Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/15938
Brown has shown that he is a friend to teachers and understands that public education is a right for students, not a privilege. He believes we must invest in our schools if we expect to create a brighter future for our state. Brown’s opponent, billionaire busi- nesswomen Meg Whitman, is the an- tithesis of Brown. She wants to solve the state budget crisis by eliminating 40,000 jobs and further cutting the state budget. She wants to eliminate teachers’ secure retirement system and put all public employees into risky 401(k)-style plans. These are ideas that are bad for our state and bad for our students. “Whitman’s wealth has helped her broadcast far and wide, with more than $110 million spent so far on her cam- paign,” says Sanchez. “But she has mis- calculated if she thinks she can win this election in spite of, and on the backs of, California’s working class.” CTA’s recommendation process Question: Ever wonder what goes into CTA’s process for recommending candidates? Answer: A lot. You might be surprised by how extensive and democratic (with a small d) the process for recom- mending candidates is. “Our recommended candidates go through a vigorous vetting process that involves lots of checks and bal- ances,” explains Tim Sbranti, chair of the Political Involvement Committee of CTA’s State Council of Education. The process begins with a CTA mem- ber committee that conducts in-depth interviews with each candidate. All candi- dates for statewide offices are given the opportunity to submit a biographical form and answer an in-depth questionnaire that contains up to 20 questions hav- ing to do with issues specific to public education. Candidates identified by CTA as “friendly incumbents” do not have to go through the interview process again unless the Board of Directors determines an interview is necessary — and there have been times when that occurs. This year, for example, several lawmakers were re-examined because of their sup- port for Race to the Top legislation. Each state office has a different committee, comprising educators from small, me- dium, large, rural, suburban and urban chapters. The committee must approve a candidate by a 60 percent vote. And State Council must also approve by a 60 percent vote. Once the committee makes a deci- sion, a 30-day notice is sent to the local Service Center Council and lo- cal representatives, who then have a chance to appeal the recommendation to State Council. “Committees themselves often have vigorous debates after the candidates have been interviewed,” says Sbranti. “There have also been times when a committee has made a recommenda- tion and that name gets pulled and changed on the floor of State Council.” The process for candidates recom- mended by local chapters is similar. Following CTA’s process, candidates for the seat are sent questionnaires and are invited to be interviewed by a committee of local leaders, which may include members from several chapters in that office’s district. After answering a questionnaire, viable can- didates go through personal interviews with the committee, which then makes a recommendation to their chapter presidents and their executive boards. If the recommendation wins 60 per- cent of the vote, it progresses to CTA’s State Council for final approval. “CTA’s recommendation means a great deal to a candidate,” says Sbranti. “It means you are supported by teachers in the largest teachers organization in the state. It’s invalu- able. Obviously, we make financial contributions to their campaign, but our reputation alone carries consid- erable weight. Also, CTA members themselves want to be able to make an informed decision about issues that are important to them, so they too rely on this process.” Dina Martin SEPTEMBER 2010 | www.cta.org 21 Proposition 24 Public education in California has been repeatedly at the mercy of ineffi- cient politics and the vagaries of the state’s inadequate, unbalanced tax sys- tem. For decades, our state — a power- house of innovation that once had the best education system in the country — has neglected its schools and students, denying them decent funding for educa- tion, choosing instead to enact unfair tax structures. Photo by Scott Buschman