Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/85441
JOLENE TRIPP, Redlands Education Support Professionals Association president WOW WITH A WEBSITE: Our website really gets the word out (www.redlandsesp.org). We took information from the CTA website and made it more specific to our classified mem- bers with links for how to get involved, talking points, quick facts, etc. It's a great resource for RESPA members and others. INVOLVE THE COMMUNITY: Together, we are stronger. We held a political forum and invited the mayor, school board members, the president of the local firefighters association, the Chamber of Commerce, and the local PTA, plus the whole community, to join us. We made the forum interactive, so members of the audience could text their ques- tions to panelists. We are planning precinct walking with Redlands city employees and other stakeholders. We are sending newsletters stuffed with information. We're an association on fire! TELL THE TRUTH: Prop. 32 may look nice on the surface, but it's really about corporations stopping the voice of unions and silencing the middle class. We can't let that happen! PATRICK RIGGS, Eureka Teachers Association president SET AN EXAMPLE: Educate your friends and family mem- bers. Get five people to commit to voting "Yes on 30, No on 32." Encourage your colleagues at work to become involved in the campaign. Volunteer to do grassroots political work in support of local efforts to pass 30 and defeat 32. BE VOCAL: Campaign out loud and in public so fellow teach- ers and community members know exactly what we believe and why. Reach out to other organizations to build strong political alliances. ETA has strong relationships with our local Central Labor Council, the California Nurses Association, and our county Democratic Central Committee. We are making phone calls, writing letters, posting on Facebook, walking precincts and doing whatever it takes to win. THE STAKES ARE HIGH: We can just about kiss due process rights, collective bargaining, grievance procedures, job security and a whole host of other hard-won rights goodbye if Prop. 32 passes. If Prop. 30 fails, additional cuts will take a big bite out of our students' educational futures. We can't let that happen! HATTIE McFRAZIER, United Teachers Los Angeles, CTA/ABC Committee member SPREAD THE WORD: Educate registered voters in church- es, club meetings and other social events about important facts regarding the propositions and how they will affect them and their children's future. TALK TO PARENTS: Encourage parental involvement at local PTA meetings, town hall meetings and rallies. Share how our children need us now. They are our future. This can't wait. MAKE A DIFFERENCE: The choices we make today will affect us the rest of our lives. We must get involved or we will face a dim future. It is up to us. If not us, then who? CTA third vertical-OUT.indd 1 October 2012 www.cta.org 5/2/11 4:53 PM 39