Despite intense opposition from school boards and administrators, CTA has won a major victory in its ongoing battle to guarantee teachers and parents more input into how decisions affecting curriculum, textbooks and other instructional items should be made.

CTA President Wayne Johnson testifies on behalf of AB 2160 at the Assembly Education Committee hearing.

The victory came on April 24 in the form of the Assembly Education Committee's 8-6 approval of CTA-sponsored AB 2160. The measure by Assembly Member Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles), Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson (D-Los Angeles) and Assembly Education Chair Virginia Strom-Martin (D-Santa Rosa) would expand the scope of collective bargaining so that teachers and districts could bargain over the procedures to be used in deciding professional issues.

The measure had already cleared the Assembly Public Employees, Retirement and Social Security Committee on April 16 on a 5-2 vote margin.

Assembly Member Jackie Goldberg and Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson strategize in the hearing room packed with teachers.

"I am here today to support the notion that teachers - the education professionals who work closely with students every day - and parents should have more of a say in how our students are educated," CTA President Wayne Johnson testified during the education panel hearing. "AB 2160 will ensure that the voices of teachers and parents will be heard when crucial educational decisions are made."

Assembly Member Virginia Strom-Martin discusses the bill at the PER&SS Committee hearing.

"District bureaucrats control the entire decision-making process for textbooks, curriculum, and instructional issues," he said. "Under current law, they can - and many do - proceed with just token representation or no representation of parents and teachers."

Goldberg, a former Compton teacher, told her legislative colleagues, "Without this [measure], the reforms we are spending money on just won't work."

During the hearing, she unveiled amendments to the measure designed to make it clear that the proposal's intent is to bring teachers and parents into the process.

Assembly Member Jackie Goldberg speaks with confidence on the bill.

The amendments give districts and teachers an alternative to collective bargaining on these issues. As amended, the bill allows the creation of a local academic partnership that would empower both sides to reach agreements on curriculum issues that are currently outside the scope of bargaining. Partnerships would include equal numbers of district and teacher representatives and at least two parents - one chosen by the district and one by the teachers.

Assembly Member Carole Migden participates in the discussion.

Partnerships would have up to three months to reach agreements about processes districts should use in making decisions on curriculum, textbooks and related educational items.

If the partnership fails to reach consensus - or if a district declines to use a partnership - the district would have to sit down with the teachers' association and negotiate the issues at the bargaining table.

"This partnership would guarantee - for the first time in California history - that parents and teachers would have a seat at the table at which these decisions about process are made," said Johnson. "We're committed to making this partnership option work, and we're willing to put organizational resources behind it."

CTA Vice President Barbara E. Kerr listens as Jackie Goldberg speaks on the bill.

A second set of amendments counter charges by opponents that teachers are interested in using discussions on curricular issues to "leverage" larger salary increases. The new provisions spell out that collective bargaining on these curricular process issues would be done in sessions open to the public.

"California's teachers are willing to do something unprecedented in the history of collective bargaining," testified Johnson. "On the issues within the expanded scope listed in this bill, we are willing to open bargaining to the public. This will allow not only parents, but also anyone in the community to see and hear what takes place."

Barbara E. Kerr points out her view on the bill.

CTA representatives have praised the bill's author and co-authors for their courage in working for the measure in the face of heavy opposition that has misrepresented the measure.

"You've heard some pretty scurrilous charges," Assembly Member Goldberg told the Education Committee. "[But what should be asked is:] Are we so content with the way things are working now? We should get on with focusing on the kids, and we can do that when we are partners [as AB 2160 would provide]."

The CTA-sponsored measure heads next to the Assembly Appropriations Committee and then to the Assembly floor.

Lawmakers are reporting that they have already received more than 1,400 letters from teachers in support of this measure. The letters contain personal stories showing how the current situation is stifling educational progress at schools throughout the state.

Len Feldman