Over the history of the CTA, the association's publications have been there chronicling the times. Here's a look at some of the highlights from The California Teacher: A Journal of School and Home Education in 1863 to the California Educator of present day.
1863
While the country was embroiled in the Civil War, what became CTA was founded in San Francisco in May 1863. Its first act was to establish a professional journal titled The California Teacher: A Journal of School and Home Education, whose first issue appeared in July 1863 and contained the new organization's constitution. Subscription was $1 per year.
1944
In 1909, as the newly incorporated CTA was preparing to form a permanent statewide structure, it purchased Sierra Educational News. Shown here is a cover from November 1944. As World War II continued far away, CTA urged members to stump for Proposition 9 to increase state funding for public schools. It passed overwhelmingly.
1988
The headline says it all: "Going for the gold." The November 1988 issue of CTA Action touted the statewide CTA campaign to pass historic Proposition 98. Teachers campaigned tirelessly, led by President Ed Foglia. Voters approved the landmark ballot measure, which guarantees minimum funding for public schools.
1989
The watershed nine-day strike by United Teachers Los Angeles in May 1989 was "a breakthrough for the professionalization of teachers," said UTLA's then-president Wayne Johnson, who went on to become president of CTA. As CTA Action reported, UTLA members won "revolutionary reforms," along with a 24 percent salary increase over three years.
2005
The California Educator magazine cover for September 2005 captured the solidarity of CTA members marching in downtown Los Angeles against the governor's three propositions to silence the political voices of public workers and attack teachers' due process rights. After a year of relentless campaigning against Props. 74, 75 and 76 led by CTA President Barbara E. Kerr, voters soundly defeated the governor's measures at the polls.
2008
The mortgage meltdown and its devastating effects on schools was the subject of the November 2008 edition of the California Educator magazine. It was the first publication in the state to describe how the housing crisis and economic downturn was impacting schools in communities with high foreclosure rates. The article, "The New Poor, Teaching in Tough Economic Times," told the story of how schools were losing students whose families had lost their homes and how newly poor students could not afford the basics.