California Educator

MARCH 2010

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Contributing editors: Mike Myslinski in the Greater Bay Area; Sherry Posnick-Goodwin and Frank Wells in the Greater Los Angeles Area; Bill Guy in South- ern California; and Dina Martin in the Central Valley Great public rallies, like the March 4 events across California and the nation, can often set the stage for even greater victories that shed light on social inequities. CTA’s statewide “Cuts Hurt” bus tour in 2008 and Pink Friday in 2009 were perfect examples of events that scored huge gains for education and were instrumental in winning back $11 billion in the form of repayments owed to ed- ucation. But these well-received events are just one piece of the puzzle. Rallies inspire the public and can create energy around a position, but they often require continuing effort afterward to keep the flame alive. “This ongoing action is really about taking our communities back,” says Dean Vogel, CTA vice president and chair of the Education Fund- ing Workgroup, a team of CTA leaders tasked with helping to develop a plan to move educa- tion funding forward. “If our conversation with the public is to be just about schools, we lose a tremendous opportunity. We need to engage the public and demonstrate how important the bond is between successful schools and success- ful communities and a brighter future.” Taking our communities back — that’s the larger vision of how we connect to one another and pursue common interests for the future of California. The March 4 events demonstrated that a great number of sup- porters are standing up for public schools. People care. A broad spectrum of labor, nonprofits, local elected leaders, school of- ficials, parents, students and many others gathered together on March 4 to recognize that our communities are being damaged by the willful abandonment of our schools. If we’re to address the issues of education in our state, the place to start is demonstrating to the community and to the Legislature that the stability of the California budget relies upon making some large changes. Restructuring the tax code is one step, closing corporate loop- holes and asking lucrative businesses to pay their fair share. We also need to support elect- ed officials and candidates who support edu- cation, including our next governor. We’ve seen what an unsupportive governor can do, and now we need to elect one who will truly make education a priority and assist in re- building a stronger California. CTA members have already started acting at the local level, engaging the community to talk about how to best maintain our March 4 momentum. Many Southern California chap- ters, for example, are bringing together local school leaders to host education forums, dis- cussing strategies about mobilizing for change. They’ve identified that it is important to be there in our local neighborhoods, talking with the community every chance we get. Groups like the CTA Strategy Work- group are also focusing on CTA’s compre- hensive goals and objectives. “We are work- ing with chapter presidents and members to help them talk to the community about the issues facing our schools today,” says Mikki Cichocki, chair of the Strategy Workgroup. As part of this strategy committee, CTA leaders are “coordinating information from various workgroups, such as Public Educa- tion Funding, ESEA, Race to the Top, and Campaign 2010, to present members with a comprehensive strategy for the future.” You’ll read in these pages how CTA mem- bers and the community came together for March 4 to defend public education — 12,000 concerned citizens on the steps of City Hall in San Francisco; people protesting in Riverside in massive numbers, capturing the attention of national news; supporters braving the morn- ing cold and fog in Willits, in Northern California; parents marching side by side with educators at intersections and school parking lots. The community was en- gaged on March 4 — is engaged now. Each of us can focus on the goal of bring- ing our communities back together to show how much we all care about our students and the future of our state. 8 California Educator | MARCH 2010 GREATER BAY AREA From school district “di- saster” drills calling at- tention to the disas- trous state cuts to bake sales with $1 million cupcakes to town hall meetings and rallies with parents and students, the San Francisco Bay Area reverberated on March 4 with the defiant voices of thousands of teachers all warning that the cuts must stop now. CTA Vice President Dean Vogel spoke at news conferences in Concord and Alameda, where cuts are severe, and was interviewed live in the Oakland studios of a morning TV news program. “I’m worried about the future of the stu- dents that are standing here,” Vogel said in Concord, as students, parents and educa- tors flanked him for a 7:15 a.m. news con- ference in front of Monte Gardens Elemen- tary School. “The massive state cuts to ed- ucation are threatening their future.” Another speaker, Mike Noce, president of the Mt. Diablo Education Association, warned of state cuts ruining local school districts. Mt. Diablo Unified issued 200 ed- ucator pink slips and will make nearly $49 million in cuts over the next three years. “We have waited too long for Sacra- mento to solve the problems facing our students,” Noce said as four television news cameras took in the scene. “We need your help in the urgent effort today to speak out about the painful effects that cuts are having on our students, schools CTA photo by Dave Earl Carpenter

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