SACRAMENTO - The Assembly Education Committee Wednesday night approved historic legislation sponsored by the 330,000-member California Teachers Association to ensure that the voices of teachers and parents are heard when educational decisions are made in public schools.
Assembly Bill 2160, which now moves to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, is the "most significant educational reform since the passage of class-size reduction" and will benefit student learning, CTA President Wayne Johnson testified before the vote.
"I am here today to support the notion that teachers - the education professionals who work closely with students every day - and parents should have more of a say in how our students are educated," Johnson testified. "AB 2160 will improve public education by guaranteeing parents' and teachers' input into the decision-making processes that most directly affect the classroom."
Johnson commended the committee for looking past the misleading rhetoric of the bill's opponents and doing what's best for California's students.
"Currently, too many decisions about our schools are made by bureaucrats and politicians and too few by teaching professionals," said Johnson. "This bill makes sure teachers are involved in decisions affecting their classrooms."
Johnson said the new "Academic Partnership" amendment to the bill gives school boards and administrators the opportunity to involve teachers and parents in educational decisions in a way that has real substance. If school boards and administrators renege on their promise to include teachers and parents, the bill gives teachers the right to negotiate the issues in good faith.
The Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee approved the bill on April 16. The bill is authored by Assemblymembers Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Santa Rosa), and Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Los Angeles).