President’s Report:

CTA Strategic Plan Spurs Community, Student, Union and Professional Advocacy and Organizing Successes.  The common thread in the tapestry of our recent successes as a union is the CTA Strategic Plan, President Eric Heins told State Council delegates in his keynote speech kicking off the busy weekend meeting.

“Guided by our Strategic Plan adopted by this body, we are listening to and engaging members, advocating for our students, leading our profession, reaching out to our communities, organizing to build a stronger union and standing up for a just society for all,” he declared.

In a major win for public education and our students, a state appeals court recently overturned a Los Angeles Superior Court judge’s ruling upholding the deeply flawed Vergara lawsuit that threatened to destroy California educators’ job protection rights. “Just as educators, civil rights groups and legal scholars had argued, the appellate judges ruled that state statutes affirming educator rights do not harm students,” Heins said.

Also, CTA joined NEA in fighting for the new, federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which replaces the one-size-fits-all No Child Left Behind law. Now, ESSA allows California educators to work with state leaders to develop a new student accountability system that gauges achievement with multiple measures, not just a single statewide test score, Heins said. He co-chaired a state panel that recently submitted a plan for a new system to the State Board of Education.

He also praised the San Diego Education Association for organizing educators and parents to get San Diego Unified to “significantly reduce the amount of high-stakes testing and to focus instead on student well-being and achievement.”

CTA launched a new advertising campaign featuring real teachers showcasing the importance of leading the profession.

And Heins praised CTA members for collecting 150,000 signatures to qualify the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act for the November ballot. It extends current state income taxes on the wealthiest Californians, and if it’s defeated, new state budget data shows education funding could face an immediate $4 billion cut.

In closing, he noted that June is Pride Month. As this CTA video shows, he talked about CTA being on the “right side of history” when it comes to fighting for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community.

“As educators, our job is to create a safe learning environment, not just physically, but emotionally as well,” he stressed.

He thanked delegates for “creating and shaping our vision for the future and making our vision a reality.”

Executive Director: Charter School Advocates Spend $11 Million

Backed by billionaires, the PACs for EdVoice and the California Charter Schools Association spent more than $11 million in the June 7 California Primary Election on “Independent Expenditure” campaigns to defeat state legislative and county school board candidates that CTA and other labor unions support, Executive Director Joe Nuñez informed Council delegates.

These two groups poured $9 million of that war chest into 12 state Assembly and Senate districts, outspending CTA by nearly 40-to-1, he said.

On the state budget front, as of the June 3-5 State Council meeting, state revenue estimates were down by about $2 billion. But thanks to voter-approved Proposition 98 and its minimum education funding guarantees, the governor’s May Revision state budget was still providing more money for public schools, Nuñez noted. It proposes $4.4 billion more in total K-12 funding. The May Revision also included another $500 million for adult education and more than $1.4 billion in one-time, discretionary funding to local districts for implementation of the California Standards and to support induction programs.

“Community colleges get significant increases under the revised budget,” he said, including another $200 million to the Strong Workforce Program, which supports career and technical education.

President Heins, Delegates Attend Vital Forum on Accountability and ESSA

CTA President Eric Heins, Council delegates and experts took part in a special forum about what’s happening as California begins to develop a new State Accountability System that focuses on multiple measures and aligns with the federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).

They discussed the state’s Advisory Task Force on Accountability and Continuous Improvement report, ESSA rulemaking and implementation, Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) rubrics, and the state’s new program for helping local school districts achieve the goals set forth in their LCAPs. Panelists included: Ryan Ruelas, Anaheim Secondary Teachers Association; Shannan Brown, San Juan Teachers Association; Patricia Rucker, California State Board of Education and CTA Legislative Advocate; and Joshua Daniels, California Collaborative for Educational Excellence.

Gender Diversity Workshop Covers Transgender Issues

“Be intolerant of all intolerance.” That was the sound advice to all educators from Doreen Webber, a school psychologist and gender specialist from the Stockton Unified School District who offered much more during her workshop on gender diversity and transgender children and teens.

Council delegates learned about federal and state laws that apply to these issues, gender vocabulary, community resources, the latest in gender research, and about gender books for children, teens and parents. Webber also shared her own story about raising her transgender child. In addition, she showed this moving “Raising Ryland” video about another family’s experiences.

