringing donuts.”
Parents weigh options
As teachers rallied by Madison Elementary School around 8:30 a.m., parents determined whether to keep their children home or send them into the school.
Alexis Taylor of North Highlands opted to keep her three children home from the school for the day. She was told their classes would be combined with others and taught by substitutes. Taylor said she’s supportive of the strike. But her children struggle to learn when substitutes are teaching.
Rosaelena Ramos, another North Highlands resident, dropped her son off for kindergarten at Madison on Thursday morning. His class would be covered by a substitute, Ramos said.
She brought her son in early to help him adjust. He did well, she said, once he saw his classmates.
“Kids learn better in smaller crowds,” Ramos said.
Her daughter’s transitional kindergarten class was canceled because it is difficult to find substitutes who are credentialed to teach the early childhood education track.
Ramos had childcare Thursday for her daughter, while she went to work. But if classes don’t resume, Ramos may have to have her daughter stay with family.
Despite the complications, Ramos said she fully supports the teachers’ efforts.
“Everybody deserves a chance for better opportunities,” Ramos said. “In our country we should have that.”
Concern over healthcare, facilities, class size
Hayden Williams-Moran, a high school junior, joined his mother Debra Williams at the rally outside the district office because he wanted to see the district’s administration prioritize teachers like his mother. “They only do things for their own benefit, and they don’t worry about what the teachers need, or even what the school or the students need,” he said.
While her son is covered by her husband’s better health plan, Debra Williams, a 20-year teacher at Creative Connections Academy said that the district forces her to take its lower quality, more expensive insurance.
Beyond the cost of health care, Williams said that one of her biggest concerns is the conditions of school facilities. She said that her fifth grade classroom has no running water for students to wash their hands or get drinking water from. The HVAC system is regularly out in some classrooms, she said, which has become problematic in the summer and winter months.
Williams’ class size is manageable this year at 24 students in her fifth grade classroom. But she said this is the first time in many years that she has had fewer than 30 students.
She is disappointed that the district hasn’t moved on any of the facilities-related demands the union has made at the bargaining table.
“There’s going to have to be compromise, but it’s pretty insulting when the staff in the district office has nice facilities and plenty of air conditioning,” she said.
Potential sub shortage looms
Should the strike drag on, the school district will be under growing pressure to have sufficient teachers for its students. Madison Elementary staffed up with substitute teachers, Gant said, but even still was combining students together from different classes.
Should the Natomas Teachers Association also go on strike — as they have threatened to do on March 10, unless the district makes concessions on compensation, health benefits and special education conditions — the supply of substitute teachers in the region will be even tighter. And some, Gant speculated, may not choose to work, in solidarity with the union.
Twin Rivers spokesperson Zenobia Gerald didn’t immediately respond to a request seeking comment about this situation.
SMUD museum offers free weekday admission for affected students
For parents who opt not to send their children into class in Twin Rivers schools during the strike, there’s another educational option: the SMUD Museum of Science and Curiosity, which is offering free weekday admission for students affected by the strike.
The museum, located at 400 Jibboom St. in Sacramento, falls within the district boundary of Twin Rivers — which includes the River District, parts of Natomas and Del Paso Heights in the city of Sacramento.
The statement said the museum will provide free admission for students from the Twin Rivers district on weekdays after 1:30 p.m. Parents and caregivers can get in for $15. Proof of school name and ZIP code is required.
Former Sacramento City Councilman Steve Hansen, who is board president for the museum, said the museum hadn’t taken a position on the strike but wanted to support the students.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 9:26 AM.
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Graham Womack is a general assignment reporter for The Sacramento Bee. Prior to joining The Bee full-time in September 2025, he freelanced for the publication for several years. His work has won several California Journalism Awards and spurred state legislation.