BURLINGAME – Veteran educator David A. Sanchez has assumed the helm of the 340,000-member California Teachers Association. As the first Latino president of the largest state teachers association in the country and the head of the leadership team that took office today, Sanchez has vowed to continue CTA’s mission of working to ensure all public school students get the quality education and resources they deserve to succeed.
“We will continue the CTA mission to secure a quality education for every student,” said Sanchez, who has 27 years of experience as an educator. “We must close the student achievement gaps and the resource gaps that especially challenge our schools of greatest need. Our public schools are making progress, but in order for that progress to continue, they must receive adequate funding.”
Sanchez succeeds Riverside educator Barbara E. Kerr, CTA president the past four years. He is a kindergarten teacher in Santa Maria in Santa Barbara County. Sanchez, who is bilingual, was named one of 80 California Latino “Leaders of the Future” by La Opinión newspaper in 2006. He served the past four years as CTA’s vice president and calls Santa Maria home.
Joining Sanchez on the leadership team is new CTA Vice President Dean E. Vogel, whose teaching and counseling career spans 34 years. He is a long-time counselor in the Vacaville Unified School District in Solano County. For his commitment to school counselors, he was named “Advocate of the Year” in 2006 by the California Association of School Counselors. Vogel served the past four years as the CTA secretary-treasurer and lives in Davis in Yolo County.
New CTA Secretary-Treasurer Daniel R. Vaughn has 28 years of classroom experience. He is an English/language arts teacher at West Middle School in the Downey Unified School District in Los Angeles County. Vaughn, of Downey, served the past six years on the CTA Board of Directors, representing thousands of teachers in southeastern Los Angeles County.
Click for detailed biographies of the officers.