We're in this together

More than 2,000 protestors showed up in Orange County and in San Jose. Five hundred came to a rally in San Bernardino. Several thousand encircled a hotel in Los Angeles where he was serving dinner for $25,000 a plate. I could go on and on. When it comes to telling Governor Schwarzenegger exactly how we feel about his so-called reforms that don't do anything to help our schools, we truly are in this together.

As you know, the governor has directly attacked California public schools and educators. His proposals would gut Proposition 98 and lead to midyear budget cuts for local school districts; destroy our secure retirement system; undermine a teacher's right to due process, something we've fought hard over the years to achieve; and pay teachers based on the scores of students on some yet to be defined standardized test.

The governor's strategy for securing this destructive agenda is twofold. First, he has called a special session of the Legislature to try to achieve his goals through legislation. Second, in case he doesn't get what he wants in the Legislature, he's circulating petitions to place initiatives on the ballot in a November special election that state officials estimate will cost California taxpayers more than $70 million. In the city of San Francisco, they are talking about shutting down community health clinics that serve low-income families and children for one day a week just to pay for this election. If you ask me, that's a high price to pay for an election that nobody wants with an agenda that nobody supports.

However, the governor has used this bullheaded strategy before. This is, on a larger scale, the same strategy he used to achieve changes in the laws governing workers' compensation. The legislative compromise, which ended up shortchanging workers, was widely reported as a victory for the governor.

Luckily, this year's strategy is encountering a few bumps in the road.

Right now the governor is not having much success with the Legislature in moving his proposals forward. As I said, there is a growing chorus of opposition to the way his proposals affect public education. His pension reform initiative suffered a setback when the attorney general's office pointed out that it would do away with the survivor benefits for the families of police and firefighters who are killed or injured in the line of duty.

But we cannot take Governor Schwarzenegger — and more importantly his big-business, special-interest buddies who are bankrolling his campaign — lightly. The governor is raising millions of dollars at his fundraisers, where his friends can pay up to $100,000 to sit with him and receive a commemorative photo. (If only our local districts could demand such prices, all our schools might have art programs or new copiers.) The governor and his pals have promised to raise more than $50 million to push through their special-interest agenda, and with pharmaceutical and oil companies picking up the tab, you know this is one promise that they will keep.

CTA is implementing its own one-two punch to deal with our runaway governor.

On the legislative front, we are working with the Education Coalition and others to oppose his budget proposals and thwart his attempt to gut Prop. 98. We are also working in a coalition to oppose his pension proposals. And we have succeeded in forcing him to cancel a committee vote on his merit pay plan when it was apparent that it was going down to defeat. Members of the Sacramento City Teachers Association and the San Juan Education Association testified at the hearing on behalf of all of us.

CTA members are joining parents, nurses, firefighters and other workers at protests, rallies and media events across the state. In fact, I would like to invite everyone to be part of a huge demonstration on May 25. More details will soon be available through your local chapter, but rallies will be held at the state Capitol in Sacramento and at Pershing Square in Los Angeles.

CTA has also begun a statewide TV and radio advertising campaign featuring classroom teachers from Concord, Compton, Auburn, Goleta, Long Beach and other cities taking the governor to task for breaking his promises to our schools and kids.

On the initiative front, we have formed a coalition with other labor unions and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) to oppose the governor's initiatives. Wisely, the Alliance for a Better California (ABC) has decided that we have to play offense as well as defense.

ABC is circulating four initiatives in case a special election is called. This is important for three reasons:

First, all of the issues that are being considered are ones that force the governor to make a stand with his business allies and against California voters.

Second, having other issues on the ballot forces the governor's big-business allies to play defense and offense at the same time.

Finally, these are issues — like affordable prescription drugs — that are important to California families, unlike the governor's phony reform agenda.

CTA has also joined forces with the Coalition for Tax Fairness, which includes law enforcement and education groups, to support an initiative to make sure big business pays its share of the property tax burden. By changing the way commercial property is assessed, this proposal would raise almost $3 billion for local schools, public safety, transportation and property tax relief for senior citizens.

All five of these initiatives have been cleared for signature gathering. I ask you to sign these petitions.

We can't succeed against someone with the cachet that the governor possesses without enlisting the best efforts of every member of CTA. But together, we cannot be beat.