“Try to think of other ways to classify your classes,” Webber said, besides boys and girls. And stand up to abusive speech. She said research shows LGBT youths will stop reporting incidents at school if they feel that “nobody’s standing up” for them. The forum was sponsored by the Council Civil Rights in Education Committee and the LGBT Caucus.

In Other News, State Council…

• Approved a recommendation from the CTA Board of Directors that the October State Council meeting be based on the 2012 model used during the Proposition 30 campaign, with Council delegates attending campaign activities in the field instead of convening in Los Angeles.
• Celebrated the 10-year anniversary of Education Support Professionals having full recognition as members of CTA. Watch ceremony video here.
• Elected Robert V. Rodriguez, CTA/NEA Coordinating Director on the CTA Board of Directors; Ken Tang to the NEA Board of Directors for District 16; and Gretel Rodriguez, At-Large CTA/ABC Committee member.
• Endorsed the California Medi-Cal Hospital Reimbursement Initiative on the November ballot, but voted to make no recommendation on 14 other ballot measures. CTA already supports the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act and the California Education for a Global Economy Initiative.
• Approved spending up to $25 million from the Initiative Fund to support CTA positions on the November ballot.
• Passed a new CTA state budget for 2016-2017.
• Honored termed-out CTA Board members Dana Dillon, Jim Groth, Tyrone Cabell and Sonia Martin-Solis for their many years of service on the Board. They are all termed-out as of June 26.
• Honored the 24 union activist educators accepting the CTA “We Honor Ours” (WHO) awards bestowed by Service Center Councils across the state for this school year.
• Held a reception for the 16 winners of the 57th annual CTA John Swett Awards for Media Excellence, which honors education reporting in California.

STATE BUDGET UPDATEGovernor Jerry Brown has issued the May Revision to the state budget. First, it reflects an increase of $2.9 billion in funding for K-14 schools for 2016-17. This increase brings the formula to 95.7 percent of full implementation. The money going to Proposition 98—the minimum California school funding guarantee which was approved by California voters—is funding that is owed to our schools and colleges, mandated by law, and helps keep us on the road to recovery. As educators, students, and communities we are counting on lawmakers to protect the integrity of Prop. 98 as budget discussions continue.

 The Governor’s budget presentation made clear that California faces a $4 billion deficit and a $4 billion cut to education if we don’t pass the Children’s Education and Healthcare Protection Act (CEHCPA) which temporarily extends the current income tax on the wealthiest 2 percent of Californians. 

 Also in the May Revision:

One-time discretionary funding which aids with the implementation of numerous programs, including the state-adopted academic standards and resources to help with the critical teacher shortage we face as a state.

A $10 million General Fund one-time investment for grants to California Higher Ed instructors to improve upon or develop four-year integrated teacher credential programs. Grants of up to $250,000 would help with the improvement and creation of blended programs.

A $1.6 billion Early Education Block Grant to consolidate state-subsidized early learning programs. Existing programs including Transitional Kindergarten and state preschools will be collapsed into a new program. While this proposal seems to be well-intended because it targets our neediest children, the funding is inadequate and fails to provide room for growth. Without appropriate requirements of quality instruction to meet the needs of the whole child and the lack of resources, school districts will struggle to choose between increasing the number of slots for children and providing the quality program that is needed.

Funding for a Strong Workforce program to close the middle-skills gap by increasing and improving the career technical education provided within the community colleges.

Part-time categorical funds for Community College office hours, health care and parity, which have not been made whole.

Additionally, CTA is advocating for an additional $100 million from the general fund above the Governor’s January proposal for higher education. This would allow for 3 percent growth in enrollment, which equates to roughly 10,700 Full-Time Equivalent students (FTEs). This investment will help to make the dream of a college degree a reality for more California students. 

 More than 100 local chapter presidents will be in Sacramento tomorrow lobbying lawmakers to preserve the integrity of the Prop. 98 funding for their annual Lobby Day.
TOGETHER WE WILL PROTECT SCHOOL FUNDING

CTA and a broad coalition of organizations representing millions of Californians on May 11—the Day of the Teacher—officially kicked off the California Education and Children’s Healthcare Protection Act (CECHPA) campaign at California Middle School in Sacramento.

