Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/939681
Membership Engagement CTA Executive Director Joe Nuñez spoke to Council about CTA's initiatives to recruit and engage our membership now and after the Supreme Court's Janus v. AFSCME decision. Along with conducting focused trainings and creating new toolkits, CTA has held membership engagement workshops at regional and local conferences and worked with chapters to develop mem- bership engagement plans. Nuñez also acknowledged the tremendous efforts locals have made, including chapters' campaigns to convert agency fee payers to members and ask members to recommit. See our member engage- ment stories starting on page 52. Sunday Morning Joe Executive Director Nuñez warned about the rejection of objective truth by U.S. conservatives who attack mainstream journalism and science. "How will our union continue to grow or continue to be the voice of students and educators in California in this world of separate realities? We do it by sticking to our core values, and by letting them hear our voice." We do it, he said, through making information-based State Coun- cil decisions, organizing our chapters, engaging our communities on educa- tional issues that matter, and building on political successes like Propositions 30 and 55, which increased taxes on the wealthiest Californians to generate billions for our schools. Last but not least: "We do it by using the power of our voice and our vote!" 5 6 MLK Reception Gets Lit! No, not that way. CTA's Afri- can American Caucus held its annual Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration on Saturday eve- ning with a program featuring stirring monologues by LAUSD youth of Get Lit , an LA-based organization working to increase literacy and empower- ment. The young women of Victory Praise Dancers also entertained the crowd with their spirited, evocative dance moves. 7 Delegates Thank CTA for Fire Disaster Relief One by one, delegates from the burn zones stepped up to Council microphones to thank CTA for fire relief grants. Rosa Granado, president of Hueneme Education Association in Ventura County, said the quick CTA Disaster Relief Fund grants helped four of her members who lost their homes and others who were temporarily displaced in the massive Decem- ber Thomas Fire, the largest in the state's recent history. Since September, the CTA Disaster Relief Fund has provided 245 grants to CTA members for a total of $436,000, with more grants in the pipeline, CTA Secretary-Treasurer David Goldberg announced at Council. 8 California Reads CTA's #CaliforniaReads kicked off its annual list of teacher-rec- ommended books for all grade levels at Council, with author Laurin Mayeno on hand to sign her book One of a Kind, Like Me. In addition to the books them- selves for sale, bookmarks, posters and informational flyers were also available. See cta.org/californiareads for more. Numbers and Nostalgia — the Annual Report Has It All It was a fiscal year to remember, and to revisit your union accomplishments, see the highlights in CTA's 2016-17 Year in Review. The Annual Report is CTA by the numbers for 2016-17 (including $393,100 in scholarships and grants awarded to CTA members and their dependents, and $608,326 in project grants awarded to members through CTA Institute for Teaching). Both reports are posted at cta.org/annualreport. 9 10 2016–2017 Annual Report 47 F E B R U A R Y / M A R C H 2 018