California Educator

March 09

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¡Sí Se Puede! ¿Por Qué No? B Y C TA P R E S I D E N T D A V I D A. S A N C H E Z that day, educators, students, parents and com- munity members showed their support for public education at “Pink Friday” events all across our state. CTA’s statewide day of action drew attention to the more than $11 billion in cuts to California schools and colleges. Members held flagpole rallies before school and marches and protests after school. In many areas local businesses offered support. In Oxnard, for example, employees of Gold’s Gym put aside their black uniforms for the day and wore pink in support of pub- lic education. Educators and community members also made great use of CTA’s www.pinkfriday09.org website, which helped teachers plan countless Pink Friday ral- lies and organize in an unprecedented way. This is all happening in the wake of the Leg- B islature passing and the governor signing an 18-month state budget package. The good news is, we have a budget. The bad news is, we have a budget. In order to close the state’s $42 billion deficit, the compromise budget cuts more than $11 billion from public education. That is the single largest cut to education in our state’s history. It will impact a generation of stu- dents. It is why taking action on Pink Friday was of such importance — to mobilize public education supporters for the May 19 special election. As part of the state budget agreement, Cali- fornia voters will decide on six initiatives dur- ing a special election (see page 32 for details). These initiatives work in tandem, so that if any of them fail, education will surely face more cuts and the state will be back to square one with trying to balance the budget. You can be certain that if all these initiatives don’t pass, partisan gridlock will make a new compromise even harder to reach. The new Senate Republi- ¿Por Qué No? y Friday, March 13, more than 26,500 California educators had received pink slips from their school districts. On can leader has vowed he will not support new taxes in any form. In an emergency meeting last month, the CTA Board voted unanimously to take an interim support position on Proposition 1B, which starts the process of repaying $9.3 billion owed to schools under the minimum funding guarantee. The Board felt it was imperative to take a support position on Prop. 1B so that CTA could sign the ballot arguments. But we need to bear in mind that many of these initia- tives are dependent upon one another. For ex- ample, Prop. 1B sets up the repayment process, but Proposition 1A actually provides the fund- ing to begin the repayment. At press time, State Council was meeting to consider and define our positions on all six initiatives. In the midst of all this calamity, CTA also had some tremendous victories in the budget fight this year. First, we protected the state’s minimum school funding law, Proposition 98. Getting Prop. 1B on the ballot was a huge con- cession from lawmakers. CTA also fought off attempts to shorten the school year by five days. And CTA protected the state’s Class Size Reduction program, defeating several attempts to gut the program and give local school dis- tricts full flexibility to spend CSR money any way they wanted. Without CSR, many districts would be looking at even greater layoffs. I want to thank all of you for getting in- volved and making your voices heard at Pink Friday events and on the www. pinkfriday09.org website. Be sure to contin- ue to use the site, join in the discussion, post your Pink Friday photos and stories, and keep on using this incredible tool to help organize in support of the May 19 initiatives. This is our opportunity to turn the tide for public educa- tion in California. It’s our chance to do what we do best: take care of our state’s children. EDITOR IN CHIEF Dave Earl Carpenter STAFF WRITER Sherry Posnick-Goodwin CTA WEB EDITOR Karyn Ferrera Donhoff CTA WEB EDITOR Tiffany Hasker EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Craig Hamilton CTA ELECTED OFFICERS PRESIDENT David A. Sanchez VICE PRESIDENT Dean E. Vogel SECRETARY-TREASURER Daniel R. Vaughn BOARD OF DIRECTORS Larry Allen, Donald L. Bridge, Michael Bustos, Tyrone V. Cabell, Mikki Cichocki, Dayton Crummey, Don Dawson, Dana Dillon, Jim Groth, Dián Dolores Hasson, Eric C. Heins, Lynette P. Henley, Mignon W. Jackson, Marty G. Meeden, George Melendez, Mary Rose Ortega, Cynthia Peña, Lloyd N. Porter, Jim Rogers, Bonnie Shatun, Michael Stone EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Carolyn Doggett ASSOCIATE EXEC. DIRECTOR Rebecca Zoglman COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Jonathan Goldman CONTRIBUTORS Scott Buschman, Len Feldman, Bill Guy, Dina Martin, Mike Myslinski, Kamran Nasser, Frank Wells EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Heidi Swenson Chipman, chair; Misao Brown, William G. Clark, Michael Downey, Maggie Ellis, Charmaine Kawaguchi, KC Walsh; Larry Allen (Board liaison) EDITORIAL INFORMATION California Educator is published for the information and edification of its members. The editorial philoso- phy is governed by the policies of CTA. Articles and advertising reflect that philosophy. Letters to the editor may be sent to editor@cta.org. Publication of advertising in the California Educa- tor does not indicate CTA approval of the product or of the companies that purchase advertising. Advertising rate card and information is available from WebSolutions, Media Division, 5666 Spruce Harbor Court, Las Vegas, NV 89122 (702) 838-3434; FAX (702) 838-3355 Membership dues in CTA/NEA are $757/year for the fiscal year, Sept. 1-Aug. 31. Up to $17.57 of CTA annual dues is designated for CTA/ABC political activ ities to support state and local candidates and/or initiatives and is not deductible for income tax purposes. Subscription to the California Educator is $10/year, available only to persons or institutions not eligible for CTA/NEA membership. California Educator (ISSN 1091-6148) is published monthly except January, July and August for $6.47 per year (included in dues) by: CALIFORNIA TEACHERS ASSOCIATION 1705 Murchison Dr., Burlingame, CA 94010-4583 (650) 697-1400; FAX (650) 552-5002 editor@cta.org, www.cta.org Postmaster: Send change of address to California Educator, P.O. Box 4178, Burlingame, CA 94011-4178. ¡Sí Se Puede! [It can be done! Why not?], words inspired by César Chávez, encourage us to remember that, together, we can achieve great things. Periodicals Postage Paid at Burlingame, CA, and additional mailing offices. 4 California Educator | MARCH 2009

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