Facing unprecedented cuts to public education, Bay Area educators, parents, school administrators and other stakeholders will join in local protest events as part of a day of action on Tuesday, March 15 – the deadline for school districts to issue preliminary teacher pink slips.
The events by the California Teachers Association and the California Education Coalition will also call on lawmakers to support the governor’s proposed budget – including a June special election to extend some current taxes – to prevent even deeper cuts to public schools. Over the past three years, K-12 public education in California has been cut more than $18 billion. Class sizes have soared, school years have shrunk, and schools have had to eliminate art, music and other vital classes across the state.
More information about events is at www.cta.org. Here is a sampling of CTA “Red Tuesday” Bay Area events on Tuesday, March 15:
SAN BRUNO: State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson will join local and state Education Coalition leaders in a 4 p.m. news conference with parents and teachers at Portola Elementary, 300 Amador Ave., San Bruno, 94066. The entire CTA Board of Directors will join the event, and CTA President David A. Sanchez will announce the latest statewide estimate of preliminary pink slips sent out to educators. Contact: Mike Myslinski at CTA, 408-921-5769 (cell).
UNION CITY: ****ATTENTION BAY AREA MORNING TV NEWS CREWS**** In Alameda County, a 6:30 a.m. news conference about drastic cuts and 60 teacher pink slips in the New Haven Unified School District will be held by teachers, administrators and parents at Alvarado Middle School, 31604 Alvarado Blvd., Union City, 94587. The event is at the school’s brand new library that will close in the fall as part of $10 million in cuts the New Haven district will have to make if the governor’s budget plan and tax extensions are not approved. Speakers will include CTA Board members and Bay Area teachers Eric Heins and Don Dawson, Superintendent Kari McVeigh, a pink-slipped kindergarten teacher who is seven months pregnant, a school librarian, and New Haven Teachers Association President Charmaine Kawaguchi. The Alvarado Middle School jazz band, which is also on the chopping block, will perform. Contact: Teacher Charmaine Kawaguchi at 510-501-0049 (cell).
OAKLAND: Facing about 540 pink slips, hundreds of teachers in the Oakland Unified School District will rally and picket from 4-4:30 p.m. in front of Oakland High School, 1023 MacArthur Blvd., 94610. Contact: Oakland Education Association President Betty Olson-Jones at 510-866-3676 (cell).