Pink slip protest launches bus tour at State Council
Volume 12, Issue 7 - April 2008
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| Mock pink slips are held up by 200 Council members to represent the 18,000 layoffs across California. |
Declaring that no more cuts should be made to our public schools, CTA President David A. Sanchez led a protest at State Council in advance of the CTA’s statewide bus tour launch. During the protest, 200 State Council members held up mock pink slips representing the 18,000 educators who received layoff notices.
“We are here today to rip up these symbolic pink slips because the governor’s proposed state budget cuts and the damage they are causing are tearing the fabric of our schools and communities,” Sanchez said. “Teachers and their students are in turmoil over the thousands of layoff notices that have gone out due to the governor’s reckless proposal to slash $4.8 billion from our schools.”
Two of those pink slips went to Bernie and Lisa Harding of San Dimas. Flanked by their young daughters holding signs about saving their parents’ jobs, the couple spoke out at the CTA protest against the state budget chaos that threatens their positions in Covina Valley Unified School District in Los Angeles County.
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| Pink-slipped teachers Bernie and Lisa Harding with their daughters Rebecca and Hannah. |
“My students and my profession deserve better respect than these mass layoff notices,” said Bernie Harding, a third-grade teacher.
“It is outrageous that the governor’s actions are now threatening my students and my own family,” said Lisa Harding, a 15-year veteran learning specialist who helps struggling students. “In a time when we use words like No Child Left Behind and proficiency of standards, how can the governor do this to our students?”
“Tough times call for true leadership in Sacramento,” said Sanchez. “And it’s time for our governor and lawmakers to demonstrate that leadership by setting priorities and implementing a balanced approach to this financial crisis.”