Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1543424
Far right: Central Unified Teachers Assn. members Alex Mejia, community schools site committee member, and to her right Judee Martinez, Teague community schools site coordinator and CUTA bargaining advisory team for community schools member. Others pictured: Betty Barajas, Teague classified community schools member (far left), school/district administrators and a community partner. Put It in Writing! Community Schools language in your contract ensures a continuing process that benefits students, families and educators C O M M U N I T Y S C H O O L S C O N T I N U E to make a big impact on students, educators and communities up and down the state. In addition to results showing marked improvement in student learning and well-being in just one year — as documented in a recent report by the Learning Policy Insti- tute (see Resources box) — community schools and their shared decision-making model are effectively bringing together multiple interest-holders to chart the path to student success. Through regular and meaning ful dis- cussion and assessment, interest-holders have equal voice and include students, families, community partners, district administrators — and educators. While each community school is unique, reflect- ing the needs of its students and families, CTA locals whose members teach and work in thriving community schools are seeing the value of shared governance and are bargaining community schools' memorandums of understanding (MOUs) and language into contracts to ensure systems and structures stay in place. "For Pittsburg Education Association, this was an important priority, as PEA sought a formal commitment from the manage- ment team to work collaboratively with educators as partners in the transformation of our schools," says President Celia Medi- na-Owens. PEA had to fight for their MOU; the process took eight months and involved member actions and help from stu- dent families and community. Community schools are supported by the California Community Schools Part- nership Program (CC SPP), w hich has invested $4.1 billion statewide since its launch in 2021. As funding could expire in the next few years, the issue of sustain- ability of community schools looms large and makes it all the more important to codify in chapter contracts. e path to the bargaining table looks different from local to local. Below are the unique stories of five CTA locals' com- munity schools journeys that led to the bargaining table, by five areas of focus: 1. Get informed and take the lead to chart your path. 2. Strategize and implement what works best for your local and each site. 3. Build member and other interest-holder support. 4. Negotiations: Take necessary actions, hold district accountable. 5. Sustaining community schools. "Management was hesitant to sign a binding document because of the shared leadership component. PEA had to take actions — we rallied; we spoke to the school board and brought in families, community and educators to speak." —PEA President Celia Medina-Owens 29 W I N T E R 2 0 26 Feature Y C K M Final Trim Size: 8" x 5" 8.25" x 5.25" Bleed 7" x 4.687 Live Area Colors 4/0 CMYK