August 31, 2010

Education Jobs Bill Approved!

$1.2 Billion Headed to CA to Help Rehire Educators

All of the phone calls and e-mails to lawmakers paid off as Congress approved the Education Jobs Bill in August. The action brings $1.2 billion to California to help retain and rehire about 16,500 educators. Following a bill approved by the California Legislature, the money will be sent to local school districts according to a base-revenue-limit formula. All of the money must be used to rehire laid off educators or restore salary cuts due to state budget cuts. Thank you for making your voices heard over the summer recess and getting this bill passed. I also want to recognize Speaker Nancy Pelosi who called the House back into session as soon as the Senate passed the bill. Money should go out to local school districts by mid-September.

State Budget Stalemate Continues

State budget gridlock in Sacramento is headed toward an all-time record as the state budget is now more than 60 days late and there appears to be no end in sight. More than $3 billion in payments to local schools have already been delayed. As the regular legislative session adjourned this week, the Assembly and Senate voted on two budget proposals: The democratic Jobs Budget, which restored the governor’s proposed cuts to education and a Republican plan that continued drastic cuts to schools and human services programs. Both proposals failed to get the required two-thirds vote for passage. In one victory, CTA has fought off attempts to eliminate the state’s Class Size Reduction law. CTA and the entire Education Coalition continue to lobby lawmakers. It’s equally important to keep talking to parents about the impact of the state budget cuts in local schools and classrooms. The Education Coalition created a quick fact sheet for Back-to-School night events.

Campaign 2010 Kicks Into High Gear

Although no one can escape the barrage of television ads from gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, Campaign 2010 will officially kick into high gear after Labor Day. This election is critical to the future of our public schools and colleges. CTA has been working in coalition with other labor unions to expose Whitman’s Wall Street agenda and her dismal voting record. She failed to vote for 28 years. Last week, we joined California nurses for a rally in Sacramento celebrating the 90th anniversary of women getting the right to vote and protesting Whitman’s agenda to lay off 40,000 state employees, pay teachers based on student test scores, cut an additional $7.5 billion from education and destroy our secure retirement system. Meanwhile, CTA joined SEIU and more than 50 community organizations for a statewide bus tour to register Latino voters. The ¡Todas a Votar! tour made nine stops in four days and registered more than 10,000 voters.

CTA is also working to elect Tom Torlakson as Superintendent of Public Instruction and pass Propositions 24 and 25. Prop 24 would repeal nearly $2 billion in tax breaks given to big corporations without any requirement to create jobs in California. Prop 25 would bring some common sense reform to the state budget process by allowing a majority of lawmakers to pass the budget, while also withholding lawmakers’ pay for every day the budget is late.

Each CTA Region will be kicking off campaign efforts this week. Visit www.cta.org for more information and campaign resources. CTA has a goal of reaching out to all members and getting at least 10 percent of our members to volunteer. This is a critical election and I urge everyone to get involved now. Text “CTAVOTES” to 69866 to get campaign updates.

Harmful Teacher Bill Stalls in Assembly

On the closing day of the state legislative session, Senator Darrell Steinberg tried to ram through his bill that would deprive our neediest students of experienced educators. Thanks to your quick action and hundreds of calls into lawmakers, the bill failed to get out of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. Steinberg’s proposal would require school districts to keep less experienced teachers and lay off more experienced teachers, regardless of performance. Assembly member Felipe Fuentes of Los Angeles led the effort to protect students and teachers.

CTA Media Campaign Encourages Partnership Between Educators and Parents

CTA this week launched a comprehensive Back-to-School media campaign that includes television, radio and print ads. The ads will run statewide on hundreds of radio and television stations in English, Spanish and Asian languages. The print ads will run in seven different languages. The ads feature students and parents talking about the difference teachers have made in their lives. They remind politicians that educators are part of the solution and that improving our schools starts with providing students the resources they need for smaller class sizes and a well-rounded education. The ads also focus on educators and parents working together as the best way to improve student learning and build a better California for all of us. Watch and listen on the CTA website.

CA Students Losers in RTTT

After failing to once again include educators in the process and present a comprehensive proposal, California did not get any federal Race to the Top funds during round two of the competitive grant process and the real losers in this race are our students. Rather than pitting students against each other, lawmakers should be focusing on providing adequate funding to all schools so all students have the opportunity for a quality public education.

Common Core Standards Adopted

The State Board of Education adopted the Common Core State Standards in early August. CTA supported the adoption and I want to thank all of the CTA members who served on the Academic Content Standards Commission for their hard work. In testifying before the State Board, CTA continued to express concerns about mandating all eighth graders to enroll in Algebra, which goes beyond the Common Core. CTA also testified that success will depend on implementation, as the state must now provide the resources to realign curriculum, textbooks, assessment systems and professional development to the new standards.

LA Times Ads NO Value

In the latest attack on teachers, the Los Angeles Times has released a database that links teachers to student test scores and then rates them as effective or ineffective based on this one single measurement. Publishing this database is irresponsible and disrespectful to the hard working teachers of Los Angeles. It also ignores all education research that shows “value-added” measures are too unreliable and unstable to draw valid conclusions about a teacher’s ability to teach to a standardized test, much less teach students. CTA, NEA and UTLA sent a joint letter to the L.A. Times calling on them to cease publication of this false, incomplete and inaccurate measurement of teacher quality. Students are not defined by a single test score and neither are teachers. We must speak out against this reckless action. Join the discussion on the L.A. Times website and on CTA’s Facebook page.