Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1530930
facebook.com/wearecta @WeAreCTA youtube.com/californiateachers @WeAreCTA WeAreCTA #WeAreCTA For our full social media directory, see cta.org/social. L E T U S K N O W W H A T Y O U T H I N K . We accept signed email and letters; we excerpt user posts from CTA social media platforms and cta.org/educator. Content subject to editing for clarity and space. Photos must have permissions. Opinions expressed by writers are not necessarily those of CTA. Editor@cta.org; #WeAreCTA OUR UNION: Protecting All Students, All Educators Every student has the right to a free public education, regardless of their immigration status. Our union supports a realistic, humane and legal path to citizenship, and stronger labor protections for the millions of aspiring citizens who call America home. According to the Migration Policy Institute, 133,000 undocu- mented children between the ages of 3 and 17 years are enrolled in California public schools, and 750,000 K–12 students in California have an undocumented parent. In addition, there are more than 14,000 DACAmented educators working in U.S. public schools. Today, immigrants face increased hate, danger and vitriol from politicians and extremists who distract and divide us by pointing the finger at new and undocumented immigrants and supporting overly harsh policies that harm all of us and undermine our humanity. Together, our union is fighting back. "We are prepared to stand up against any attacks on our students, public education, workers' rights and our broader communities that may come," said CTA Pres- ident David Goldberg in his end-of-year message (see below). California state law protects students and families in our public schools, including: • Non-discrimination — applies to all students; • Safe school environment — schools are generally prohibited from voluntarily granting access to campus by immigration enforcement officers, requesting social security numbers or inquiring about citizenship/immigration status of students or parents/guardians; Fighting Forward in the New Year CTA President David Goldberg wished members a joyous holiday season in a video message, and looked ahead to 2025. While recognizing that many have "mixed emotions" about what is to come, he reminded us that we can build on the power of our union. "As a union of 310,000 educators, we have the strength to fight for our stu- dents, our schools and our communities," he said. "When we kick off the new year, we'll be coming together in our union, stronger than ever, to win for our students, our communities and public education." Watch the message at youtube.com/CaliforniaTeachers. Cheers! • Confidentiality — schools are prohibited from sharing personal information about students or their family members for immigration enforcement purposes without a court order/judicial subpoena. In response to the increased threats to Cali- fornia immigrant communities, Attorney General Rob Bonta issued guidance in December to public schools and colleges/universities to pro- tect immigrants' rights under the law. Find it at oag.ca.gov/publications#immigration. NEA advises that DACA recipients whose permits expire in 2025 renew now at uscis.gov/archive/renew-your-daca. CTA will continue to update and share resources on this issue as they are available. 3 J A N U A R Y 2 0 2 5 U P F R O N T