The March election was a bittersweet one for CTA, filled with some major victories around the state and a couple of upsetting losses, especially the defeat of Prop. 26 and the approval of Props. 21 and 22.
Although CTA-recommended candidates swept races from federal offices to local school boards, the Let's Fix Our Schools initiative (Prop. 26) lost 51 to 49 percent. The initiative, would have made it possible for communities to approve school bonds with a simple majority rather than the two-thirds vote currently required.
Cta officers Barbara E. Kerr (center) and David A. Sanchez confer with U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein at CTA's Good Teaching Conference.
"It was a very difficult defeat for all supporters of public education," says Wayne Johnson, president of CTA. "But we cannot afford the luxury of indulging our disappointment. The plain fact is the children of California still need decent classrooms."
Despite support from a broad-based coalition that included businesses, Chambers of Commerce, CTA, PTA and seniors groups, the initiative was not able to overcome three key factors:
- Voters may have been scared away by the Legislative Analyst's ballot language, which warned of a fiscal impact "potentially in the hundreds of millions of dollars statewide each year." The official ballot language also highlighted "possible increases in local property taxes in the millions" without mentioning possible savings. This language led to the erroneous belief that a "yes" vote on the measure would increase taxes, says Johnson. Efforts to change the language were not successful.
- Negative publicity about the Belmont Learning Center made Los Angeles voters skeptical of funding school construction projects. Millions of dollars had been wasted when the new school was scrapped after it was discovered that it was being built on a toxic waste site."As a result, the campaign did not carry LA County, something you must do in order to pass any statewide initiative," explains Johnson.
- Post-election analyses indicate that the voter turnout was much more conservative and anti-tax than normal. It was fueled by the highly contested Republican presidential primary. "In spite of this, we came within 75,000 votes of victory," says Johnson. "In California, that equates to about one vote per precinct."
The campaign to pass Proposition 26 had no control over these factors, says CTA Vice President Barbara E. Kerr, thanking teachers and supporters. "We fought hard and are not sorry to have waged the fight."
Although the proposition was defeated, CTA was successful in forging an alliance with a number of partners, including Silicon Valley business leaders who are vowing to continue the fight. Reed Hastings, a co-sponsor of the measure, has already taken out papers to put a similar initiative on the ballot in November.
Nor does the defeat diminish CTA's zeal to achieve its goals of "facilities, funding and flexibility." CTA will stage its massive Action Day for Schools rally in Sacramento on May 8 to bring home its point to state elected officials that California schools need to be funded at the national average. It is also proceeding with plans to qualify the Reinvesting in California's Schools initiative for the November ballot.
In other races, CTA-recommended candidates emerged as clear winners, including Democratic presidential hopeful Al Gore and U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein. Approximately 92 percent of CTA-recommended candidates won in Assembly, Senate and Congressional races.
Among the winners were Sen. Betty Karnette (D-Long Beach); Sen. Adam Schiff (D-Pasadena); Sen. Hilda Solis (D-El Monte); Assembly Member Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Santa Rosa); and Assembly candidate Lynn Daucher (R-Brea). Orange County teachers were particularly pleased to help Tom Harman, a Republican Assembly candidate win his race against Jim Righeimer, the co-sponsor of the anti-union Prop. 226, which CTA successfully fought in 1998.
Two CTA-recommended propositions were approved by voters, including Prop. 14, which will increase funding for public libraries, and Prop. 1A, which will improve schools and living conditions for Native Americans.
CTA racked up two more victories when voters turned down Propositions 25 and 28. Prop. 25, an initiative financed by millionaire Ron Unz, would have severely limited political contributions by unions and increased the strength of wealthy individuals. Prop. 28 would have repealed the tobacco surtax that funds programs for children.
Dale Martin
