Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1480924
L I E U T E N A N T G O V E R N O R Eleni Kounalakis S E C R E T A R Y O F S T A T E Dr. Shirley Weber U N I T E D S T A T E S S E N A T O R Alex Padilla S T A T E T R E A S U R E R Fiona Ma S T A T E I N S U R A N C E C O M M I S S I O N E R Ricardo Lara S T A T E C O N T R O L L E R Malia Cohen S T A T E A T T O R N E Y G E N E R A L Rob Bonta S T A T E B O A R D O F E Q U A L I Z A T I O N D I S T R I C T 2 Sally Lieber Gov. Newsom was the leader California needed during his first four years at the helm. He helped push California forward in almost every area, even amid a global pandemic. Under Newsom's leadership, Prop. 98 education funding reached a record $110.4 billion and the state invested $4.1 billion in the transformative power of community schools. He's taken action to combat the climate crisis, tackled homeless- ness and expanded mental health services, strengthened laws to keep illegal guns off the streets, and worked to create a more affordable California with lower costs for necessities like housing, childcare, retirement and higher education. "Gov. Newsom's commitment to California's working fami- lies, educators and communities is long-standing," Boyd says. G O V E R N O R Gavin Newsom Tony Thurmond has been a strong leader during his first four years as head of California public education system, listening to educators and families and working to keep school commu- nities safe from COVID-19. To address the teacher shortage, Thurmond helped secure record investment in the state budget this year to recruit and retain 15,000 teachers. In response to the extensive trauma suffered by students during the pandemic, Thurmond is pur- suing a strategy to identify and train 10,000 new mental health professionals, offering scholarships to counselors who agree to work in high-need districts. He also champions the expan- sion of after-school tutoring and other enrichment programs. Through his Literacy Task Force (CTA President E. Toby Boyd is a co-chair), Thurmond also set a goal that all Califor- nia elementary school students learn to read by third grade by the year 2026. He's offering numerous resources to reach this goal, including providing reading coaches and specialists at schools where there is need and expanding funding for liter- acy intervention strategies. Thurmond is also leading the implementation of several landmark programs, including free universal preschool for every four-year-old child in the state, free school meals for all students, and billions in wraparound supports through com- munity schools to help meet the physical, mental health and social service needs of students. S U P E R I N T E N D E N T O F P U B L I C I N S T R U C T I O N Tony Thurmond 34 cta.org Election 2022