We're in this together

As I celebrated Read Across America with the students and teachers at Moffett Elementary School in Inglewood, I couldn't help but think of Governor Schwarzenegger and how wrong he is about our public schools and the teachers who work hard every day to help their students learn and succeed.

I watched the eager faces of more than 200 first-graders as they got a quick drawing lesson from the artist who illustrated the book that inspired CTA's Read Across America theme this year. As they listened and concentrated and put all their creative skills to work to make some incredible artwork, I thought: How sad. I was sad because some students today will never get a chance to find out if they will be the next Picasso or Georgia O'Keeffe. Because of state budget cuts, their schools no longer have art or music programs.

Doesn't Governor Schwarzenegger know that breaking his promise to protect Proposition 98 — the law approved by California voters to guarantee minimum funding for our public schools — will drastically impact all of these students and generations to come?

How can he call these teachers "special interests" against whom the state must battle? Doesn't he see how we change our students' lives? Doesn't he know some of these great teachers will find jobs elsewhere if you take away their retirement benefits or decide to base their pay on how well students score on standardized tests? Doesn't he know that reducing class sizes and providing up-to-date textbooks to all students are proven reforms that will actually improve student learning?

The good news is, we are not alone in this fight, and the more voters find out, the more they don't like his so-called reforms.

CTA is leading efforts with the statewide Education Coalition to oppose the governor's plan to gut Proposition 98. His spending cap proposal would mean $15,000 less for every classroom in this state and would allow automatic across-the-board cuts three times a year. Working with the Education Coalition, CTA produced a radio ad that is effectively drawing attention to the governor's broken promises to adequately fund our schools. And you know our ads are working when the governor's attorneys try to bully radio stations into pulling the commercials from the air. No stations are heeding the threats.

Local education coalitions are also forming across the state. In places like San Diego, Salinas, San Jose, Santa Cruz and Orange County, teachers, parents, school support workers, school board members and administrators are holding local news conferences and rallies to tell the public and their local lawmakers how the governor's proposals will hurt our students and our schools. Teachers in Salinas even marched in the rain to get their point across.

CTA is working with the California Nurses Association — the other favorite "special interest" target of the governor. He called emergency room nurses "special interests" because they fought for a nurse staffing law that would have improved patient care. He does all of this name-calling about the people who teach our children and who take care of us when we are in the hospital. But he doesn't say a word about the pharmaceutical companies and his big corporate donors that are the real special interests that are trying to run Sacramento. With $100,000-a-plate fundraisers, this governor has raised more campaign funds and funneled the money to more political committees than any other governor in the history of the state.

CTA is part of a retirement coalition that has already succeeded in getting the STRS Board to reject the governor's privatization plan. In response, the governor fired four STRS Board members who disagreed with him. The retirement coalition is strategizing to make sure that any 401(k) bill is dead on arrival at the Legislature and any ballot initiative on the subject is defeated handily.

Our community outreach efforts are paying off, as ACORN has joined our fight to protect minimum school funding guarantees. They will be spreading the message about school funding in various communities across the state.

And finally, CTA is part of a coalition that represents more than a million California firefighters, nurses, teachers, peace officers and other workers who serve and protect the people of California. Seriously, Saving California is a coalition of labor and education organizations that is looking at all of the initiatives that have been filed and will make sure California voters have real choices if a special election is held in November, even though holding such an election would be a criminal waste of money. Right now we are asking you to simply say NO. Do NOT sign any petitions that are being circulated. When there are some initiatives worth signing, we will get the word out.