Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1546952
T H E B A C K - T O - S C H O O L S E A S O N is well under way. I 've always loved this time — students excited by the fresh start, and educators fired up by new opportunities to make a differ- ence in their lives. This fall is also the time when we have a chance to make a broader and lasting difference in public education and our com- munities: We must pass Prop. 3 in November, which will make permanent an existing, temporary tax on the wealthy that brings in $15 billion a year to our schools and health care systems. Prop. 3 is about the prevention of devastating cuts and a cat- astrophic undoing of the hard-fought progress we have made in public education over this last decade and more — progress that would not have happened without the energy, commitment and collective power of our union. Since 2012, our schools have received more than $119 billion because of the hard work we did to pass Props. 30 (the tempo- rary tax increase) and then Prop. 55 (an extension of 30). But these past 14 years haven't exactly been a golden age of public education: Our students are still in some of the largest class sizes in the country. ousands of educators have been laid off. We've organized to fight back, and we've won historic victories. In local bargaining we've pushed districts to put resources where they belong — in the classroom. We've been able to stop school closures, cuts and layoffs and the almost deafening nonstop drumbeat of austerity. Imagine what those same 14 years would have looked like — would have felt like — without those vital dollars coming into our schools and classrooms. That's why Prop. 3 is so important and why all of us must make sure it passes. Without making these essential revenues permanent, public education faces a calamitous fiscal cliff that could strip billions from K–12 schools and community colleges, putting one in six educators at risk of layoffs and reversing decades of classroom progress. We're fighting for every penny our students deserve — and in some cases have been unlawfully denied, such as the $6 billion in withheld Prop. 98 education funds. In September, we sued the state to take back that constitutionally guaranteed money. We've shown that we have the collective strength to mobilize colleagues and communities to take successful actions — to force resources to go to the places they belong, to demand and receive respect for the educators who make our schools work, to engage our communities and voters around the issues that matter most. With Prop. 3, we need to once again tap into our power as the most trusted voices in our communities. When a public school educator takes their time and energy to knock on someone's door, we are connecting the dots between our schools and our communities and what's at stake at the ballot box. There is no text message, no piece of mail that can take the place of a local educator at a voter's doorstep telling them this proposition matters. Every single one of us has to speak directly with voters about the crucial need to ensure permanent funding for public education. In addition, we must convince voters that Richard Barrera should be the next state superintendent of pub- lic instruction, and that they need to elect local school board candidates who actually support public education and not work from the inside to dismantle it. We have the power to do this — together. We've launched the biggest canvassing effort in CTA history with over 70 locations across California, part of our plan to build political power to continue to win for our students and communities. Sign up to canvass at mobilize.us/cta. We will be the difference makers on November 3. David B. Goldberg C T A P R E S I D E N T The Difference We Make Let's get out the vote for Prop. 3! 5 F A L L 2 0 26 P R E S I D E N T ' S M E S S A G E