Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1449741
Support of the CTA Family A S M E M B E R S O F the Associa- tion of Clovis Educators continue the work of building their new union, CTA is providing resources and guidance. In addition to staff technical assistance and expertise, CTA is providing release time to several members from Central Val- ley local associations to lend their support (like Nichole Klein from Selma Unified Teachers Associa- tion, above). "We're proud to be working with CTA," says ACE member Kristin Heimerdinger. " The help, support and mentorship are invaluable." ACE's unionization effort is attracting attention among CTA's 310,000 members as well as the 3.1 million educators of NEA. " This is historic for the Central Valley!" CTA President E. Toby Boyd says. "Join me in supporting these courageous educators as they build a movement in Clovis. We are all ACE!" Teresa D'addato says her students at Tarpey Elementary School, a Title I school, have been treated differently by the district for all 33 of her years there. L o n g a pro p o n e n t of u n i o n i z i n g i n Clovis, D'addato says a victory for ACE means binding equity, guaranteed for all students. "My stud ents n eed more, and th e district doesn't like to acknow ledge that," she says. Kilburn says the district's leadership and board don't reflect the student pop- ulation, which is 60 percent students of color. ACE members are proud that the district's rich diversity is reflected in their organizing team. " We n e e d a r e d e f i - n i t i o n o f w h a t C l o v i s means," Roche says. "The C l o v i s o f o l d d o e s n' t exist anymore." e power of us B u i l d i n g a m o v e m e n t takes time, and the orga- nizing team is putting in work, with ACE commit- tee meetings scheduled nearly every night to win the voice that Clovis stu- dents need. In just a short period , educators have built a functioning, mem- ber-led, democratic union — a l l w h i l e C U S D h a s engaged in an aggressive union-busting campaign. ACE hit the ground running, filing a series of unfair labor practice charges a n d re q u e st i n g a n i n j u n c t i o n w i t h PERB against CUSD over the district's improperly cozy relationship with the faculty senate, interfering with ACE's organizing efforts, and intimidating and retaliating against unionizing educators (including monitoring educators' emails and suddenly changing a long-standing assignment for an ACE organizer). PERB investigated the claims and found rea- sonable cause that CUSD had violated the law in multiple ways, taking the extraordinary step of seeking an injunc- tion from Fresno County Superior Court to cease the district's unlawful conduct until the complaints are resolved. "Even through all that, we are main- taining our int egrity," says Kilburn . " We're goin g to do bi g things for our community and our kids." The positive impacts o f t h e A C E m o v e m e n t are already being felt by educators and students a l i ke . C U S D h a s a c t e d on numerous items pro- posed by ACE, including p l a c i n g i n s t r u c t i o n a l a i d e s i n s p e c i a l e d u - cation classes, directly b e n e f i t i n g s t u d e n t s . ACE al so began its Fall Fo r w a r d c a m p a i g n i n O c t o b e r, o u t l i n i n g s i x priority issues in CUSD identified by educators. By No v e m b e r, t h e d i s - trict had agreed to move f o r w a r d o n s e v e r a l , i n c l u d i n g e x t e n d i n g educator's COVID leave a n d i m p r o v i n g su b st i - tute coverage. " We're fighting to make sure all our students get the resources and sup- port they need ," Heimerdinger says. " This continues to be the focus of all our work." "I'm having conversations with people I've never had before. I feel like I'm finally part of a group who sees me and that I matter." —Elizabeth Henderson, Maple Creek Elementary School teacher Clovis Born and Bred M A N Y O F Clovis Unified's 2,100- plus educators were students in the district before returning to teach in Clovis. For three ACE organizing committee members, teaching and learning in Clovis is a multigenerational family affair. Read about it at cta.org/clovisfamily. 28 cta.org Nichole Klein Feature