Delegates to the January meeting of CTA's State Council of Education couldn't help but get a lump in their throats when Kelly McMath, a member of the Redondo Beach Teachers Association, rose to speak from the floor on behalf of a colleague who had been fired in neighboring Centinela Valley.
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Sucha Collins (with box) collects donations while Shane Ellis from Centinela, Kelly McMath from Redondo Beach and Carole Mathews from Manhattan Beach address delegates at the January Council meeting.
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In the high school district where test scores are in the bottom decile and the teacher turnover rate tops 20 percent every year, teachers had begun to organize to change things over the past year, said McMath. They had created an Educators' Bill of Rights and had started attending school board meetings. More recently, they elected two pro-teacher trustees and "got the community believing that maybe this high school district could make some positive changes in the way it does business and improve the educational program offered to students."
Yet Shane Ellis, the president of the 350-member Centinela Valley Secondary Teachers Association (CVSTA), who was largely responsible for the changes, was summarily fired over a paperwork infraction in mid-January. The chapter maintains it was because of his organizing efforts.
Calling the firing illegal, unethical and immoral, McMath urged Council to support the Centinela association in its struggle.
"This time we need to send a different message. If you go after our union activists, we will go after the school board that allows this to happen!" she said. She then announced that CVSTA would support community members who are trying to recall the school board member who headed the attack against Ellis.
"The point of the battle is to send a message: the careers of teachers shall not be hurt on the basis of their union involvement," she said.
When McMath and other teachers from Southern California's South Bay UniServ area began passing the hat to collect donations for their beleaguered colleague, delegates collected a considerable amount that will be used to mount the recall election.
"I am awed and stunned at the support shown," Ellis said after the collection was made. "I knew CTA was powerful, but I had no idea of the personal dedication people displayed today."
As an intern teacher who was elected president of his association, Ellis has been upset by his dismissal by the district. "They went after me because they knew they could," he said. But he also remains upset by the teaching conditions in his district.
In addition to the high turnover rate, Centinela teachers haven't had an increase in benefits for more than 10 years and are ranked among the lowest in the state in salaries. While two of the five high school campuses are comprised completely of portable classrooms, the district offices are housed in a newly constructed $12 million facility.
Although teachers are demoralized, Ellis and his colleagues are hoping that the effort to change the board of trustees will galvanize the association.
"We're in a crisis, but there is also an opportunity, once and for all, to establish a pro-student pro-teacher board," Ellis said. "That's what we want to do."
Dale Martin
