CTA's State Council of Education has voted to recommend Bruce McPherson for California secretary of state, rounding out its slate of endorsements for statewide offices.
"Bruce McPherson will ensure the integrity of the voting process and the rights of all voters in California," said CTA President Barbara E. Kerr.
"Throughout his career, he has been a strong supporter of public education, schools and students."
Earlier in the year, Council voted to support Phil Angelides for governor, John Garamendi for lieutenant governor, Rocky Delgadillo for attorney general, Bill Lockyer for treasurer, Jack O'Connell for state superintendent of public instruction, Cruz Bustamante for insurance commissioner, and Betty Yee and Judy Chu for State Board of Equalization Seats 1 and 4, respectively.
Angelides, who came to Council to thank delegates for their vote of support, "may not have the charisma of a Hollywood movie star," said Kerr in her address to Council, "but I think we can do with a little less charisma and a lot more substance in our next governor."
Prop. 81, the California Reading and Literacy Improvement and Public Library Construction and Renovation Bond Act of 2006, won Council's support. It would generate $600 million for public libraries throughout the state.
Prop. 82, the Preschool for All initiative that would provide free preschool for every 4-year-old in California, won Council's support at the January meeting.
Over the course of the two meetings, Council has recommended candidates in 47 Assembly races, eight Senate races and 35 congressional races. (The complete list will be published in the May issue of the Educator.)
With the 30-year anniversary of the state's collective bargaining law, the Rodda Act, coming up in July, CTA Executive Director Carolyn Doggett reminded teachers what the profession was like before the bill's passage. "A good salary, health benefits and decent working conditions were only a dream in most places. There was no due process, no transfer procedure, no release time, and no grievance procedure, let alone binding arbitration. Teachers were treated like nothing more than tall children in many school districts."
Over time, she said, people have come to take bargaining for granted when they should be "eternally vigilant to preserve what we have, because every year, legislation is introduced that would limit and restrict our right to bargain."
Several of the 159 bills on which Council took positions over the weekend would do just that. "But even more disturbing, lately, there has been an ominous new direction in these attempts to limit teacher rights." Bargaining agreements are being attacked as "vestiges of the industrial economic model that prevailed in the 1950s" and "a harmful anachronism in today's K-12 education system."
"We have to protect our hard-won right to bargain against those who see the simple answer to a complex problem," said Doggett. Not only that, teachers need to use collective bargaining as a tool to solve today's education issues and make sure that "every school in California is a great place to work and a great place for students to learn."
