President
Patrick Bernhardt was elected SJTA president in 2017, after having served seven years as chair of the union’s bargaining team, two terms as the high school director on its executive board, and ten years as a faculty representative. He joined SJUSD in 2001 and has taught a variety of middle and high school courses in mathematics, computer science, history, and English, most recently at Pioneer High School.
Bernhardt currently serves as chair of the Santa Clara County Service Center Council, which supports and coordinates all local teachers unions in the county. He is also an elected delegate to the California Teachers Association’s statewide governing body, the State Council of Education, where he chairs the communications policy subcommittee.
Prior to entering education, Bernhardt worked in marketing communications for a major Silicon Valley enterprise software company. He holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford and a teaching credential from San José State. He lives in San José with his wife, who is an elementary school teacher in SJUSD, and their daughter, who is a student in SJUSD.
Vice President
Renata Sanchez was elected SJTA vice president in 2017. She has also served as a member of the bargaining team since 2014 and on the executive board as a State Council delegate since 2015. Prior to this, she was a faculty representative at Empire Gardens Elementary and Gardner Academy from 2010 to 2015. She joined SJUSD in 2008 as a 4th grade teacher. She taught in upper elementary classrooms until making a transition to site instructional coaching in 2013. She is currently the site instructional coach at Allen at Steinbeck Elementary School.
In addition, Sanchez supports CTA legislative priorities as part of the Grassroots Lobbying program and currently sits on the planning committees for the CTA Issues Conference and the CTA Region 1 Leadership Conference. She is the vice chair of the Professional Rights and Responsibilities committee for CTA’s State Council of Education.
Sanchez holds an undergraduate degree from Stanford, graduate degrees from Alliant International and Concordia University, and a National Board Certification in Middle Childhood Teaching. She lives in San José with her roommate and their pets.
Secretary-Treasurer
Johanna Latz was elected SJTA secretary-treasurer in 2017, after having served ten years as chair of the elections committee and 20+ years as a faculty representative at Bachrodt, Willow Glen, and Booksin elementary schools. She joined SJUSD in 1989 and has taught mainly special education at the primary level.
Latz also currently serves as an active member of SJTA-PAC, the South Bay Labor Council, and Santa Clara County Democratic Activists for Women Now (DAWN).
Latz holds an undergraduate degree in natural science from San José State, a teaching credential from Cal State East Bay, and two master’s degrees in special education and administration from San José State. She lives in San José and enjoys hiking, golfing, and gardening in her spare time.
Executive Director
Michael Hickey has been Executive Director of SJTA since January 2022. Michael previously served for over 6 years as the president of the United Teachers of Santa Clara, which represents the certificated employees of Santa Clara Unified School District. Before taking on this role, Michael worked as a bilingual (Spanish) elementary school teacher for over a decade at various grade levels.