CTA's State Council honored seven teacher activists and four local chapters whose members distinguished themselves this year in a variety of political battles for their colleagues, for students and for public education.
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Accepting Bass/Fadem awards from CTA Officers Vogel, Sanchez and Kerr are Mary Rose Ortega (top, 2nd from left); Bill Hewitt, Jimmie Woods Gray, Scott Johnson, Priscilla Hall and Harry Keiley; Kathleen Neuwald (Fort Bragg), James W. Pace and Scott Johnson (Hesperia), John E. Brennan (Yucaipa-Calimesa) and Lois Bradford (UTLA).
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Recipients of this year's Ted Bass Teacher-in-Politics and Joyce Fadem Chapter-in-Politics Awards include veteran and rookie members whose activities ranged from organizing local coalitions for education to raising nearly $3 million for a local political action fund.
Mary Rose Ortega , a member of United Teachers Los Angeles, received the overall Theodore Bass Teacher-in-Politics Award for her outstanding achievements in all areas of politics for nearly two decades. She has mentored teachers on the art of politics, helped her chapter unseat unfriendly incumbents and helped CTA win statewide initiatives.
The Ted Bass Award for Getting Others Involved went to Tom Dreyer , a member of the Yucaipa-Calimesa Educators Association, who spent hundreds of hours recruiting, organizing and leading a political action committee in a successful effort to replace three school board members.
The Ted Bass Award for State Priorities went to Jimmie Woods Gray , a member of United Teachers Los Angeles, who has served as a legislative contact and a liaison to the State Board of Education. She was a founding member of Women Against the Recall and No on Proposition 54. Most recently, she organized Los Angeles' School Readiness and Language Development Program Staff into a political force.
The Ted Bass Award for Local Priorities went to Scott Johnson , a member of the Hesperia Education Association, who has been battling a local school board and administration for more than eight years. Recently, he helped recruit candidates to run against the anti-teacher incumbents.
The Ted Bass Award for Partisan/Non-partisan Activities went to William "Bill" Hewitt , a member of the South Orange County Community College District Faculty Association. When the governing board sought to appoint a crony to fill out a trustee's unexpired term, Hewitt located key Education Code provisions prohibiting it and gathered 7,000 signatures to force a special election which resulted in the seating of a pro-teacher candidate.
Two winners are sharing the Ted Bass Award for Coalition Building: Priscilla Hall , a member of the Snowline Teachers Association, and Harry Keiley , president of the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association. Hall helped to forge an alliance with the local chapter of the California School Employees Association. Keiley helped to create a local education coalition that brought together teachers, business representatives, renters' rights advocates, elected officials, unions and the public to work for passage of a local parcel tax that is generating more than $6.1 million annually for schools.
Four chapters won Joyce Fadem Chapter-in-Politics Awards.
The Small Chapter award went to the Fort Bragg District Teachers Association , where 20 percent of its members took part in a get-out-the-vote campaign this year,which won the passage of a $22 million school bond. The chapter has also created a newsletter that addresses legislative issues.
The Medium Chapter award went to the Hesperia Education Association , which has been battling the school board for a long time. This year, the board sent layoff notices to every single teacher. Under pressure from the chapter, the board rescinded all but 41 of the notices. A full 85 percent of teachers got involved in school board races and joined the chapter's political action committee. The chapter elected two pro-education candidates to the board and is now mobilizing to add two more in the next election.
The Large Chapter award went to United Teachers Los Angeles , which had some big challenges. The chapter defeated three school board candidates, even though they were part of a slate funded by a backer with deep pockets, by raising $2.8 million in political action funds in two years. In the process, UTLA formed coalitions, ran phone banks, recruited candidates, trained its members and succeeded in fight after political fight.
The Rookie Chapter award went to the Yucaipa-Calimesa Educators Association . Tired of contentious contract negotiations and other anti-teacher actions on the part of the school board, the chapter formed a political action committee, organized and recruited school board candidates. The chapter was able to elect three new board members and is now enjoying positive relationships with all five trustees.
Len Feldman
