Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/3650
CTA-sponsored and co-sponsored legislation for 2009-10 BILL # SECOND-GRADE TESTING Hancock UNIVERSAL HEALTHCARE Leno IMMIGRATION INVESTIGATIONS Mendoza CONSEQUENCES OF DROPPING OUT Block COMMUNITY COLLEGE FUNDING Furutani 50% LAW COMPLIANCE Torlakson 75/25 FACULTY RATIO COMPLIANCE Hill AB 581 AB 551 AB 132 Would limit the extent to which immigration raids disrupt students’ education. Passed Assembly; to Senate Education. AB 374 Would encourage schools to provide at-risk students with a “consequences of dropping out” notice developed by the CDE. (Co-sponsored bill) Would provide for a permanent backfill of shortfalls in property taxes to California Community Colleges. Would require the California Community Colleges chancellor’s office to conduct annual random audits to ensure district compliance with existing law that requires 50 percent of education dol- lars to be spent on instructors’ salaries. AB 1095 Would ensure full compliance with law that mandates 75 percent of instruction be performed by full-time faculty in California Community Colleges within three years of passage. SB 800 Would eliminate second-grade tests in the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program effective July 1, 2010. SB 810 Would establish a single-payer health insurance system in California. (Co-sponsored bill) STATUS Senate Education; 2-year bill Senate Appropriations; 2-year bill Senate Floor To governor for signature Assembly Appropriations; 2-year bill Assembly Appropriations; 2-year bill Assembly Appropriations; 2-year bill Photo by Glen Korengold Generations Continued from page 28 teachers is what has made me the activist I am today.” Carrie Vaughn acknowledges that the younger generation has some catching up to do when it comes to appreciating unionism. “People in my generation are not as involved as other generations,” she ob- serves. “I think it’s because people in my generation take for granted what the union does to protect our rights, salaries and health care benefits — all the things we deserve for all the hard work we do day in and day out for children. My gen- eration wants instant gratification given to us in a little box.” “Personally, I think it’s important to always be involved and know what’s go- ing on,” she adds. “We should all take the time to know our rights and the benefits that come from being in a union. I en- courage all members to check out a CTA meeting, go to a CTA event and see what it’s all about.” sherry posnick-Goodwin 36 California Educator | october 2009 Bargaining Continued from page 24 interests and why they are important to us. Then we talk about different options for making this happen in our district — and our contract — and we can usually come to a compromise. It moves everybody’s agenda along.” On Sept. 22, 1975, then-Gov. Jerry Brown signed CTA-sponsored Senate Bill 160 by state Sen. Al Rodda, known as the Educational Employment Relations Act or the Rodda Act, to give California public school teachers collective bargaining rights. The legislation established an administrative body that became the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Disputes over labor law are settled by filing an “unfair labor practice” charge with PERB. Disputes over sections of a labor contract are settled by f iling grievances against the school district. There have been more than 170 California public school strikes, sickouts and other work stoppages since 1975. The most recent major showdown was the 10-day strike by the Hayward Education Association in April 2007, which earned teachers an 11 percent raise over two years. Kathleen Crummey, a Hayward teacher for more than 30 years, led that strike. She died of cancer July 24 of this year and was taking union-related calls in the final weeks of her life, said her husband, former CTA Board member Dayton Crummey. He joined hundreds of East Bay CTA leaders, former CTA President Barbara E. Kerr, family and friends for a public memorial Sept. 12 at Hayward City Hall. “Kathleen Crummey, working 12-hour days, coordinated that 10-day strike like the extraordinary labor leader she was,” CTA President David A. Sanchez said at the memorial. “She now belongs to a much larger family of teachers who dedicated so much over the decades to fighting for the rights and dignity of their colleagues. By continuing her work, we honor her and our profession.” To read the expanded version of this story visit us online at www.cta.org/about/who/ our+union.htm