Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/20186
Voter turnout key to election wins, says Sanchez ACTION LEFT: Assembly Speaker John Perez (second from left) joins CTA Secretary- Treasurer Gail Mendes, President David A. Sanchez, Vice President Dean Vogel, and Executive Director Carolyn Doggett at State Council. home message from CTA Presi- dent David A. Sanchez in his remarks to CTA’s State Council of Education on Saturday, Oct. 24, a little more than a week before Election Day. “We are in the home stretch, T and the outcome will impact students, schools, our profes- sion and our union. We have to keep it up. This election is all about turnout.” Sanchez also noted that this year California’s budget was 100 days late and $4.3 billion short in what was owed to schools and community colleges. “Cali- fornia may still be in hard eco- nomic times, but we can’t say to a first-grader, ‘Come back in three or four years when the re- cession is over, and then we’ll made their calls, the number of contacted voters as well as live text messages about the election were projected on two Jumbotron screens urning out the vote for CTA-supported candidates and initiatives was the take- be able to teach you to read.’ California students deserve bet- ter. That’s why this election is so important.” Hundreds of State Council members participated in Cali- fornia’s largest election phone bank that afternoon, making 8,700 calls to voters throughout California. The calls were all made to urge voters to cast their ballots for Proposition 24, the Tax Fairness Act; Jerry Brown for governor; and Tom Torlakson for state superinten- dent of public instruction. While Council members RIGHT: Fontana Teachers Association member Deborah Torres placing calls at the State Council phone-banking event held in the main ballroom on Saturday, where that afternoon over 8,700 calls were made to voters in California. in the ballroom. More than 700 members who signed up to re- ceive special election texts from CTAVOTES also texted in mes- sages about the importance of getting out the vote. “It was a tremendous effort,” said Sanchez, who made some 50 calls himself. He added that members would continue to phone-bank in their local chap- ters right up to Election Day. CTA Executive Director Caro- lyn Doggett — who has been a 15-year classroom teacher, a local chapter president, and president of NEA-Alaska — said that she has never seen attacks on educa- tors and their unions like the kind we are witnessing today. Whether it is education re- form, our pensions, the right to bargain, or using our dues as we see fit in this election, the “blame game” is running rampant, Doggett told Coun- cil. She cited several recent developments, including the ar ticle “How to Fix Our Schools: A Manifesto” by Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee and oth- ers; the recent film Waiting for Superman; and charges by gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman that blame teachers 30 California Educator | NOVEMBER 2010 CTA photos by Dave Earl Carpenter