California Educator

December 08

Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2866

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President Sanchez speaks at urban schools conference Education Associations (NCUEA) Fall Conference in D ecember about the necessity of improving and protecting our urban school districts. “We stand with you and all ur- C ban educators, and we hope to learn from all of you,” said Sanchez. “This conference is exciting in many ways, with its training ses- sions and seminars to develop our local programs. We are keeping alive a force for change in urban public education that began in 1961 with the launch of the National Council of Urban Education Asso- ciation.” Sanchez spoke about the pro- TA President David A. San- chez spoke in San Jose at the National Council of Urban ACTION gressive issues of NCUEA over the years, which have included fighting for the causes of women, minorities and full membership rights for ed- ucation support professionals. He also talked to the conference attendees about funding issues for education. “In California, as in many of your states, we are being tested like never before as our unions fight unprecedented state budget cuts, fueled by the worsening economy,” said Sanchez. “Thanks to inaction by the Legislature earlier this year, California is now looking at a $28 billion deficit over the next 18 months. Unless lawmakers come to their senses and approve new sourc- es of stable revenue for California’s more than 9,000 K-12 schools, our 6.3 million students face a potential loss of $7.2 billion in proposed edu- cation cuts.” Sanchez also talked about how CTA is leading efforts to help low- er-performing schools through the CTA-sponsored Quality Education Investment Act. “QEIA is helping many urban schools in an unprec- edented fashion. This law provides nearly $3 billion in extra resources over seven years to 488 lower-per- forming schools. This investment CTA President David A. Sanchez and NEA President Dennis Van Roekel at the National Council of Urban Education Associations Fall Conference in San Jose. in extra counselors, smaller class sizes, and better professional train- ing is already seeing some results after only two years.” all students will find a “safe haven” in public schools. The proposal is needed because of the impact on students, s chools, and school employees of the recent and highly publicized U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids at job sites and ICE sweeps of neighborhoods to pick up suspect- ed undocumented persons. Although this legislation can- not circumvent federal law, it is de- signed to provide a framework for school districts to protect the rights CTA sponsors ‘safe haven’ measure for student rights T he California Teachers Asso- ciation is sponsoring legisla- tion aimed at ensuring that of all students if there is an ICE raid in the community. The new measure, to be intro- duced in Sacramento during the 2009 legislative session, will call on the superintendent of public in- struction and the state attorney gen- eral to formulate model guidelines and procedures to help school boards develop policies to ensure that law enforcement, educational personnel, students and the greater school community understand stu- dents’ rights and responsibilities un- der the federal immigration law. In approving the legislation, CTA State Council of Education delegates cited several court deci- sions, including Plyler v. Doe, a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that guaran- tees to all students, regardless of their immigration status, the right to free public education without harassment or discrimination. The components of the model policy could include commitments that s chool districts will keep confidential a ny e ducational records regarding students; will limit access to school grounds by immigration officials by providing that such officials may not enter school grounds for any purpose without first obtaining clearance from the superintendent of the school district; will bar immigration and customs enforcement officials from interacting with students without the presence of a school official; and will obtain from every parent a list of alternative caregivers if the parent cannot be reached by the school. ICE raids can be frightening to students, parents, and the larger school community. This legislation will help school districts comply with federal immigration law and focus on the primary task of help- ing all children succeed. len Feldman CTA photo by Don Bridge

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