Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/25821
In other action, State Council: • • • • ABOVE: CTA leaders don chef hats to celebrate Read Across America, coming on March 2. CTA launches tax fairness resource Without perma- nent, long-term solu- tions to funding, our public schools and the entire state will con- tinue to suffer from more state budget deficits. A presenta- tion was made at the Council meeting about a new CTA online resource dealing with tax fairness that can be found at cta. org/taxfairness. The site offers school funding facts, data about tax loopholes, and information on how teachers can spread the word about tax reform that will help students and schools. The new site in- cludes a revealing PowerPoint presenta- tion about tax fairness and the state budget process. It notes that California • Recommended the following candidates for the Feb. 15 special primary election: Senate District 17, Darren Parker; Senate District 28, Ted Lieu. Elected Doreen McGuire-Grigg as NEA Director, District 1; and Gayle Bilek as NEA Alternate Director, Seat 3. Re-elected Sue Cirillo as NEA Director, District 6/14; and George Sheridan as NEA Director, District 12. Took a “Support” position on State Constitutional Amendment 5 by state Sen. Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) to lower the threshold for voter approval of a local parcel tax from two-thirds to 55 percent. Took a “Support” position on Assembly Bill 124 by Assembly Member Felipe Fuentes (D-Los Angeles), which would establish an English Language Development (ELD) Standards Advisory Committee to align ELD standards to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts for approval by the State Board of Education, and require the superintendent of public instruction and the state board to develop and present to the governor and Legislature an implementation plan to integrate the ELD standards. ranks 43rd in per-pupil spending. In the last seven years, California’s K-14 education spending has only increased 5.7 percent, compared to 39.5 percent for prisons. In Cal- ifornia, residents with incomes in the lowest 20 percent pay 11.1 per- cent of their income in taxes. The wealthiest 1 percent pay only 7.8 percent of their income in taxes. The site will be regularly up- dated with the latest research. 10, he made it crystal clear that he wanted to protect education from additional cuts. He said that schools had already “borne the brunt” of the state’s budget reductions, having suffered more than $18 billion in cuts over the past three years. To preserve vital revenues for schools, the governor pro- posed extending the state’s temporary taxes. That proposal aims to head off additional cuts that could pare another $4.6 billion from the already fiscally beleaguered public schools. Giving Californians the op- Governor’s proposed budget aims to protect schools W hen Gov. Jerry Brown released his proposed 2011-12 budget on Jan. portunity to vote on the exten- sion, the governor’s preferred route, would likely require a two-thirds vote of both houses of the Legislature. Working with the governor, Senate Pres- ident Pro Tem Darrell Stein- berg and Assembly Speaker John Perez are expected to spearhead the efforts in their respective houses to put the is- sue before the voters. CTA’s policymaking body, the 800-member State Council of Education, voted at its Feb- ruary meeting to endorse the governor’s budget plan, with its call for extending the state’s temporary taxes. “We appreciate the gover- nor’s efforts to limit cuts to ed- ucation,” said CTA President David A. Sanchez. “Schools and our students have suffered the loss of more than 40,000 educators due to layoffs. These cuts have translated into dra- matically higher class sizes; the elimination of nurses, counsel- ors, and other vital staff; and the loss of art, music, and other classes that help keep students engaged.” As the Educator went to press, the nonpartisan Legislative Ana- * Urge your lawmakers to support Gov. Brown’s proposed budget. lyst’s Office had just released in- formation about the severity of the additional cuts the state would have to make — around another $12.5 billion beyond those already in the governor’s proposal — should the tempo- rary taxes not be extended. That means $4.6 billion less for K-12 schools than Brown proposed, as well as a $1.7 billion reduction to community colleges and univer- sities. The governor’s proposed tax extension and his plan to shield FEBRUARY 2011 | www.cta.org 33