Teachers didn't start this fight, but they are totally committed to winning it, says CTA President Barbara E. Kerr. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's initiatives on the Nov. 8 ballot "will hurt public schools, trample teacher morale, weaken teachers' professional rights, and destroy CTA's ability to organize and advocate for teachers and students."

 

When more than 10,000 teachers from across the nation convened in Los Angeles for the annual NEA Representative Assembly in July, delegates took the opportunity to join California teachers in demonstrating their opposition to Propositions 74, 75 and 76.

 

"Our colleagues support our efforts to protect our schools," says Kerr. "Not only do they oppose what our governor is doing, but they realize what's happening here has implications for teachers and students in their own states. After all, the governor isn't getting millions of dollars in out-of-state donations simply because big corporations back east are concerned about California."

 

In a mass demonstration inside the convention center, delegates waved placards in the air and filled a postal collection bin with postcards asking friends and relatives who live in California to vote against the initiatives while Kerr and NEA President Reg Weaver held a news conference on the convention floor.  Then CTA's delegation led a march to the governor's Los Angeles office, where they delivered resolutions passed by the 50 state delegations and all of the caucuses, taking issue with the governor's agenda.

 

 "Delegates were very clear in their reaction," says Kerr. "When the governor picks a fight with one of us, he is fighting all of us."