Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1530930
" I T O L D T H E S C H O O L B O A R D exactly our plan during my public comments," says Travis Mougeotte, president of Rocklin Teachers Professional Association (RTPA). "I told them not only were we not going to follow the ( forced outing) policy, we were also going to file a complaint with PERB. And we did." RTPA's recent victory awarded by the state Public Employ- ment Relations Board (PERB) (see sidebar, page 25) was one of several recent wins statewide that protect our students, defend our members, uphold our contracts and respect our collective bargaining processes. From fighting back against extremist boards and their dangerous policies in Rocklin and Temecula, to winning long battles for justice for wrong fully ter- minated members in Sacramento, to reversing more than 40 years of union busting in Clovis, CTA members are organizing in communities and winning historic victories for our students, members and public schools. "It reiterates that our members really do hold the power, and we have an unstopp abl e v oic e — w h eth er that 's for cl assro om and educational i ssu e s or stud ent and s o ci al issues," Mougeotte says. In Rocklin, an extremist-controlled school board adopted an illegal forced-outing policy in late 2023 after a difficult public meeting where the vast majority of attendees spoke in oppo- sition, only to see a quick discussion and vote of approval. Mougeotte says that RTPA immediately sprang into action, gathering information about the policy, engaging members to gauge opinions and contacting CTA locals in Southern Califor- nia like Associated Chino Teachers to learn from their struggle on similar issues. He added that RTPA began a media campaign to broadcast what Rocklin teachers were seeing about the policy and where they thought it was headed. Mougeotte says Rocklin educators showed up for their stu- dents and each other. "Our members are very connected and always organizing. We've done a lot of work to keep our members engaged and informed, so when there's a big ask, they're ready to Protecting Our Rights, Defending Our Students Locals score huge victories for educators, schools in Public Employment Relations Board rulings By Julian Peeples A Rocklin school board meeting in September 2023 drew a crowd; the board went on to adopt an illegal forced-outing policy. Courtesy KCRA. 23 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5 Feature