SACRAMENTO - Barbara E. Kerr, vice president of the 330,000-member California Teachers Association, will testify Tuesday at the first legislative hearing for CTA's historic bill to give teachers a greater voice in the decision-making processes for such vital issues as curriculum, increasing parental involvement, and training for educators.
"This bill will expand the scope of collective bargaining to give teachers a truly professional role in decisions affecting student learning and teaching," said Kerr, a veteran Riverside teacher. "Teachers work most directly with our students, yet their voices are currently ignored by district administrators and bureaucrats."
The newly amended version of AB 2160 going before the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee also adds more language to further guarantee parental participation. It states that parents and guardians have the right to participate on any committee that's established in negotiations "for the purpose of selecting textbooks and instructional materials or the development and implementation of educational objectives, content of courses, and curriculum."
The CTA-sponsored bill is being carried by Assemblymembers Jackie Goldberg, D-Los Angeles, Virginia Strom-Martin, D-Santa Rosa, and Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson, D-Los Angeles. New co-authors are Assembly Democrats Thomas Calderon of Montebello; Marco Firebaugh, Cudahy; Carl Washington, Compton, and Patricia Wiggins, Santa Rosa.
- WHAT: Hearing on CTA's historic Assembly Bill 2160 before the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee.
- WHEN: 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 16.
- WHERE: Room 100, Legislative Office Building, 1020 N Street, Sacramento.
- SPEAKERS: CTA Vice President Barbara E. Kerr. She will be available for interviews.