California Educator

August / September 2018

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Future Educators Join Efforts to Kill Bad Bill CTA and Student CTA activism helped kill Assembly Bill 1220 by Assembly Member Shirley Weber (D-San Diego) in July. The bill would have lengthened the probationary period for educators from two to three years. Probationary teachers, paid less than teachers with due process protections, are at-will employees who can be dismissed without citing cause at any time. In addition to the hardship that extended probation would have caused new educators, it has a significant impact on students. Also, AB 1220 would have discouraged prospective and aspiring educators from entering the profession at a time when California faces a severe teacher shortage. Among other efforts, the 14-member Student CTA board rallied colleagues to post their opposition to AB 1220 on social media and spread the word with strategic tagging. SCTA Presi- dent Miyuki Manzanedo joined a CTA lobbying team in Sacramento in June, meeting with various legislators. Manzanedo says she made her point at every single meeting, reminding legislators of AB 1220's impact on the teacher shortage: "As it is, aspir- ing educators have to take all these assessments and pay all this money to get their credential and become an educator. Finishing your third year of teaching and being let go without any explanation would be very disheart- ening. Due process is very important — how can you improve as a new edu- cator if you're not told where there is room for growth?" Legislative Update CTA members meet with state Sen. Richard Pan (far right, next to one of his staffers). From left: Miyuki Manzanedo, Charles Shannon, Lisa Hickman, Alexandra Condon, Don Stauffer. Photos: Erika Sizemore " Due process is very important — how can you improve as a new educator if you're not told where there is room for growth?" — Student CTA President Miyuki Manzanedo AB 1220 was withdrawn from con- sideration by Weber. "I'm glad that the community and legislators understood that the bill would hobble the profes- sion," Manzanedo says. Transparency, Accountability in Privately Run Charters • AB 276 by Assembly Member Jose Medina (D-Riverside) clarifies that charter schools and charter management organizations must comply with the Brown Act and other transparency laws. • AB 1871 by Assembly Member Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) requires that all low-income charter school students have access to at least one free or low-cost meal each school day. At press time, both of these CTA- co-sponsored bills had been referred to the Senate Appropriations suspense file. We hope they will be brought onto the Senate floor for a vote. State Budget Delivers $9 Billion Surplus, Funding for Public Schools CTA President Eric Heins praises the adoption of the 2018-19 state bud- get, which he says makes good on a long-standing commitment to Califor- nia's students. "With this budget, the state is look- ing at a $9 billion surplus by the end of the fiscal year, fully funding the Local Control Funding Formula two years ahead of schedule, with millions more in funding for higher education and much-needed funding for health and human services, which begins to address the homelessness crisis impacting our students and our com- munities," he says. "Also significant is the certification of the Proposition 98 minimum guarantee and the contin- uous appropriation of the LCFF. This ensures certainty for educators and students in future years." The budget includes one-time fund- ing for much-needed beginning teacher induction during the state's critical teacher shortage, including $75 45 A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 018 Advocacy

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