Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/994766
about the instability their stu- dents were exp eriencing," sh e says. " We also began discussing the reality that our low salaries an d w orkin g c on dition s w ere making it hard for CAVA to keep teachers, creating an unstable environment for students. Ever y year we were losing more and more students and teachers." "Changes in management at K12 and an increased emphasis on profits had led to changes at CAVA that shortchanged students," says Sarah Vigrass, a 10-year C AVA t e a c h e r w h o h a s si n c e j o i n e d CTA staff as a field organizer. " When I started teaching there, families would start the year getting these great boxes of art supplies, textbooks and curric- ulum , and teachers had time to build relationships with students and fam- i li e s . A l o t of th at w ent aw ay. I e v en heard a K12 executive, in response to a parent asking to bring back physical t extb o ok s inst ead of onlin e versions th at w ere h ard for stu d ent s to n av i - gate, ask if the parent would be willing to pay for th em . That 's just wrong. A family with a child in a public school shouldn't have to pay for books." S u p p o r t f o r a u n i o n g r e w. C V E U stepped up its organizing efforts with regional staff development meetings and weekly organizing team meetings, while CAVA management tried to convince teachers that unionizing would destroy the school (in one case advising teach- ers to call the police if a union organizer came to their home). Despite managem ent oppo- sition , in 2014 C AVA t each ers over whelmingly voted to have C VEU/C TA b e th eir exclusive representative. That sparked a 17-month legal battle in which CAVA contended that its cam- p u s e s w e r e i n d i v i d u a l s c h o o l s a n d th erefore se p arat e b argainin g unit s, and that voting for CTA representation was not the same as voting for CVEU. In October 2015 the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) rejected CAVA's arguments, granting CVEU/CTA exclu- sive recognition. CAVA again appealed but was rebuffed by PERB in June 2016. In September of that year, CVEU and CAVA began negotiations for their first contract. Long road to settlement C o i n c i d i n g w i t h C V EU 's o rg a n i z i n g ef forts, public research studies and a state investigation into CAVA and K12 CVEU and iQTA members meet at a CTA office in 2016 to strategize parent, member, and community outreach and to form bargaining committees. " Changes in management at K12 and an increased emphasis on profits led to changes at CAVA that shortchanged students." — Sarah Vigrass, former CAVA teacher 36 cta.org Advocacy