We're in this together

Let's start with the difficult decision. The decision made by the officers and your CTA Board of Directors, along with our coalition partner, Rob Reiner, not to file the Improving Classroom Education Act for the November ballot was one of the toughest decisions we've made during my tenure as CTA president or as a CTA leader. But it was the right decision.

In the weeks since our decision, David, Dean, the CTA Board members and I have visited schools and attended local chapter meetings. Some of you were very frustrated by this decision and even angry. Some of you were so overburdened with state and federally mandated tests that you didn't have time to take a breath or even think about the initiative. And many of you have said that you agree with or understand why we pulled the initiative.

It was a difficult decision because our schools desperately need the additional $6 billion a year that this initiative - if it had been approved by California voters - would have brought to our classrooms. And it was difficult because the goals of this initiative - smaller class sizes, adequate textbooks and materials, better salaries and teacher training, and preschool for all kids - are the right education reforms to improve student learning.

So why didn't we file the initiative? I know you've heard a lot of speculation.

First, thanks to all of you, we succeeded in collecting the more than one million signatures needed to qualify the initiative for the November election. Rumors that we didn't have enough signatures are false. I want to thank each and every one of you who took the time to sign a petition or gathered signatures from family members, friends and community members. Your efforts again showed the strength of CTA.

Second, we are operating in a very different political climate than when we started this process more than a year ago. Our decision to suspend the initiative was driven by a realistic look at the complicated nature of the November ballot. When we started this effort, the Improving Classroom Education Act was one of two initiatives planned for the general election. By April, it was clear that our initiative would be one of many substantive propositions on the ballot. In fact, there would have been at least five initiatives that raised revenues for dedicated purposes. That would have created a confusing ballot and made it difficult for even the most attentive voter.

And finally, the complex nature of the ballot significantly raised the cost of running this initiative campaign effectively. The

Los Angeles Times

projected that this will be the most expensive campaign season ever.

So where do we go from here? There are a number of short-range and long-range challenges and opportunities ahead of us.

Governor Schwarzenegger will soon release his revised state budget proposal. CTA and the governor remain committed to the education budget agreement that was announced in January. This means an additional $2 billion for our public schools and community colleges. It guarantees cost-of-living and student growth increases for all programs and it guarantees that any money cut from education will be repaid. This proposal must still be approved by the Legislature. It's important that your local lawmakers hear from you. Tell them to support the education budget and to stop any additional cuts to our schools.

We are also working on a number of bills as they make their way through the Legislature, including a proposal to reauthorize the state testing and accountability system.

I remember a time when spring meant planting flowers and getting ready for summer vacations, but for teachers and students, spring has come to mean testing, testing and more testing.

All teachers use some form of testing to evaluate and measure student achievement. We would be crazy not to, but the testing mania that takes over our schools and our lives each spring is out of control. I've seen high school schedules where every day but two or three out of the last six weeks is spent taking some type of state-mandated or standardized test. This mania has got to stop.

CTA is pushing for several changes to the state testing program, including reducing the norm-referenced components of the program, reducing the number of standards-based achievement tests, eliminating testing in the second grade, moving the test administration date as late as possible to allow teachers and students time to cover the curriculum, releasing all test questions to teachers, and providing test results within 30 days of test administration so the information can be used in a timely manner. This may only be a start, but we must bring the joy of learning back to our students and the joy of teaching back to our classrooms.

We are going to listen to you, our members, and continue to work to make each local chapter strong and effective. This is how we truly build a stronger CTA.

As I said, we remain committed to the goals of this initiative. We are going to have to work with our elected leaders, parents and community members to meet the needs of our students and schools. And we must challenge the business community, which led the charge against the initiative, to stop the rhetoric and do more than talk about improving our schools. We are all in this together, and they must join us in finding real solutions to California's school funding crisis.