Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1522302
for most of the day, we also had paid canvassers and phone callers in addition to a paid digital cam- paign. We were lucky enough to be awarded CTA ABC funds and a CTA special circumstances grant that doubled our PAC budget." In addition, the Los Angeles LGBT Center had reached out to GTA early in the school year after bigoted com- ments at public school meetings and attacks on state-approved LGBTQ+ inclusive curriculum became known. "We all shared a sincere concern for the safety of our LGBTQ staff, students and community members," said Arsenian. "It was important for the center to organize a campaign to promote understanding and acceptance of LGBTQ+ folks in our community. They focused their canvassers in the two areas that had open seats for the school board." Coalition-building by Arsenian and GTA had started much earlier, resulting in strong relationships based on common goals and a united front. Arsenian notes that "many local organizations, like the NUHW, the LA Federation of Labor, CSEA, Equality California, Southern California Armenian Democrats, East Area Progressives, the LA County Democratic Party, Glendale College Guild-AFT Local 2276, Glendale Democratic Club, glendaleOut, the Iranian-American Democrats of CA, Planned Parenthood, GUSD Parents for Public Schools and more all endorsed our endorsed candidates." As recently as January, GTA, NUHW, parents, students, local and state lawmakers and LGBTQ+ sup- port groups held a news conference to denounce the ugly climate of hatred and fear in their community, and to promote inclusivity. "Our com- munity and especially our schools are for everyone," Arsenian said at the event. Davis teachers help renew a parcel tax to boost education Parcel taxes are one of the few sources of funding for school districts to sup- plement state or local funding. But because Proposition 13 bans tax increases based on a property 's value, parcel taxes must be a uniform amount per property, regardless of whether it's a cottage, an apartment building or multi-room mansion. Parcel taxes also require 2/3rds of the vote to pass, as opposed to, for example, bond measures that require a simple majority. So while Davis Teachers Association, with 500 members, supported the renewal of a parcel tax that funds 10% of the school district's budget, its leadership anticipated opposition. "Opponents wanted to remove the clause that specified no expiration date, to make it an evergreen parcel tax so there would be no need to renew every four or eight years," said DTA President Victor Lagunes. "And even though Davis is an education-focused town, we have a local chapter of Moms for Liberty that is actively spreading harmful rhetoric about our students and schools." DTA went to work in November immediately after Measure N was certi- fied for the ballot, informing the community about the need to vote yes and building effective partnerships. "We were at the local farmers market week in week out with a crew talking to people, passing out flyers, getting commit- ments," Lagunes said. "We knocked on or dropped literature at thousands of doors across Davis. We had a lot of people writing letters to the editor and submitting video to Davis Media Access about our ' Yes' campaign. "We attended all PTO, PTA, Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club meetings. We got endorsements from each PTO/PTA to demonstrate sup- port on our mailers." They also reached out to community groups and former and current legislators for their endorsement, including from former state superintendent of public schools Delaine Easton. " The number of DTA's member volunteers — the actual workforce we brought to the campaign where teachers were actively promoting the importance of parcel tax funds for students and education — got a lot of visibility," said Lagunes. " The standpoint of doing what was right for stu- dents gave us credibility." He credited earlier chapter efforts for the Measure N victory. "DTA has grown in its capacity to take political action over the last six-to-eight years. We've put in the time to build relationships with community. We go through pains to ensure that we are truly doing the will of our members and making sure everyone is informed and participates in the decisions we make. By the time we made the decision to support Measure N, I was certain we had members' buy-in." Continued from Page 17 DTA President Victor Lagunes, right, with a Davis firefighter. 18 cta.org Advocacy