Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/830448
"As teachers, we know that our diversity makes us stronger. We see it play out every day in our classrooms and on the playgrounds, and that's why we celebrate, embrace and protect it." — CTA President ERIC HEINS, in his commentary published in EdSource to celebrate California Day of the Teacher, May 10. " The billionaires bought this election by spending more than has ever been spent in a school board race in U.S. histor y, more than big-city mayor races, and more than most U.S. Senate races. Like Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos, they want privatized, unregulated schools that don' t ser ve all kids." — United Teachers Los Angeles President ALE X CAPUTO-PE ARL, in a press statement after the May 16 LA Unified school board election where pro-charter candidates defeated union-backed Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla. "After the first episode, I couldn't get through the rest of the series. They had altered characters [from the novel] so much that it didn't feel like the same themes were being presented. We ended up watching the first episode in class to critique it, and a lot of my students who had read the book didn't care for it." — Analy High School English teacher ELIZ ABE TH DEICHLER, West Sonoma County Teachers Association, whose campus is where the Netflix T V series 13 Reasons Why was largely filmed, quoted in a May 10 Los Angeles Times story about the reactions and concerns of educators nationwide. The series is about a 17-year-old girl who commits suicide and leaves behind 13 audiotapes explaining what led her to take her life. "We ask all Californians and the Burbank community to join us in pledging their support for a strong, inclusive, safe, adequately funded and innovative public education system." — Burbank Teachers Association President DIANA ABASTA, quoted in Burbank Leader coverage of a BTA press event on the May 1 CTA Day of Action. "Two Countries, One Community." — Message on signs carried by Calexico educators, students and parents at a dramatic May 1 CTA Day of Action unity event at the nearby Mexican border wall. $9.7 million Amount spent by billionaires and other charter school supporters to defeat two union-backed candidates, Steve Zimmer and Imelda Padilla, in the May 16 Los Angeles Unified school board election, according to a May 21 analysis by the Los Angeles Times. Unions were outspent nearly 2-to-1. $1.3 trillion Total amount of student debt in the U.S., more than double what it was in 2008, according to a May 21 New York Times editorial about how the debt is hurting families and the economy. $1.2 million Median price of a home in San Francisco in April, the San Jose Mercury News reported May 21. $65,000 Salary of a homeless, 35-year-old San Francisco Unified math teacher who struggles with soaring housing costs and was profiled May 9 in the San Francisco Chronicle. 60% Percentage of charter school teachers in Sacramento City Unified School District who are unionized and part of the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA). Educators at Sacramento's St. Hope charter schools — whose board is chaired by anti-union activist Michelle Rhee — are the latest to petition to join SCTA, USA Today reported May 3. 12 cta.org Compiled by Mike Myslinski Quotes & Numbers THE NUMBERS in the know