Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1543424
S T R I K I N G F O R S T U D E N T S works! Since our last issue, United Teachers of Richmond educators went on strike and won a groundbreaking agreement. is included fully employer-paid health care, support for their students, and more. On the heels of that successful strike, 6,000 members of United Educators of San Francisco won their own powerful agreement, including fully employer-paid health care, after a four-day strike that brought the entire San Francisco Bay Area community together. ese actions have been electric, mobilizing thousands of educators, families and community to take to the streets to demand safe, stable schools for our students. Our winter of pow- erful solidarity has cemented this powerful truth: When we strike we win! Chapters across the state have also shown that being ready to strike will also yield powerful victories. San Diego Education Association won standard-setting language to protect against layoffs and Apple Valley educators turned out in high-energy actions in the High Desert to win a strong tentative agreement during fact-finding. Educators in Sacramento, Dublin, Oakland, Soquel and more are building pressure in their contract cam- paigns — this is a movement for public schools that can't be beat. ese campaigns are built on years of work. And as our state- wide survey of CTA members shows us, they have been ignited by common issues that educators are facing everywhere — in small towns, suburbs and big cities. Understaffed schools, pay that's not keeping up with our cost of living, and out-of-pocket costs of benefits soaring for far too many of us. In that survey, 80% of educators said that schools don't have enough resources to meet the needs of students. e survey showed that we're also united in our vision to win: 83% of educators say they are willing to strike to improve pay ; nearly 70% say they are willing to strike to improve staffing levels for special ed, for counselors and nurses, and for smaller class sizes. is is true across the state and across political parties. We are becoming a strong fighting union by the day! In real time, we are seeing how these contract campaigns build structures that will power our statewide campaign to protect and strengthen public school funding, as well. While our governor boasts about California being the fourth largest economy in the world with the most billionaires, he also proposed a state budget to withhold $5.6 billion dollars from Prop. 98, the constitutional amendment that guarantees a minimum annual fund- ing level for K–12 schools and community colleges. We will fight hard to reclaim those promised funds for our students. And just like local chapters winning at the bar- gaining table, we'll win here, too. We are ready to meet this moment. We're going to fight for new revenue to ensure our schools are fully funded. We're building the power we need to get a permanent extension of Prop. 55 on the ballot and then win in November. We will cement Community Schools as the model of public education in California, and we will win funding to bring more educators into the workforce. We will fight to win justice for working mothers and secure paid pregnancy leave — a basic right in almost every other country. We can no longer tolerate a system that forces women to choose between their careers and caring for their own babies. We are 310,000 members strong in every community and every legislative district in the state. We have the power to make the changes we want and need. We are navigating heavy times, with severe attacks on public education and violent ICE raids harming commu- nities across the nation. Every day I read the headlines and hear from fellow educators about how we are all fighting back. There is hope in our union. There are bright stars of resistance, solidarity and love. ere are the goodness and bravery of people who blow whistles in the face of heavily armed injustice and state terror. I see the goodness of so many educators in the nation and across our state who are fighting back. We are the ones we've been waiting for. Let's keep up the fight, take care of each other — and let's keep win- ning for our students and communities. David B. Goldberg C T A P R E S I D E N T Meeting the Moment 5 W I N T E R 2 0 26 P R E S I D E N T ' S M E S S A G E