BURLINGAME – California Teachers Association President Eric C. Heins issued the following statement today about the support and resources that CTA is offering to educators who lost their homes or were evacuated due to the deadly wildfires raging in the state:

“CTA and the entire education community offer our thoughts and support to the students, teachers and families who have lost their homes and been devastated by the fires or have been evacuated just as they are preparing for the new school year. In the Redding area alone, at least 31 CTA members have lost their homes due to the Carr Fire in Shasta and Trinity counties, and many others joined the huge evacuations. CTA members affected by these firestorms are eligible for financial grants from the CTA Disaster Relief Fund, which provided hundreds of thousands of dollars in relief last fall in the aftermath of the wildfires in Sonoma County and beyond.

“Already, the record-setting Mendocino Complex fires have burned more than 300,000 acres and aren’t expected to be fully contained until September 1, according to Cal Fire and press reports. Our local CTA union chapters and staff members in several CTA offices are reaching out in the burn zones to help all educators cope as they, together with their communities, help families and students heal from the chaos. We are all stronger together.”

(To read about how CTA chapters, local educators and the CTA Disaster Relief Fund are helping to make a difference in the fire zones, see here.)

The 325,000-member California Teachers Association is affiliated with the 3 million-member National Education Association.