By Mike Myslinski
CTA members made a huge difference for public schools in the Feb. 5 primary election as the flawed ballot measure, Proposition 92, went down to defeat and voters passed all local school bonds or parcel taxes where CTA helped fund community campaigns.
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| CTA Board member Don Dawson joins coalition representatives in explaining Prop. 92’s flaws. |
Voters strongly agreed with CTA and the No on Proposition 92 coalition that Prop. 92 was not what it seemed.
“We strongly support community colleges, but Prop. 92 was a flawed measure that would have hurt California public schools and led to cuts in other critical programs,” says CTA President David A. Sanchez. “We look forward to working with community colleges, lawmakers and all of our partners in public education to ensure our community colleges have proper funding and that all California students have access to the quality higher education they deserve.”
CTA is sponsoring legislation to ensure that community colleges get their fair share of education funding. In the long run, it will bring even more money to college campuses than Prop. 92 would have.
During the campaign, teachers took part in news conferences around the state that were coordinated by the diverse No on Proposition 92 coalition, which included educators, business leaders, firefighters, taxpayers, seniors and community groups. Also opposing the measure were the League of Women Voters, the California Faculty Association, the University of California, the Service Employees International Union, the California Business Roundtable, and the California State Conference of the NAACP.
CTA’s State Council of Education also recommended a no vote on Prop. 91, which was defeated. The measure’s issues had already been handled by the Legislature.
Unfortunately, voters also defeated Prop. 93, which CTA supported as a way of striking a balance on the issue of term limits reform.
CTA did not make a recommendation for a presidential candidate, but will consider doing so in April.
By passing 75 percent of the 39 local general obligation school bonds, California voters continued to show that they want more investment in public schools. The 30 successful bonds will provide about $3.9 billion in badly needed local school construction funds, according to State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O’Connell.
All 10 chapters that requested campaign funding from CTA’s political action committee, the Association for Better Citizenship Committee (CTA/ABC), won approval for their bonds or parcel taxes on Feb. 5.
Members of the Redondo Beach Teachers Association secured passage of a $143 million bond for facility modernization. “Some of the buildings on the campus of Redondo Union High School are more than 100 years old,” says Amy Santa Cruz, president of RBTA. “The public showed by their vote how badly they want our schools to be renovated.”
The Oakland Education Association won renewal of an existing parcel tax that provides about $20 million a year for teacher retention, art and music programs, and new textbooks. The extension was a major win, says OEA President Betty Olson-Jones. “The extra $20 million a year makes all the difference in the world.”
Other chapters receiving CTA/ABC funds for their successful efforts were the Windsor District Education Association, the Ravenswood Teachers Association, the Sequoia District Teachers Association, the Los Banos Teachers Association, the San Lorenzo Valley Teachers Association, the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association, the Lindsay Teachers Association and the Redlands Teachers Association.