Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1035650
IN IT TO WIN IT CTA LOCALS KNOW WHAT THEY WANT AS THEY STEP INTO THE FRAY T H E O L D A D A G E "all politics is local," where truly understanding your community and its needs are key to political success, is proving to be a driving force for many CTA chapters in the Fall 2018 election. These chapters know that in the political process, their unified voice, and mobilizing and organizing acumen have the power to make positive change for schools, the teaching profession, students, and the community. We asked several chapter presidents why and how they are supporting issues and candidates, and what success looks like. LBCCFA officers with recently elected trustees. From left, George Urch, trustee Vivian Malauulu, Ryan Carroll, trustee Uduak Joe Ntuk, Damon Skinner, trustee Sunny Zia, Janét Hund, Kirsten Moreno, Long Beach City College Faculty Association, Janét Hund, president. UNIFIED ASSOCIATION OF CONEJO TEACHERS Colleen Briner-Schmidt, President; 839 members Conejo Valley Unified School District (27 schools) What: "One of UACT 's allies is stepping down from the school board and we seek to flip the other two open positions to education-friendly can- didates. We're also supporting candidates for community college trustee seats." Why: "UACT has always had a political action com- mittee (PAC) and has endorsed candidates in the past. However, in the last election anti-pub- lic education forces took control of the school board. This resulted in name-calling of students and educators by both board members and the public, censorship of literature used in classrooms, violations of the Brown Act, and more. "We are supporting candidates who believe we should provide the best possible education for all students in the district, and who believe in attending to the issues of the district without imposing personal agendas." How: "UACT held interviews with candidates in April. The com- mittee made its decision, which went to the rep council for additional debate and vote. We endorsed early so we could begin work over the summer. "We passed out 5,000 flyers at back-to-school nights across the district. We're writing postcards to CTA mem- bers living in our district. We're phone banking, writing letters to the editor, and working on the campaign com- mittees of candidates Jenny Fitzgerald, Cindy Goldberg and Bill Gorback. We launched our Facebook page, and are walking precincts with Conejo Together — a coalition of parents, com- munity leaders and business people who aim to restore integrity to our school board. We're sending out a mailing to targeted voters. "We applied for Association for Better Cit- izenship funds (ABC is CTA's political action committee). We have also applied for a CTA special circumstances grant." 28 cta.org Briner-Schmidt ELECTION ELECTION