The California Teachers Association Institute for Teaching's Schools of Greatest Need Initiative is an urgently needed program designed to build community investment and sustained reform in California's lowest performing schools. With $4 billion cut from public education in the state over the last two years, threatening hard won gains in class size reduction and school staffing, it is imperative that we find a new way to bring high quality, equitable schools to our most vulnerable communities. 

 

In 2002, after nearly a year of holding "Listen, Learn, and Lead¹" sessions, the California Teachers Association (CTA) Board of Directors decided to establish the Schools of Greatest Need Initiative (SGN).  This is a long-term commitment to work in partnership with teachers, parents, community-based organizations, and businesses to create more effective strategies for increasing parental and community involvement in the future of California's Schools of Greatest Need.