Council Decides

Voter Turnout is Key to Win Election, Sanchez Says

Turning out the vote for CTA-supported candidates and initiatives was the take-home message from CTA President David A. Sanchez in his remarks to the State Council of Education on Saturday – a little more than a week before the important Nov. 2 election.  

“We are in the home stretch, and the outcome will impact students, schools, our profession and our union. …we have to keep it up. This election is all about turnout,” Sanchez said, during the first meeting of the year for State Council.  

This year, California’s budget was 100 days late and $4.3 billion short in what was owed to schools and community colleges. California may still be in hard economic times, but we can’t say to a first-grader, “Come back in three or four years when the recession is over, and then I’ll be able to teach you to read,” Sanchez said.  

“California students deserve better. That’s why this election is so important,” he said.  

Gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman plans to cut another $15 billion from the state budget, yet refuses to explain how she would avoid cutting $7 billion more from schools. In recent weeks, Whitman has stepped up her attacks on CTA as being part of the problem and not the solution.  

While Jerry Brown will also face the same challenges, Sanchez noted, “When we elect Jerry Brown, we’ll have a cooperative and mutually respectful relationship with the governor’s office, and we’ll at least be part of the conversation.”   

In addition, Sanchez urged Council to get out the vote for Prop. 24, the Tax Fairness Act, which CTA placed on the ballot.  

“By repealing those tax giveaways, Prop. 24 would save nearly 22,000 jobs for teachers, nurses and firefighters without raising our taxes, and it would guarantee that big corporations continue to pay their fair share,” Sanchez said. “It’s time to give our schools a break, not big corporations.”   

Council Reaches Out to 8,700 Voters

With just 10 days to go before Election Day, hundreds of State Council members participated in California’s largest election phone bank on Saturday afternoon, making 8,700 calls to voters throughout California.   

Council members were excused early from their committee meetings to make calls from their cell phones in the Grand Ballroom of the Bonaventure Hotel. The calls were all made to urge voters to cast their ballots for Prop. 24, the Tax Fairness Act, Jerry Brown for governor, and Tom Torlakson for superintendent.  

While Council members made their calls, the number of contacted voters as well as text messages about the election were projected on two Jumbo tron screens in the ballroom. More than 700 members who signed up to receive special election texts from CTAVOTES (Text “CTAVOTES” to 69866) also texted in messages about why this election is so important.  

“It was a tremendous effort, but we’re not going to let up,” said CTA President Sanchez, who made some 50 calls himself. “Our members are going to continue to phone-bank in their local chapters right up to Election Day.” GOTV Volunteer Opportunities  

Carolyn Doggett Takes On “The Blame Game”

CTA Executive Director Carolyn Doggett has been a 15-year classroom teacher, a local chapter president, president of NEA-Alaska, and CTA Executive Director, yet she’s never seen attacks on educators and their unions like we are witnessing today.  

Whether it is education reform, our pensions, the right to bargain, or using our dues as we see fit in this election, the “blame game” is running rampant, she told Council during her Sunday morning address.  

Doggett cited several recent developments, including an article, “How to Fix Our Schools: A Manifesto” by Joel Klein, Michelle Rhee and other Education leaders, the recent film, Waiting for Superman, and charges by gubernatorial candidate Meg Whitman, that blame teachers unions for problems in America’s schools.  

Rather than sit back and let the blame game go on, Doggett said, CTA must take charge and define these issues in our terms. When it comes to school reform, teachers must be part of the discussion and must continue to advance reforms we know will work. That is why CTA established the Teacher Evaluation Workgroup, so that CTA can set the agenda in the evaluation discussion. CTA must continue to show that resources matter, and that teacher-driven reform works. We are already leading the effort in education reform with the Quality Education Investment Act and the Institute for Teaching, both of which are demonstrating success.   

Pass It Around

State Council previewed two election videos created by CTA’s Communications and Training Information and Development staff – and everyone else can see them, too. One features a message by President Sanchez about the importance of voting, and the other takes a more humorous approach to campaign antics in “The Meg Whitman Sampler.”  

Council Takes Action

  Council approved a recommendation by the Political Involvement Committee to authorize up to $1 million from the Initiative Fund to support CTA’s ballot initiatives.

  Council elected Doreen McGuire-Grigg as NEA Director, District 1, and Barbara Franklin as CTA-ABC Committee Member, District N.

  The Retirement Committee created a useful flier to help members debunk myths about teachers’ retirement benefits.

  A Candidate Forum will take place at the next State Council in February. Members may send their questions in advance to candidatesforum@cta.org.

  Council committees also participated in the Teacher Evaluation Survey to provide input for the CTA Teacher Evaluation Workgroup.

  Observed presentations on the 10th Anniversary of the CTA César Chavez Awards program and Breast Cancer Awareness.

  Council expressed interest in encouraging members to see or arrange for a screening of Race to Nowhere, a documentary about America’s schooling system that combats the simple solutions presented by the recent film Waiting for Superman.