California Educator

NOVEMBER 2010

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let the blame game go on,” said Doggett, “CTA must take charge and define these issues in our terms. When it comes to school reform, teachers must be part of the discussion and must contin- ue to advance reforms we know will work. That is why CTA es- tablished the Teacher Evaluation Workgroup, so that CTA can set the agenda in the evaluation dis- cussion. “CTA must continue to show ABOVE: Twin Rivers United Educators member Chuck Denonn personally made over 3,000 com- pleted calls in the weeks leading up to the election. unions for problems in Amer- ica’s schools. “Rather than sit back and that resources matter, and that teacher-driven reform works. We are already leading the ef- fort in education reform with the Quality Education Invest- ment Act and the Institute for Teaching, both of which are demonstrating success.” DINA MARTIN In other action, State Council: • • • • • • Authorized up to $1 million from the Initiative Fund to support CTA’s ballot initiatives. Elected Doreen McGuire-Grigg as NEA Director, District 1, and Barbara Franklin as CTA/ABC Committee member, District N. Decided that a forum for CTA executive officer candidates will take place at the next State Council in February. Members may send their questions in advance to candidatesforum@cta.org. Observed presentations on the 10th anniversary of the CTA César E. Chávez Memorial Education Awards program and Breast Cancer Awareness. Expressed interest in encouraging members to see or arrange for a screening of Race to Nowhere, a documentary about America’s schooling system that combats the simple solutions presented by the recent film Waiting for Superman. Approved a bylaw amendment limiting service on CTA’s Board of Directors to three three-year terms. In addition, the Retirement Committee created a useful flier to help members debunk myths about teachers’ retirement benefits, and various committees participated in the Teacher Evaluation Survey to provide input for the CTA Teacher Evaluation Workgroup. CTA, coalition will continue to urge newly elected officials to protect public education state’s ongoing fiscal crisis, which the Legislature’s own nonpartisan analyst has projected will result in a $25 billion shortfall by the 2011-12 budget year. As they begin their work, offi- C cials will continue to hear from CTA and educators around the state, reminding them of the dev- astating effects that the previous cuts, already exceeding $21 billion in three years, have had on Cali- fornia classrooms. While lame-duck Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has called a special legislative session for Dec. 6 on the 2010-11 budget deficit of about $6.1 billion, those elected officials re- sponsible for balancing the budget in the long term are expected to be much more concerned about shield- ing schools from additional slashes. alifornia’s newly elected governor and new Legisla- ture will soon confront the On Nov. 2 California voters elected a host of pro-education of- ficials. It will be CTA-recommend- ed Gov. Jerry Brown who will be proposing budget revisions aimed at protecting public schools, teach- ers and students over the two-year period. And it will be CTA-recom- mended Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson who will be proposing policy changes aimed at supporting teachers and other education professionals as they seek to provide a high-quality education to every student. With the passage of Proposi- tion 25 — also supported by CTA — the Legislature will be empow- ered to pass a legislative budget on a simple majority vote, unlike past years when the two-thirds vote re- quirement gave a small group of legislators the power to hold up the budget until their demands were met. Those demands often resulted in gains for wealthy cor- porations and more reductions in available funds for public schools. Though there were significant wins for education at the polls this election year, Gov. Brown and lawmakers will face considerable challenges. Voters rejected CTA- sponsored Proposition 24, which would have rolled back more than $1.3 billion in corporate tax breaks that were scheduled to begin next year — part of the price demanded by a legislative minority for their votes on the state spending pack- age. Voters’ refusal to eliminate the $1.3 billion in corporate giveaways could leave legislators scrambling to find ways to reduce state spend- ing by a similar amount. The passage of Proposition 26 will also create many new chal- lenges for lawmakers and eliminate revenue options as “fee” increases will now require a two- thirds vote. (Note: The simple ma- jority proposition only applies to the state budget; it does not affect the two-thirds vote needed to raise taxes and now other revenues.) The initiative is retroactive, mean- ing that as current fees expire, they will have to be renewed by a two- thirds vote. Voters also passed Proposition 22, blocking the state government from transferring funds from local government, even in the most dire emergencies. That prohibition could impact lawmakers’ ability to fund other statewide public ser- vices. Together, Props. 22 and 26 mean an additional cut of $1 bil- lion to public education this year. Despite these hurdles, CTA will continue to educate lawmakers and other elected officials about the effects of the drastic cuts on education, students and teachers. LEN FELDMAN NOVEMBER 2010 | www.cta.org 31

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