Remember the damage done during the last recession? California public school funding was cut to the bone. Massive numbers of teachers and school employees were laid off, class sizes grew rapidly, art and music programs were slashed, college tuition skyrocketed, and there were many other deep cuts you and your students endured.

Our public schools and colleges are just beginning to recover from those cuts — and unless we act this November to maintain the taxes on the wealthiest 2% of California’s households, our schools could lose $5 billion a year in critical funding.

That is why this week, along with our coalition partners, we are officially turning in more than one million signatures to kick off our campaign to pass the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act, a statewide initiative that will be on the November ballot to maintain crucial funding for our children’s education and health care – because our children and schools matter most.

Now it’s time to make sure we win this November.

Please add your name in support of the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act today to give our students the quality schools and health care they deserve!

Funding from this vital measure will provide local school districts and colleges the money they need to reduce class sizes for students, hire quality teachers, faculty and school employees, and curb tuition hikes. And it will improve access to health care services for the low-income children so they can stay healthy and thrive.

The initiative ensures strict accountability and transparency so that all the money goes where it matters the most – directly to students and the classroom, not administrative costs.

We can’t afford to give the wealthiest two percent of Californians a tax break that would result in $5 billion in critical funding being slashed from our children’s education and health care every year.

Please add your name in support of our students and the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act right now!

We can’t turn back the clock on our students and schools go back to the days of budget cuts that truly impacted each and every one of us.

Thanks for joining CTA and other education, labor and community groups in supporting this vital initiative that will help California stay on the road to economic recovery. For additional information on this measure and other important education issues in the upcoming election, visit www.cta.org/campaign2016.