Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/13098
Teachers take to Sacramento for Lobby Day LEFT: Unified Association of Conejo Teachers member Josh Carolan, CTA President David A. Sanchez, Assembly Member Tom Torlakson, and Ventura Classified Employees Association member Michael Muss- er at the state Capitol for Presidents Lobby Day. local chapter leaders repre- senting thousands of educa- tors f rom across t he state took to the halls of the Capi- B “California voters believe pro- tecting schools from more cuts should be a top priority during the budget fight. Now the gover- nor’s proposing to cut billions more. Teachers today asked law- makers to stop the cuts, and to sign commitment cards to show they stand with parents and edu- cators to protect our classrooms and students.” Going office to office in the ringing g rim s tories from their decimated schools, more than 200 tol in late May to convince legislators t o s top public education cuts and to urge them to sign cards commit- ting them to protect educa- tion during the state budget battle ahead. The commitment cards are part of a California Education Coalition campaign outlined at www.promisetostudents.com. By signing t he c ard, leg islators promise to protect public schools from further cuts, stand by the agreement signed into law last summer to repay $11.2 billion owed to public schools, and op- pose any attempt to undermine Proposition 98, t he voter-ap- proved minimum school fund- ing guarantee. “Teachers k now t hat o ur state’s $19 billion budget deficit is a crisis, but education has al- ready been cut by $17 billion over the last two years,” said CTA President David A. Sa nchez. LEFT: Travis Unified Teachers Asso- ciation President Jeanette Wylie speaks at Lobby Day. 28 California Educator | JUNE 2010 Capitol, determined teachers met with their local representa- tives for urgent conversations about the scope of the growing school c uts cr isis. They re- minded lawmakers that 26,000 educators received preliminary pink slips this spring — mean- ing thousands will not be re- turning to teach in September — and that art, music, physical education and career technical education classes are being gut- ted across the state. Many com- munity college students cannot find required courses due to cuts, and CSU students have lost roughly 10 percent of their faculty. Teachers like Jeanette Wylie — a chapter president from So- lano County, where students face s oaring class sizes a nd widespread cuts — stood with lawmakers who have signed the CTA photos by Len Feldman