The initiative will temporarily extend current tax rates on the wealthiest 2% of Californians. Without an extension, we risk going back to the days of thousands of pink slips for teachers and school employees, furlough days, larger class sizes, and cuts to vital programs. 

 You can sign up at the site for email notifications and add your name to the list of persons endorsing the measure. 

 Remember to take part in the discussion on social media about why our students need the act to pass by using #CACantGoBack and #KidsMatterMost.

SCHOOL ACCOUNTABILITY AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson’s Advisory Task Force on Accountability and Continuous Improvement released its report on school accountability to the State Board of Education last week. CTA President Heins and task force co-chair led the presentation with comments on why multiple indicators are necessary when measuring student success. 

 During his comments to the Board and to the media, he stressed the importance of adopting accountability standards that are multi-faceted. It would be a grave mistake to rely solely on student test scores as an indicator of student and school performance, he emphasized. 

 Following the presentation, the Board voted to direct the State Department of Education staff to work on accountability rubrics that included the wide array of measurements that CTA and the task force recommended. 

 Learn more about the issue by reading the Accountability and Continuous Improvement Task Force Report and the president’s letter to the Board of Education about the accountability rubrics.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING

CTA is proud to cosponsor AB 2200 by Assembly Member Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond). The bill has cleared the Assembly Education Committee and is in now with the Assembly Appropriations Committee. 

 The bill would provide a housing assistance grant for school employees including teachers so that they can afford to live in the communities in which they teach.

JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE TO VOTE ON ALLIANCE AUDIT WEDNESDAY

CTA supports Sen. Tony Mendoza’s (D-Artesia) request of the Joint Legislative Audit Committee to perform an audit of the Alliance College-Ready Public Schools to assure that the entity is spending public tax dollars where it should—on the education of its students. The committee is scheduled to consider the request this Wednesday. The call for the audit comes in the wake of the management company’s failure to respond to Freedom of Information requests about its spending.

As election 2016 continues, we’d like to remind you that your fellow educators, up and down the state of California, have met and will continue to meet with every candidate, regardless of party affliation, seeking an endorsement from our union.

The Vacaville Teachers Association is also a proud affiliate of the Napa-Solano Central Labor Council and, for this June primary, we held multiple interviews over a one-week period.  Our panel consisted of Postal Workers, Machinists, Clerical Workers, Hotel Workers, College Faculty, Carpenters, Insulators, Teachers, School Employees, Food Workers, Iron Workers, Electricians, Teamsters, Plumbers and Steamfitters, Sheet Metal Workers, Cement Masons, Operating Engineers, Bricklayers, and our Service employees; asking the candidates tough questions on issues facing their members.

As a result of these two enforcement interviews, the Vacaville Teachers Association Representative Council met on May 17th and voted to stand with our brothers and sisters in labor by endorsing the following state of issues and candidates for the June Election.

US Congress:
CD # 5: Mike Thompson
CD #3: John Garamendi

CA Senate District
SD #3: Bill Dodd

CA Assembly District
AD # 4: Dual Endorsement for Dan Wolk and Don Saylor
AD # 11: Jim Frazier
AD #14: Mae Torlekson

Solano County Board of Supervisors:
District #1: Erin Hannigan
District #2: Dual Endorsement for Denis Honeychurch and Mike Ioakimedes
District #5: Skip Thomson

Napa County Board of Supervisors:
District #2: Mark Luce
District #4: Alfredo Pedroza
District #5 Belia Ramos

Solano County Democratic Central Committee:

o  District 1 (Erin Hannagan’s District)
§ Burky Worel
§ Robert Padilla
§ Nona Cohen-Bowman
§ Jon Riley
§ Lynette P. Henley

o  District 5 (Skip Thomson’s District)
§ Joe Summers
§ Jeanette Wylie
§ Paul Stichick

Ballot Measures we are supporting

Solano
Yes on Measure AA: SF bay area clean water, pollution prevention, and habitat restoration program.
Yes on Measure G: Solano county transportation improvement advisory measure.
Yes on Measure H: Solano county 2016 transactions and use tax.
Yes on Measure J: Fairfield-Suisun Unified School District Bond proposal

Napa
Yes on Measure H: Napa Valley Unified School District Bond
Yes on Measure Y: Napa county sales tax for new correctional facilities and children’s programs.

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