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Barbara E. Kerr
CTA President |
Midway through my second year as president of CTA, I am constantly reminded of how tough our organization is. We keep meeting challenges and then going them one better.
The year started with California posting a record budget deficit that forced cuts to our public schools and tuition increases at our colleges. Driven by the No Child Left Behind Act, the federal and state testing mania continues to drain the joy of teaching and learning from our classrooms. And the misguided priorities of local school districts are forcing salary and health care battles at bargaining tables across the state.
The latest example comes from Mount Diablo Unified School District, where members of the Mount Diablo Education Association have resorted to auctioning their district coffee mugs on eBay as a way to raise money to pay for health insurance and the classroom materials they buy out of their own pockets. You see, instead of salary increases, teachers got coffee mugs from the district that read, 'I'm Appreciated.' The superintendent and other top administrators, however, got an 8 percent pay raise. This is unacceptable. (The Mt. Diablo teachers want you to know that the ceramic mugs are dishwasher safe and will be packed securely for shipping. Bids are still being accepted.)
That's not to say there haven't been some important victories this year. In fact, thanks to the hard work from all of you, CTA and its local chapters recorded a number of victories in 2004.
First, we led the way on the state budget with an agreement that protected the core of education funding and guaranteed that any cuts would be repaid in future years. The deal guaranteed that we would receive our fair share of any future revenue increases.
For chapters dealing with the state's budget problems on the local level, we helped many bargain decent agreements in tough times. And CTA provided legal assistance to teachers who received layoff notices, saving the jobs of more than 2,000 educators.
Second, with the passage of Proposition 55, CTA achieved a 10-year goal of getting adequate school facilities for students and educators. Voters have now passed three statewide construction bonds, providing more than $34 billion to help local schools and colleges repair run-down classrooms and build new facilities. We also defeated an initiative that would have made it impossible to ensure that all children have access to a quality education.
Third, CTA worked with NEA to force the Bush administration to give states more flexibility in implementing NCLB. While we are still fighting for changes, this was the first step in getting Washington to recognize that, as written, NCLB is an unworkable disaster. At the state level, CTA succeeded in eliminating norm-referenced testing for second-graders and won the approval of legislation that will allow some English language learners to take the state-mandated tests in their own language.
We will need to duplicate some of these efforts next year. The Legislative Analyst has already suggested that the Governor renege on his promise to give education its fair share of increases in state revenue. We must make sure he understands that a deal is a deal. That's the only way to operate at the bargaining table if we want the trust and faith of all participants.
We also need to support our local chapters that are dealing with the Program Improvement process under NCLB. We have already had some success in making the procedures reasonable and in guaranteeing that collective bargaining agreements will be respected. However, we have a lot to do in assisting teachers and local chapters in working their way through this process.
We are going to do everything we can to support our local chapters as they try to bargain during these tough times. We all know that bargaining decent salaries and health benefits is tough right now, but it can be done. It takes more than a coffee cup to make teachers feel that they are truly appreciated.
We do have some things going for us. The public still believes that public education is a top priority and does not want to see public education cut any further. They still believe that education is not adequately funded in this state and want all children to have the resources they need to get a good education.
Furthermore, as the full impact of the 'testing regime' in NCLB is taking hold, the public is beginning to question whether it is such a good idea. Increasingly, parents and non-parents alike are beginning to believe that the narrow focus on testing has robbed children of a well-rounded education.
Finally, we have the 770 locals of CTA, which are our true strength. It is members standing together in local chapters that will make the real difference as we face the challenges of the future.
