Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1518807
U N I O N E D U C A T O R S W O N strong victories on Election Day in March — another example of our power in numbers! While the bulk of California's more than 2,000 school board seats are up in the November 2024 election, CTA members were successful in winning elections from Glen- dale to Alameda County to Los Angeles. "Once again, California voters put our students and public schools first on Election Day," said CTA President David Goldberg. "A huge thanks to all members who walked pre- cincts, reached out to voters and put in work to win for our students. Onward to November!" Brentwood Teachers Association and CTA Board of Directors member Angela Normand won re-election to the Alameda County Board of Education, while Beverly Hills Education Association member Telly Tse won election to the Glendale Unified Board of Education. United Teachers Los Angeles member Karla Griego received the most votes in her bid for Los Angeles Unified School Board, and she advances to the runoff in the General Election. "From the very beginning, this was a campaign of the community, by the community and for the community," Tse says. " This victory is not mine — it belongs to our children, our families and our educators." As of press time, two-thirds of CTA's recommended candi- dates for local school board races were victorious in March (12 out of 18) and 100% of recommended local school mea- sures (four of four) were successful. In state legislative races: 86% of recommended Assembly candidates advanced to the November election and 88% of state Senate recommen- dations advanced. Unofficially, 90% of recommendations for House of Representative seats were successful. In Woodland and Orange, educators successfully recalled school board members who had pushed for policies and spewed rhetoric to harm LGBTQ+ students and families. They join educators in Temecula Valley, also deeply engaged in a recall effort with parents and students in their community. In the Sacramento area, Twin Rivers United Educators members walked door-to-door to encourage voters to elect an educator-rec- ommended candidate and finally oust an incumbent — recently embroiled in a corrup- tion scandal — who had been on the board since the 1970s. With voter turnout around 34%, the old adage of "every vote matters" was even more appropriate — with some races still undecided weeks after the election, including Proposition 1, which eventually secured a narrow victory (about 28,000 votes with more than 7 million bal- lots counted at press time). Prop. 1 is a $6.38-billion effort supporting a major transformation of the state's behavioral health care system. Public Education Wins in Primary Election CTA members win school board seats By Julian Peeples "Once again, California voters put our students and public schools first on Election Day." —CTA President David Goldberg 40 cta.org Advocacy