Urge CA Lawmakers to Sign Letter to Speaker Pelosi - 09/10/07
We are urging members of the California State Senate and the California Assembly to sign letters being circulated by Sen. Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) and Assembly Member Mark Leno (D-San Francisco) that would ask Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and U.S. Rep. George Miller (D-CA) to reshape the measure into something that would help, instead of hurt, our public schools.
Background
The House Education and Labor Committee, which is chaired by Congressperson George Miller, is expected to begin looking at a “mock-up” or draft of a new version of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA or NCLB) as early as Monday, September 10.
The draft contains a number of provisions that are so onerous that they would devastate public schools in California and around the nation.
The current proposed changes would place even more undue emphasis on test scores, create new sanctions for struggling schools, undermine local control, and erode employee rights. It does all of this at a time California needs to recruit 100,000 new teachers into the profession.
To stop Congress from passing such counterproductive proposals, CTA is asking California lawmakers to sign a letter that spells out their opposition to these provisions that would:
- Implement the worst kind of “pay for performance” or merit pay. The proposed provisions would actually cap teacher pay and tie it to student test scores. (Simply put: The proposal would discourage highly qualified teachers from coming into the profession and staying in the profession.)
- Gut collective bargaining, particularly on issues affecting professional development and career pathing.
- Undercut teachers’ rights to have a say on contractual issues relating to learning and working conditions.
- Implement a simplistic “one-size-fits-all” approach to education and teacher compensation that would make it harder for schools to prepare students to meet the state’s rigorous standards.
- Ignore the role of the physical plant and other outside factors that help create or undercut local learning and teaching conditions.
CTA Members; Here’s How to Help
- Get in touch with your state Senator and your State Assembly Member immediately. (Congress is expected to begin looking at these new proposals as early as Monday, September 10.)
- Urge your state lawmakers to sign the letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. As elected representatives of more than 30 million Californians, they have the power to effect changes in the federal measure.
(The draft of the letter is attached for your reference. It contains the major arguments you can use to convince lawmakers to sign.)
Please write lawmakers on this vital issue. Go to the Legislative Action Center, where you can send e-mails directly to these officials.
For more information, contact CTA Legislative Advocate Patricia Rucker or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at 916.325.1500.