California Educator

December 2018 / January 2019

Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1060790

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 4 of 75

L E T U S K N O W W H A T Y O U T H I N K . We accept signed email and letters; we excerpt user posts from CTA social media platforms and californiaeducator.org. Content subject to editing for clarity and space. Photos must have identifications and permissions. Opinions expressed by writers are not necessarily those of CTA. Editor@cta.org; #WeAreCTA Master Insights I loved the "Pro Tips" article in the August/ September issue. I am a middle school sci- ence teacher with a tip to help teachers: If you feel over- whelmed with your to-do list, ask students to help you out before school, at lunch or after school. It will surprise you how much kids love helping out and taking on more responsibilities. In fact, it is usually students with challenging behaviors who want to assist you in the classroom — which means you can build a better rapport with them while also getting tasks done! DAVID ALK ASS San Ysidro Education Association Impact of Prop. 5's Defeat The California Property Tax Fair- ness Initiative (Proposition 5 in the November election) deserved a "yes" vote. It would have removed the unfair moving penalty for seniors, the disabled and disaster victims across the state, while still ensuring they pay their fair share of property taxes. By being able to carry their cur- rent property taxes to any county in the state 1) seniors would have the freedom to downsize and/or move closer to family; 2) the disabled would have been able to move to more practical houses; 3) disas- ter victims would be able to find a new home. Seniors often live in homes that no longer fit their needs, because their homes may be too big or far from families. When seniors, disaster victims, or the disabled want to move or downsize to another county, they could face property tax increases of 100 to 300 percent. Currently, the disabled and seniors can transfer their property tax base only once and only within their own county. Only 11 of 58 counties allow any reciproca- tion of property tax bases. El Dorado is the only county that accepts every county's tax base. Retired teachers in California are already penalized by unfair Social Security laws — Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provi- sion. We should have eliminated this penalty for seniors and the disabled! MARY GROVE CTA/NEA Retired & 43-year teacher Editor 's Note: CTA took a "no" posi- tion on Prop. 5 because current law already protects seniors and those impacted by disasters, and already allows for them to transfer taxes. Caption This! Get your creative juices flowing by entering our new GIF contest at CaliforniaEducator.org. The Educator's Publishing Schedule The California Educator publishes six times a year, and is complemented by CaliforniaEducator.org with additional news, updates and stories. We strive to get the print magazine to you in a timely fash- ion; it's always a balancing act to make sure it contains the latest information and still have it arrive with enough time that it remains useful to you. Please note: • The Educator is mailed out at a nonprofit bulk rate. This means it is delivered at the discretion of local post offices, which put a higher priority on first-class and other mail. • We hold the magazine if necessary to insert essential member information, such as reports from CTA State Coun- cil, important news, etc. We also post magazine content on CaliforniaEducator.org, and urge you to check the website for the latest information. Thanks for reading! The winning caption from last issue's contest: "Booya! It's A L I V E!" Congrats to THERESA JOHNSTONE, Association of Pleasanton Teachers. 3 D E C E M B E R 2 018 / J A N U A R Y 2 019 U P F R O N T #OurVoiceOurUnion #WeAreCTA For our full social media directory, see cta.org/social. facebook.com/wearecta @WeAreCTA youtube.com/californiateachers @WeAreCTA WeAreCTA

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of California Educator - December 2018 / January 2019