July 14, 2010

We Did It! Education Jobs Bill Passes House

Senator Feinstein Needs to Hear from You

Thanks to your action, phone calls and emails, the House of Representatives passed the Education Jobs Bill, which would bring $1.3 billion to California to help put educators back in our classrooms. CTA members went the extra mile, making repeated calls to their representatives and even sending a group of teachers – including members who received layoff notices – to Washington to lobby lawmakers directly.

But our work is not done. The bill now moves to the Senate, where it faces an uphill battle. Senator Barbara Boxer has already pledged her support, but Senator Dianne Feinstein has voiced concerns. So please, it’s time to start dialing once again. Call Senator Feinstein at 1.866.608.6355. Tell her to support funding for education jobs in the Supplemental Funding Bill so we can keep schools open, educators working and students learning.

NEA RA Takes Action to Lead Reauthorization of ESEA

Item B calls on NEA to aggressively pursue a national campaign to achieve a positive agenda for ESEA that provides adequate, equitable and stable funding for ALL public schools and is not driven by competitive grants, provides support rather than punishment to lower-performing schools and provides students with multiple ways to show what they have learned.

CTA members also led the charge in passing a vote of no confidence in the Race to the Top program. The RA finished with an inspiring speech from author and education researcher Diane Ravitch.

Temperatures and State Budget Fight Heating Up

Temperatures have reached the 100 degree mark in Sacramento, which means state budget talks have finally begun in earnest. CTA and members of the Education Coalition are supporting the Assembly’s California Jobs Budget that increases revenues and restores cuts to public schools, colleges, health care and other social services for children. Democrats in the Assembly and Senate are working toward a joint budget plan, but the Senate proposal still has several troubling provisions. One would basically eliminate the state’s Class Size Reduction program by turning it into a big block grant to school districts. It also changes the formula for awarding funding, which would mean a reduction of more than $900 million to schools and would shift funding away from lower-income schools. The Senate proposal also illegally reneges on CTA’s lawsuit agreement to fund the Quality Education Investment Act. Contact your lawmakers today and tell them to support the Assembly Jobs Budget.

CTA to Intervene in AdequacyLawsuit

Within the next few days CTA will file a motion to intervene in the Adequate School Funding lawsuit filed by the California School Boards Association, the California State PTA and the Association of California School Administrators. The groups have welcomed CTA into the action. As interveners, CTA will be able to advance legal arguments at every stage of the proceeding and would be guaranteed a seat at the negotiating table during any settlement talks. The groups filed the lawsuit in May, requesting that the state be required to establish a school finance system that provides all students an equal opportunity to meet the academic goals set by the state. Meanwhile a second adequacy lawsuit was filed this month by a coalition of community organizations.

Common Core Standards and SIG Funding

The state’s Academic Content Standards Commission continues its work of trying to revamp California’s K-12 standards in math and English language arts to align with the national common core state standards. Twelve of the Commission members are CTA members and four were nominated by CTA. The group declined an out-right adoption of the common core in English language arts and is now focusing on the math standards, which would be a major shift for California. The Commission is expected to make some recommendations to the State Board of Education for consideration at its August 2 meeting.

Also at that meeting, the State Board will vote on school district applications for federal School Improvement Grants. Sixty percent of the schools on the state’s so-called Persistently Lowest Achieving Schools list applied for funds. They are competing for up to $2million, but the money comes with strings and federal interventions. Delays in the process have also made it difficult for schools to get plans in place by the start of the school year. CTA will hold a briefing for local chapters at the President’s Conference.

Whitman Ad Attacks Unions

Continuing her effort to buy herself the governor’s seat, Meg Whitman has launched a new television ad attacking labor unions for supporting Jerry Brown because he believes workers deserve a secure retirement system. Whitman wants to cut public employee retirement and put all employees into risky, 401(k) plans. She also wants to solve the state budget crisis by eliminating 40,000 jobs. Whitman has spent more than $110 million so far on her campaign. A coalition of labor unions has fired back. California Working Families is running ads in support of Brown and challenging Whitman’s outrageous attacks on Brown, which campaign watchdog groups have labeled “highly misleading.” CTA’s 2010 Campaign Workgroup has developed a comprehensive plan for the fall election as it will be critical to the future of public education. CTA’s top priorities are electing Jerry Brown as governor, Tom Torlakson as Superintendent of Public Instruction and passing Prop. 24, the Tax Fairness Act. For all of CTA’s recommended candidates and ballot initiatives, visit www.cta.org. It’s not too early to volunteer and get involved. Text “CTAVOTES” to 69866 to get campaign updates.

California Teachers Association