Council votes to support Props. 57/58 to protect schools from further cuts

To protect the state's public schools from potentially devastating cuts, CTA's State Council of Education has voted to work for passage of Propositions 57 and 58 on the March ballot.

Prop. 57, the Economic Recovery Bond Act, would allow the state to sell up to $15 billion in bonds to help pay off the state's accumulated general fund deficit while interest rates are still low.

Prop. 58, the California Balanced Budget Act, would require the Legislature to enact a balanced budget every year, never spending more money than the state takes in. It would also prohibit bond financing of any future deficits.

Both propositions must pass for either to become law.

"If this recovery package does not pass in March, the prospect of brutal cuts to education, health care, and local police and fire departments is real and too painful to imagine," CTA President Barbara E. Kerr told the news media following the January meeting. "These initiatives must pass in order to put California back on the road to recovery and give our students the schools they deserve."

Ordinarily, as CTA Executive Director Carolyn Doggett explained to Council delegates, CTA would not consider Props. 57 and 58 to be good policy, "but we're not living in normal times. There are no perfect solutions." The alternative - a $15 billion deficit - is not acceptable. If these measures don't pass, legislators will be knocking on education's door for a lot more than the $2 billion the governor has proposed.

Teachers are already part of broad coalitions supporting two other critical measures on the March 2 ballot:

• Prop. 55, the $12.3 billion school bond, which will repair dilapidated schools and build new classrooms to relieve overcrowding.
• Prop. 56, the Budget Accountability Act, which reduces from two-thirds to 55 percent the votes required for the Legislature to pass the state budget and withholds the salaries of legislators for every day the budget is late.

With recent polls showing that voter support for the statewide school bond has dropped somewhat, Kerr told Council members, "We need to make an extra push." Teachers and other school employees need to remind the public that 22,000 new classrooms are needed to meet population demands and that millions of students are going to schools where bathrooms don't work.

At the January meeting, Council delegates voted to recommend U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer for re-election, along with candidates in 19 Assembly races, three state Senate races and 33 congressional races.

Council had voted at an earlier meeting to endorse Gov. Howard Dean of Vermont for the Democratic presidential nomination. "Dean's our best hope for changing some of the ridiculous and cumbersome provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act," said Kerr. "He understands the problems teachers and schools are facing and will work with us to overturn the law's unrealistic penalties and reliance on standardized tests."

He also understands that teachers "need more resources, not more red tape."

CTA endorsed Dean "for all the right reasons," said Doggett in her address to Council. He's been standing strong against NCLB and vouchers and showing strong support for universal health care. "Those are our issues. We've been pushing them since Day One." Dean has changed the debate by taking strong stands on them and forcing other candidates to show their stripes, she added. "Regardless of whether he wins or not, we win because our issues are at the forefront of the debate."

Now that the primary process is in full swing, Dean appears to be "in a bit of trouble," she said. But there is a silver lining. If the California primary becomes a major battleground, the high turnout of Democratic voters could improve the chances of passage for the initiatives CTA is backing.

For more information on Dean's campaign, visit his website [http://www.deanforamerica.com/] and click on "CTA" under "Welcome Union Members."

At its January meeting, Council also began circulating petitions to gather the signatures necessary to get its Improving Classroom Education Act on the November ballot. CTA is working with director Rob Reiner to generate substantial new resources for schools and, at the same time, provide voluntary universal preschool. In an effort to avoid having education funding dependent upon the whims of politicians and fluctuations in the economy, the initiative would raise $4.5 billion in new revenues dedicated to education by increasing from 1 percent to 1.55 percent the tax on commercial property. With one million signatures needed by April 7, CTA is asking every member to sign a petition and get at least one other signature from a registered voter. Petition forms are being mailed to members directly.

"Sixty-two percent of California voters do not believe schools have the necessary resources," said Kerr. Polls are showing two-to-one support for tax increases to prevent cuts in public education. Fifty-seven percent of voters say they would raise their own taxes for that purpose. And two-thirds like the idea of taxing commercial property.

"The public already believes we can win in November," she said. Teachers should dump any feelings of hopelessness they may be harboring, get out their clipboards and go out in search of signatures.