Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/458422
Candidate for CTA Secretary-Treasurer Gayle Bilek Member, Templeton Teachers Association; CTA Board of Directors member. Candidate for CTA Secretary-Treasurer Tania Kappner Member, Oakland Education Association; NEA Representative Assembly delegate. After much personal and professional consideration, I believe I possess the skills necessary to become Secretary Treasurer of CTA. I grew up in a single parent family, where college was not considered an option. Being the only college graduate and a first generation teacher in my family came about because of hard work, perseverance and determination. Those qualities have been demonstrated throughout my professional life. I served on my local executive board and as an elected member at the Service Center. At the state level, I completed nine years on State Council and was elected chair to the Political Involvement Committee for three years. At the national level, I was an NEA Board alternate and have attended more than ten NEA Representative Assemblies. The challenges before public education are more poignant than ever. The attacks being aimed at education are being fought in the courts like we have never experienced in union history. Working with the CTA President and Vice President, setting the course for public education and CTA, we can conquer our foes. These efforts will be successful only if we work together with our local educators. President Vogel's success in passing legislation and his involvement in political circles was vital to CTA's success in improving working conditions for educators and learning conditions for students. Using the political relationships I have built over time, we can continue to pursue education related legislation. In the Democratic Party I am an AD Delegate and sit on an Executive Board committee. One aspect of the Secretary Treasurer's job is to be the liaison to CTA/ABC. I am the only candidate that has served as an observer, a working member, and secretary of the committee. This has given me the knowledge to work with the members and to understand the responsibilities. The CTA/ABC committee is better served by someone who understands the job. While serving on the Board of Directors for District G, I make every effort to visit as many rep councils, executive boards, and school sites. When our members identify with the Board member it connects them to CTA. I have shown that I will listen to them. Building these relationships connects me to our members. A vote for me is a vote for a leader who has years of CTA history to share, relationships locally and statewide, first hand relationships in the political arena, and knowledge to benefit our union. Build the Movement to Defend Public Education! Tania Kappner for CTA State Treasurer! Public education remains our nation's greatest and most popular democratic achievement. Never before has this great institution, teachers, and our students, been under the kind of attack that we've seen in the past years. It's time to harness the tremendous power and support that we have and fight. As a founding member of the Equal Opportunity Now By Any Means Necessary Caucus (EON/BAMN), I understand that the fight to defend public education means building a new civil rights movement. We need new leadership of our union to build the movement that can provide the millions of people looking for a way to fight and win a way forward. I am that kind of leader. There has been a bipartisan attack on our public schools, students, and teachers. Race to the Top, charters, and privatization schemes have failed. I'm prepared to fight stakes testing, including Common Core testing. I will mobilize members for the expanded resources, smaller class-sizes, art and music programs, counselors, special education, and all of the programs that foster critical thinking and enable students to express their talents and strengths. The worst attacks on public education have been leveled against the black, Latina/o, and immigrant communities. The new Jim Crow has meant cheapened education and increased repression. This attack is lowering the standard of education for everyone, including white rural communities. The only way to decrease the achievement/opportunity gap is through integration. EON/BAMN has led in the defense of school integration programs, including magnet schools, voluntary bussing, and affirmative action. The fight for our just rights isn't just a fight for the future of our schools, but for the direction of public education and society as a whole. It's a civil rights fight. We are a union and we need to act like one! There isn't a town or city where, if teachers struck for better wages, benefits, or work conditions, that there wouldn't be massive support from the communities and our students for us. CTA should be leading direct actions like this. There's no shortage of the will to fight; teachers and students share it! The real question is whether there's a leadership fighting to win. The current CTA leadership has not done this. I will. If you want to take action, vote Tania Kappner for CTA Treasurer. Bilek Kappner Below are campaign statements of candidates for CTA officers in the April 2015 State Council elections. The statements are unedited and limited to 400 words. Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed are those of the candidates and not necessarily those of CTA and NEA. 61 V O L U M E 1 9 I S S U E 6