CTA’s State Council of Education has declared a “State of Emergency” during the week of May 9-13 and has approved a series of actions including a sit-in at the state Capitol building in Sacramento and several major regional rallies in order to pressure lawmakers to pass a budget that includes tax extensions to protect schools, colleges, and essential public services from further cuts.
In a demonstration of its commitment, Council passed a resolution approving at least $1 million to implement the action plan.
“The State of Emergency grew out of a grassroots movement. Council wanted to take bold and aggressive action to make sure the state Legislature knows that we are serious when it comes to preserving education in this state,” said CTA President David A. Sanchez. “That’s why we are engaging our chapters and reaching out to other coalition members and labor groups to participate in a week of activities that will culminate in regional rallies. You may not feel you can do absolutely everything, but we can all do one thing.
For several hundred volunteers, that one thing may be a sit-in at the State Capitol building. On the heels of the bold action taken in February by their colleagues in Wisconsin who took over that statehouse, members of State Council voted to send 300 volunteers to sit in at the Capitol for a week. Although details are still to be worked out (California has different regulations for its Capitol building), the volunteers will be “freed” at the end of the week during the statewide rallies.
State Council committees devoted part of their meetings Saturday afternoon to brainstorm possible events for the week in May. What resulted were lots of ideas which will be available to organizers of the activities.
Council adopted the acronym L.E.A.R.N. as a way of organizing activities for the week. On Monday, May 9, the focus will be on LEGISLATIVE activities; on Tuesday, May 10, members will be asked to reach out to EVERY PARENT; Wednesday, May 11, is California Day of the Teacher, a time to APPRECIATE educators and Allies; Thursday, May 12, will be the day to promote the need for REVENUE for schools, and to educate our members and the community about tax fairness. Finally, Friday, May 13, will be the day of NOT Business as Usual, when educators will gather for rallies in Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Fresno or Bakersfield, Inland Empire, and San Diego.
“We were hoping that our legislators would to the job that most Californians want them to do: make the cuts they needed to make, and put the issue of tax extensions on the June ballot. Let the voters decide! But they didn’t, and now we have to step up our level of activity to pressure them to do what’s right. We need a budget that protects schools, colleges and public services from further cuts,” Sanchez said.
More resources and information will be coming soon, but a leader’s guide, member flyer, SOE ideas, and SOE plan are available at www.castateofemergency.org.
Monday, April 11, 2011
Sanchez: "State is having a meltdown"
The state budget, or lack thereof, was very much on the minds of delegates and CTA President David A. Sanchez when State Council met in Los Angeles April 1-3.
Unlike the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanchez told Council that the emergency we’re facing is very much man-made, “and that is a state budget that could result in another 19,000 educator lay-offs and the further erosion of our public schools and colleges. It’s like our state is having a meltdown right in front of us.”
Although CTA and Californians throughout the state supported Gov. Brown’s budget plan of $12.5 billion in cuts and $12.5 billion in revenue extensions, it became clear that Republican lawmakers “have no real interest in solving this budget crisis without destroying public education and other public services,” Sanchez said in his remarks.
Instead of striking a budget deal that would have allowed the public to vote on tax extensions, the lawmakers presented a list of 53 different demands, some of which made the deficit even bigger.
“Their other demands included a host of so-called education reforms and attempts to dismantle the secure retirement system for teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public employees. Governor Brown said NO.”
He continued, “We are in a state of emergency, and we need to take bold action that sends a crystal clear message to Sacramento. “We aren’t going to sit back while the negligence of some lawmakers bankrupts our schools, closes our parks, abandons our sick and elderly, and puts entire communities at risk.”
Unlike the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, Sanchez told Council that the emergency we’re facing is very much man-made, “and that is a state budget that could result in another 19,000 educator lay-offs and the further erosion of our public schools and colleges. It’s like our state is having a meltdown right in front of us.”
Although CTA and Californians throughout the state supported Gov. Brown’s budget plan of $12.5 billion in cuts and $12.5 billion in revenue extensions, it became clear that Republican lawmakers “have no real interest in solving this budget crisis without destroying public education and other public services,” Sanchez said in his remarks.
