Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/5535
¡Sí Se Puede! ¿Por Qué No? B Y C T A P R E S I D E N T D A V I D A . S A N C H E Z turmoil across the state of California — and the loss of 16,000 fellow CTA teachers this year — it’s encouraging to know that our students are being taken care of by such a compassionate and excep- tional workforce of educators. You are everyday champions dedicated to the work of teaching our state’s children, even through these worst of eco- nomic times. Your efforts make their lives better and their future more promising. That’s why this year we’ll need to make sure A the public understands what these unprecedent- ed budget cuts have been doing to our schools and to the educational opportunities of our stu- dents. Unfortunately, it looks like California is facing another deficit year. The nonpartisan Leg- islative Analyst’s Office predicts that the state deficit will be nearly $20 billion by the end of 2010 — and that’s on top of a $60 billion two- year shortfall. Public education, which makes up roughly 40 percent of state expenditures, took nearly 60 percent of the cuts over the past two years, and is headed for a cataclysmic demise un- less lawmakers find adequate means of funding. We, the educators in CTA, are going to have to lead the charge to protect public school funding again this year. And that means changing the way Sacramento does business, and does business with big business. We have filed an initiative that will close the tax loopholes that were handed out last year to large corporations while schools and colleges were cut by $17 billion. At our January State Council meeting, we will be deciding how to move forward with this and other initiatives. We can no longer let large corporations escape paying their fair share at the expense of our chil- dren’s education. We’ve faced many battles in the past — and, unfortunately, we’ll face many more as 2010 plays out. Also heating up is the debate centered on Race to the Top (RTTT) funding. Competition for one-time federal education funds, of which California would receive no more than $700 mil- lion, will require that states fall in line with cer- ¡Sí Se Puede! [Yes we can! Why not?], words inspired by César Chávez, encourage us to remember that, together, we can achieve great things. ¿Por Qué No? 4 California Educator | DECEMBER 2009 • JANUARY 2010 s president of CTA, I find reasons every day to be proud to hold this position. In the midst of unprecedented economic tain federal guidelines — guidelines that, in their first draft, looked more like the same No Child Left Behind (NCLB) sanctions than the change the Obama administration promised. With your help, we convinced U.S. Educa- tion Secretary Arne Duncan that California students were more than a single test score, and so were our teachers. In the final RTTT regulations, the department acknowledged that multiple measures are necessary to recog- nize student achievement and teacher effec- tiveness. And while we don’t agree with all the requirements, there were significant improve- ments in the final regulations. As California legislators jockey to make Cali- fornia comply with RTTT guidelines, CTA knows the real issue is that the RTTT guidelines will be the basis for the reauthorization of the El- ementary and Secondary Education Act. The past mistakes made with NCLB need to be erased and rewritten, not built upon. Current RTTT guidelines continue to dole out more sanctions and less support for our lower-performing schools and rely on unproven reforms to turn those schools around. CTA would like to help build a public education system that recognizes multiple measures of student achievement and closes existing achievement gaps with proven re- forms. So when the Obama administration be- gins the process of reauthorizing ESEA next year, we will be there to make sure educators’ voices are heard and are part of the process. Thankfully, I know we can count on the strength and organization of all the members of this great union to see us through what lies ahead. All of you are everyday champions — teachers, paraprofessionals, librarians, custo- dians, nurses, speech therapists, and counsel- ors, to name just a few — and can help to see us through this struggle. You have a great ef- fect on the future of our students and on our state’s future prosperity. 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 Gail M. Mendes BOARD OF DIRECTORS Larry Allen, E. Toby Boyd, Donald L. Bridge, Tyrone V. Cabell, Mikki Cichocki, Elana Davidson, Don Dawson, Dana Dillon, David Goldberg, Jim Groth, Dián Dolores Hasson, Eric C. Heins, Marty G. Meeden, George Melendez, Mary Rose Ortega, Cynthia Peña, Jim Rogers, Bonnie Shatun, Marc Sternberger, Michael Stone, Curtis Washington EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Carolyn Doggett ASSOCIATE EXEC. DIRECTOR Rebecca Zoglman COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER Jonathan Goldman CONTRIBUTORS Scott Buschman, Dave Crosland, Len Feldman, Bill Guy, Dina Martin, Sheri Miyamoto, Mike Myslinski, Kamran Nasser EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Katie Young, chair; Ami S. Barker, Misao Brown, Rosalyn Collier, Tony P. Diaz, Michael Downey, Linda Guthrie, Gregg Solkovits, Sandra Thornton, KC Walsh; Jim Groth (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. 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