Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1081161
Superintendent Tony Thurmond greets fellow Panamanians and CTA educators Karen Lord-Eyewe, Kelly Villalobos and Antonieta Buglioni Somoza. Lord- Eyewe gifted him with a souvenir scarf. Tony Gives Thanks Tony Thurmond, the new state superintendent of public instruction, came to Council on Sunday morning to warmly thank delegates and CTA for supporting him in the November election. Calling educators "coura- geous," he told the crowd, "I'm always listening and following your lead so we can work together to make our public schools the best they can be." He also assured OEA, "We got your back!" Morning Joe CTA Executive Director Joe Nuñez addressed Council on Sunday morning, giv- ing a rousing talk about CTA's election victories, UTLA's successful strike, and Gov. Gavin Newsom's proposed budget, which includes a $2.8 billion increase in K-12 funding over last year's budget. He noted that all of these "give us focus and voice to work on the important policy goals of adequate school funding, charter school accountability, char- ter school caps, social justice, class size caps and early childhood education." Tax Fairness Council unanimously and enthusi- astically approved CTA's support of the Schools and Communities First initiative, which will be on the ballot in November 2020. This will be the first commercial property tax reform initiative to qualify for the ballot in 40 years since Proposition 13 passed in 1978. Prop. 13 was passed to give important protections to California homeowners. Unfortunately, over the years, big corporations and wealthy commercial property owners avoided paying their fair share in taxes — keeping billions from schools, parks and services that rely on local prop- erty tax revenue. Closing California's commercial property tax loophole restores $11 billion for schools, com- munity colleges, health clinics and other vital local services. CTA has been advocating for tax fairness and closing this loophole for years, and was part of the broad coa- lition of community groups working on the issue. CTA joins the League of Women Voters of California, Common Sense Kids Action, the California Federation of Teachers and others to fund our schools by closing Prop. 13's loophole while continuing to guarantee protections for homeown- ers, residential renters, agricultural land, and small businesses. Go to cta.org/taxfairness for more. Election Results State Council delegates elected the following members: NEA Board of Directors • District 3: Robbie Kreitz • District 4: Taunya Jaco • District 5: Telly Tse • District 6: Mel House • District 13: Ruth Luevand NEA Alternate Director, Seat 1: Nora Allstedt CTA/ABC Committee, District O: James Benanti Executive Officer Elections CTA's president, vice president and secretary-treasurer are elected to two-year terms by CTA State Council of Education. The officers report to the CTA Board of Directors. New officers will be elected at the March 2019 State Council. Candidates' cam- paign statements start on page 65. Looking Ahead State Council meets March 29-31 at the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles. 53 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 019