Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1060790
QUOTES & NUMBERS QUOTES & NUMBERS 3,800 Estimated number of students (out of 4,200 total) in Paradise Unified School District without homes due to the devastating Nov. 8 Camp Fire, EdSource reported Nov. 16. $1.6 billion How much California should increase what it spends on the state's child poverty crisis next fiscal year, as recommended by a new state task force, the Los Angeles Times reported Nov. 19. Nearly 2 million children live below the poverty line. 86,000 Number of votes Tony Thurmond trailed his opponent Marshall Tuck in state superintendent's race on election night, Nov. 6. 174,413 Number of votes Tony Thurmond was leading Marshall Tuck as of Nov. 29, with his margin still growing as counting continued at press time. 65 % Preliminary estimate of registered California voters who cast ballots in the Nov. 6 election, setting a recent record for a nonpresidential general election, the Associated Press reported Nov. 16. Final turnout numbers will come in December. By Mike Myslinski " It's clear that educators played a pivotal role in this election. We sent a loud message to the billionaires and corporate special interests who spent nearly $40 million trying to buy the state superintendent's office: Our public schools are not for sale!" — CTA President ERIC HEINS, in a Nov. 17 statement congratulating Tony Thurmond for defeating his billionaire-backed opponent, Marshall Tuck, in the historic state schools chief race. " I want to thank the voters of California for electing me to serve the six million students of California. I intend to be a champion of public schools and a superintendent for all California students." — TONY THURMOND, in a statement about his extraordinary victory issued on Nov. 17, the day that his opponent conceded the race. " We are far from perfect. Too many Californians are being priced out of housing, of health care and higher education. Too many workers are feeling the ever-tightening squeeze of automation and wage stagnation. Too many children are growing up in poverty and starting school from behind." — Governor-elect GAVIN NEWSOM, quoted in the Sacramento Bee after his convincing Nov. 6 election win. " We're teachers. We teach. The kids are the priority right now." — CTA member SHERI EICHAR, who joined colleagues to hold a day of class for 25 of their elementary students in a Chico library Nov. 16 after their charter school in Paradise was lost to the massive Camp Fire. Read how Butte County teachers are coping after the deadly inferno: californiaeducator.org. "We had the bus driver from heaven." — Paradise Unified School District teacher MARY LUDWIG, after heroics by Kevin McKay, who safely transported 22 stranded Ponderosa Elementary students past walls of flames as the Nov. 8 Camp Fire exploded. CNN reported Nov. 19 that Ludwig and colleague Abbie Davis helped calm the children on the bus after it left the school, which was destroyed. 14 cta.org In the Know