{"id":318242,"date":"2026-05-16T02:36:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T02:36:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/318242\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T02:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T02:36:14","slug":"sacramento-teacher-union-puts-six-figures-into-county-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/318242\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacramento teacher union puts six-figures into county race"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Abridged version:<\/p>\n

The Sacramento City Teachers Association contributed more than $360,000 combined to two candidates vying for seats on the Sacramento County Office of Education board in the June 2 election.<\/p>\n

The six-figure donations represent an above-average interest in a typically lower profile election. Union leadership said they are backing overdue change at the county board.<\/p>\n

Trustees for the county education office oversee school districts, authorize charter schools and appoint the next superintendent. The current superintendent, Dave Gordon, is leaving in 2027.<\/p>\n

The Sacramento City Teachers Association is putting big bucks behind candidates vying for a spot at the top of the county\u2019s education office, signaling high stakes in a typically lower profile election.<\/p>\n

The union that represents about 2,500 teachers in the Sacramento City Unified School District has contributed more than $360,000 combined to candidates Annie Fischer and Davon Thomas, each running for a seat on the Sacramento County Office of Education board. <\/p>\n

Some of Thomas\u2019 and Fischer\u2019s opponents also received hefty chunks of change in early May, though still well below the figures flowing from the teachers union, known for throwing its weight in money and endorsements behind school board candidates.<\/p>\n

Their high investment in this year\u2019s county elections reflect the union\u2019s interest in influencing the board\u2019s impending superintendent appointment, as well as what union leadership called repeated failures in oversight.<\/p>\n

The county Office of Education supervises 13 school districts, plus the Los Rios Community College District. It also directly operates a handful of schools, responsible for the education of roughly 30,000 students.<\/p>\n

Three seats on the county board are up for election in 2026. In the race for Area 2, covering North Sacramento to Antelope, incumbent Mariana Corona Sabeniano has no challengers.<\/p>\n

And there is no runoff election for these seats \u2014 whoever gets the most votes on June 2 wins.<\/p>\n

Superintendent opening imminent<\/p>\n

The board is responsible for appointing a superintendent, a task that has not come up in over two decades.<\/p>\n

Superintendent Dave Gordon announced his retirement last year. After 21 years leading the county office, Gordon will step down June 2027.<\/p>\n

Gordon has been a regular target for criticism by the teachers union. The search for his successor is already underway<\/a>, though whoever is elected this summer will be among the final decision makers.<\/p>\n

Asked if that was a factor in the heavy campaign donations, Sacramento City Teachers Association President Nikki Milevsky said the union is taking into account all of the board\u2019s responsibility.<\/p>\n

Union versus charters<\/p>\n

The union\u2019s six-figure contributions \u2014 $169,327 to Fischer and $191,540 to Thomas \u2014 represent substantially more money than typically pumped into Sacramento County Office of Education elections.<\/p>\n

Fischer is running against incumbent Paul Keefer, in a race to represent the Rio Linda, Arden Arcade and Carmichael area.<\/p>\n

Keefer received $45,388 in donations this month from the Charter Public Schools Political Action Committee. The charter school advocates regularly contribute tens of thousands of dollars to county education office candidates, who, if elected, would have final say in questions of charter school authorizations.<\/p>\n

In Area 1, which covers a major portion of Sacramento City Unified, Thomas faces Dominique Donette, Ralph Merletti and Anna Molander Hermann.<\/p>\n

Donette also received $42,422 recently from the charter school committee, along with a $10,000 contribution from state Sen. Angelique Ashby.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that charter school interests are spending heavily to protect the status quo should tell voters everything they need to know to make an informed choice,\u201d Thomas said in a statement. \u201cEducators and classified staff support my campaign because they know I\u2019ll fight for stronger accountability and public education.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abridged sought comment from Fischer, Donette and Keefer but received none by publication.<\/p>\n

\u2018Long-overdue change\u2019<\/p>\n

Milevsky, in a statement, said the county board is in need of an overhaul.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhether it\u2019s failing to provide oversight to charter schools that have misused at least $180 million in taxpayer dollars, or allowing school districts to avoid spending $128 million directly on classrooms as required by state law, or the abysmal graduation rates for its own students, the SCOE board has failed our community,\u201d Milevsky said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools in Sacramento came under fire last summer when a state audit found a laundry list of violations, including $180 million in funds it was ineligible to receive.<\/p>\n

The charter system is overseen by the Twin Rivers Unified School District school board, which in January voted to revoke Highlands\u2019 charter<\/a>. Highlands\u2019 new superintendent and board are appealing that decision to the county office.<\/p>\n

Also in Twin Rivers, educators went on a record-long strike in March. Among their grievances was that the district consistently fell below the state required minimum for teacher compensation. The gap over six years, union leaders estimated, added up to more than $120 million.<\/p>\n

\u201cEducators across Sacramento County are united in supporting Davon Thomas and Annie Fischer to lead this long-overdue change,\u201d Milevsky said.<\/p>\n

Savannah Kuchar is a reporter covering education. She came to Sacramento to be a part of the Abridged team and contribute to a crucial local news source.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Abridged version: The Sacramento City Teachers Association contributed more than $360,000 combined to two candidates vying for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-318242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}