Instead of striking a budget deal that would have allowed the public to vote on tax extensions, the lawmakers presented a list of 53 different demands, some of which made the deficit even bigger.
“Their other demands included a host of so-called education reforms and attempts to dismantle the secure retirement system for teachers, nurses, firefighters, and other public employees. Governor Brown said NO.”
He continued, “We are in a state of emergency, and we need to take bold action that sends a crystal clear message to Sacramento. “We aren’t going to sit back while the negligence of some lawmakers bankrupts our schools, closes our parks, abandons our sick and elderly, and puts entire communities at risk.”
Carolyn Doggett talks about attacks on Middle Class
On the day before the marking of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 4, CTA Executive Director Carolyn Doggett used her own Sunday morning address to talk about how some of the things King strived for are eroding today.
“We in California and throughout the nation are in the middle of a perfect storm,” Doggett said. “State budget cuts are denying our students the opportunities they deserve and are ultimately destroying the very fabric of our local communities. The attacks on public education, teachers and organized labor are well orchestrated and very well-funded. And, we have a set of tax policies that are destroying the middle class while letting Corporate America take a pass.”
Doggett made note of a few inequities including:
The average CEO earns 185 times more than the average worker.
The richest five percent of Americans claim nearly 64 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 80 percent hold just 13 percent.
The corporate share of our nation’s taxes has fallen from 30 percent of all federal revenues in the mid-1950s to 6.6 percent in 2009.
General Electric, which had a profit of $14.2, billion paid nothing in taxes in 2010.
“At the same time, 14 million Americans are without a job. Child poverty rates and homelessness are at an all-time high. Students can’t afford to go to college and public schools are shutting their doors,” Doggett said. “This is not the America I want for my nieces and nephews.”
Doggett summoned the words Dr. King said to sanitation workers in Memphis:
"You are reminding the nation that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages. The best anti-proverty program for a worker is a union. Now, our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. for now we know that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamberguer and a cup of coffee?"
Doggett further urged Council members to turn out with their colleagues to We Are One rallies that were to occur on April 4 all over the country, as well as to share information from the CTA website on tax fairness.
"We are under attack like never before. The sharks are circling and waiting for us to flounder. It is why we must continue to have a STRONG CTA. A strong voice for our students...for our schools...for our colleges...our union...and our future," she said.
“We in California and throughout the nation are in the middle of a perfect storm,” Doggett said. “State budget cuts are denying our students the opportunities they deserve and are ultimately destroying the very fabric of our local communities. The attacks on public education, teachers and organized labor are well orchestrated and very well-funded. And, we have a set of tax policies that are destroying the middle class while letting Corporate America take a pass.”
Doggett made note of a few inequities including:
The average CEO earns 185 times more than the average worker.
The richest five percent of Americans claim nearly 64 percent of the nation’s wealth, while the bottom 80 percent hold just 13 percent.
The corporate share of our nation’s taxes has fallen from 30 percent of all federal revenues in the mid-1950s to 6.6 percent in 2009.
General Electric, which had a profit of $14.2, billion paid nothing in taxes in 2010.
“At the same time, 14 million Americans are without a job. Child poverty rates and homelessness are at an all-time high. Students can’t afford to go to college and public schools are shutting their doors,” Doggett said. “This is not the America I want for my nieces and nephews.”
Doggett summoned the words Dr. King said to sanitation workers in Memphis:
"You are reminding the nation that it is a crime for people to live in this rich nation and receive starvation wages. The best anti-proverty program for a worker is a union. Now, our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. for now we know that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't earn enough money to buy a hamberguer and a cup of coffee?"
Doggett further urged Council members to turn out with their colleagues to We Are One rallies that were to occur on April 4 all over the country, as well as to share information from the CTA website on tax fairness.
"We are under attack like never before. The sharks are circling and waiting for us to flounder. It is why we must continue to have a STRONG CTA. A strong voice for our students...for our schools...for our colleges...our union...and our future," she said.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Electing Brown, Torlakson Are Huge Wins For Our Students
In the first State Council since the November elections, CTA President David A. Sanchez praised delegates meeting in Los Angeles for their hard work in electing Jerry Brown governor and Tom Torlakson as state superintendent of public instruction.
