Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/859531
$276 million Estimated annual cost to California public schools from bullying-related student absenteeism, the Sacramento Bee reported July 11, based on a study in the June issue of School Psychology Quarterly. 30 Number of gold, silver and bronze medals recently awarded to Moreno Valley Unified School District schools by the California Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports coalition for reducing student suspensions with alternative discipline, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reported July 21. 13.4% The healthy return of the portfolio of the California State Teachers' Retirement System for fiscal year ending June 30, surpassing CalSTRS' 7 percent earnings target, the AP reported July 20. 6th World ranking of California's $2.6 trillion economy in 2016, behind the economies of the U.S., China, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom, according to a July 2017 report by the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy. California is close to overtaking the U.K. for fifth place. 20.6% Percentage of Californians living in poverty, the highest in the nation when factoring in cost of living, noted in online fact-checking site PolitiFact on July 14. QUOTES & NUMBERS Compiled by Mike Myslinski " We take them all. We love them all. We give the world the mothers and the fathers and the thinkers and the builders and the artists and the dreamers. We give the world the American Dream. We give the world the future." — NEA President LILY ESKELSEN GARCÍA, in her July 2 keynote speech to the NEA Representative Assembly in Boston. " President Trump's proposed budget cuts could devastate summer learning and after-school programs. These proposed cuts are shortsighted, counterproductive and just wrong. As leaders, we should be searching for ways to help our students thrive, rather than blocking proven paths to success." — State Superintendent of Public Instruction TOM TORL AKSON, in a July 18 news release. " It's indicative of their inability to retain and recruit teachers. Other districts don't have the same difficulties. The fact that they have to do this is more or less a crisis of their own making." — Sacramento City Teachers Association President DAVID FISHER, quoted in the Sacramento Bee on July 16, making the point that if the Sacramento City Unified District's salaries were competitive, they would not have to be recruiting teachers from the Philippines. " This is a great reflection on the U.S. public school system. Every American should be proud — the U.S. is really leading the way." — HADI PARTOVI of Code.org, in a July 23 EdSource story about new College Board results showing significant increases in the number of female, Latino and African American students taking either the Advanced Placement computer science exam or a computer science principles exam this spring. " She needs to do right by students and educators, and not what's right by the corporate interests that are trying to make profits off of education." — Colorado Education Association spokesperson MIKE WETZEL, quoted in Time magazine on July 20 about a Denver protest by educators, parents and students against U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, before she spoke to the pro-voucher American Legislative Exchange Council. 12 cta.org In the Know Q U O T E S & N U M B E R S