Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/812811
447 California charter schools that have opened since 2002 in places that already had enough classroom space for all students, according to a new report, "Spending Blind: The Failure of Policy Planning in California Charter School Funding," by In the Public Interest (inthepublicinterest.org). $200 million Tax dollars and tax-subsidized funding to California's 161 worst charter schools (the bottom 10 percent, as ranked by the California Charter Schools Association) over the past 15 years, according to the same report. 75 Number of California public school districts asking improper citizenship-related enrollment questions about students, according to a study by alarmed civil rights lawyers, reported by the Sacramento Bee March 31. 5 Number of vital after-school programs at four Fresno Unified high schools and one middle school that will remain open, the district announced, regardless of Trump's budget proposal to kill the nationwide program funding after-school opportunities, the Fresno Bee reported April 4. 40,000 Estimated number of U.S. farms still using the pesticide chlorpyrifos, harmful to children attending schools near crop fields. Salinas teachers and community activists held a news conference on Cesar Chavez Day (March 31) to demand California ban the chemical, which was banned in household products in 2000. "Union labor feeds, nourishes and educates our students. Union labor keeps our campuses clean. Union labor provides additional academic suppor t when it is needed, and union labor makes sure students are safe, day in and day out. Union leaders and labor are 'betraying' nobody. Union leaders and labor have helped create thousands of student success stories." — Santa Ana Educators Association President BARBAR A PE ARSON, in a March 31 Orange County Register column refuting a school board member 's claim in the paper that the teachers union somehow caused pink slips in the Santa Ana district. "I think the system actually works very well." — CTA President ERIC HEINS, in an April 5 KQED public radio interview about CTA opposition to AB 1220, a misguided bill to extend California teachers' probation period from two to up to five years. "It's critical in this climate that California schools reassure their students, parents, educators and local communities that schools welcome everyone regardless of immigration status." — State Superintendent TOM TORL AKSON, in his April 5 news release about a visit to Sacramento City Unified School District to praise its student "safe haven" program. "We're going to spend a lot of money and a lot of expertise, we're going to have great talent when it comes to education." — Pro-charter President DONALD TRUMP, speaking at an April 4 town hall for business leaders. However, his proposed federal budget for 2018 would cut education funding by about 13 percent. "You always want to believe in yourself and I did, and I won." — Fifth-grader HAYDEN CL ARK, after her Los Cabos shrimp cocktail took first place among students in grades 3-5 in the Romoland School District's Second Annual Future Chefs Cook-Off on March 29, as reported in the Riverside Press-Enterprise. 12 cta.org in the know Compiled by Mike Myslinski Quotes & Numbers THE NUMBERS