Leading the way to improve learning and teaching conditions 

Mike Patterson, a veteran teacher at South Tahoe High School in the Lake Tahoe Unified School District, is serving his third three-year term on the Board, which expires June 25, 2025. 

His sprawling CTA Board District D covers 23 counties from Tuolumne north to the Oregon border. 

A veteran educator and union activist, Patterson’s 30 years of teaching have all been at South Tahoe High School. He was a three-time president of the South Tahoe Educators Association and chaired the CTA Capital Service Center Council for many years. He also served as his chapter’s vice president and organizing chair. 

Before his teaching career, he worked as an auto and bus technician and is a strong advocate for career technical education in public schools. He currently teaches automotive technology. 

“Not all students are going to college or should go to college. We need to give students skills in the trades in high school. We must expand career technical education for all students.” 

He served on the El Dorado County Democratic Central Committee, and also coached his high school’s golf team for 12 years. 

He holds a bachelor’s in industrial technology from California State University, Chico. He lives in South Lake Tahoe.

Contacting Mike Patterson 

California Teachers Association, P.O. Box 921
1705 Murchison Drive
Burlingame, CA 94011-0921

mpatterson@cta.org | Twitter: @coachp61