“You made recommendations, you approved a plan and resources, you showed up to the polls in record numbers – and our students won,” Sanchez said. “All your hard work around the election is paying off.”
He cited the governor’s willingness to meet with CTA and teachers as a good sign. And he praised Brown’s quick appointments to the State Board of Education of real educators as a breakthrough. “This act alone will put an end to the teacher-bashing and blaming that the past State Board participated in.”
He noted that one Brown appointee – Sacramento County educator and CTA legislative advocate Patricia Ann Rucker – will also represent California on the National Common Core Standards Commission.
The governor’s budget proposal is a balanced approach of cuts and revenues to resolve the state’s $25 billion deficit, in part by extending certain taxes, Sanchez said. “We recognize the governor’s attempt to limit cuts to K-12 schools as our students have suffered a majority of the state’s budget cuts in the last few years,” he said. “Extending current revenues is critical to having any hope for maintaining a quality public education system in this state.”
Electing Torlakson means students and educators have a true advocate in Sacramento. “He has already declared a state of financial emergency for California’s schools and urged Californians to come to the aid of schools across the state,” Sanchez said.
He pointed out Torlakson’s public distress over a recent Education Week study that gave California’s education system a C-grade overall – and a D-minus in education spending, ranking the state 43rd in per-pupil spending.
Torlakson, as a legislator in 2006, also authored the landmark, CTA-sponsored Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA). The largest education reform of its kind, QEIA provides $3 billion over eight years for proven reforms in nearly 500 of the state’s lower-performing schools. Thanks to funding for smaller class sizes, more counselors and quality professional development for teachers and administrators, QEIA schools are succeeding, Sanchez said. Council delegates received a 40-page CTA report by an independent researcher that documents the steady preliminary progress at QEIA schools.
Academic Performance Index (API) scores are rising at QEIA schools, but so is collaboration among all stakeholders, Sanchez said. “Learning and working together have taken center stage.”
To read the entire Council speech of President Sanchez, log in to the Members-only section of www.cta.org and see the State Council section.
“You made recommendations, you approved a plan and resources, you showed up to the polls in record numbers – and our students won,” Sanchez said. “All your hard work around the election is paying off.”
He cited the governor’s willingness to meet with CTA and teachers as a good sign. And he praised Brown’s quick appointments to the State Board of Education of real educators as a breakthrough. “This act alone will put an end to the teacher-bashing and blaming that the past State Board participated in.”
He noted that one Brown appointee – Sacramento County educator and CTA legislative advocate Patricia Ann Rucker – will also represent California on the National Common Core Standards Commission.
The governor’s budget proposal is a balanced approach of cuts and revenues to resolve the state’s $25 billion deficit, in part by extending certain taxes, Sanchez said. “We recognize the governor’s attempt to limit cuts to K-12 schools as our students have suffered a majority of the state’s budget cuts in the last few years,” he said. “Extending current revenues is critical to having any hope for maintaining a quality public education system in this state.”
Electing Torlakson means students and educators have a true advocate in Sacramento. “He has already declared a state of financial emergency for California’s schools and urged Californians to come to the aid of schools across the state,” Sanchez said.
He pointed out Torlakson’s public distress over a recent Education Week study that gave California’s education system a C-grade overall – and a D-minus in education spending, ranking the state 43rd in per-pupil spending.
Torlakson, as a legislator in 2006, also authored the landmark, CTA-sponsored Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA). The largest education reform of its kind, QEIA provides $3 billion over eight years for proven reforms in nearly 500 of the state’s lower-performing schools. Thanks to funding for smaller class sizes, more counselors and quality professional development for teachers and administrators, QEIA schools are succeeding, Sanchez said. Council delegates received a 40-page CTA report by an independent researcher that documents the steady preliminary progress at QEIA schools.
Academic Performance Index (API) scores are rising at QEIA schools, but so is collaboration among all stakeholders, Sanchez said. “Learning and working together have taken center stage.”
To read the entire Council speech of President Sanchez, log in to the Members-only section of www.cta.org and see the State Council section.
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