Good morning Council. It's great to be here with all you "special interests"…I mean educators.
 
As you know, I often end my speech with an inspiring or thoughtful quote. Well today, I'm going to start with one. Because as I talk to you about our Governor, his broken promises, his proposed cuts to our public schools and his attacks on teachers and employee unions, I want you to remember these words.
 
They are the words of Florynce Kennedy, an African American civil rights lawyer and founding member of the National Women's Political Caucus, who said, "Don't Agonize. Organize!"
 
Let's say it: Don't Agonize. Organize!
 
How many of you listened to Governor Schwarzenegger's State of the State Address?
 
How many of you read or heard about it or his proposed budget in the news?
 
I want you to know this is not the same man who worked with educators last year. This is not the same man who David and Dean and I met with last year.
 
I'm not a fan of the Governor's movies, but a friend told me in watching that speech he was reminded of one of Arnold's movies: "Total Recall." You may remember the scene in "Total Recall," where a woman is stopped by futuristic police on the planet Mars.  As they close in she rips off her face, which is a disguise, and reveals herself to be, guess who?  Arnold.  Well, by his actions, Arnold is now ripping his disguise off and revealing himself to be, guess who? Pete Wilson.
 
If you heard anything, you know that, like Pete Wilson, Governor Schwarzenegger has turned his back on the students and teachers of this state.
 
He has done this by reneging on the budget agreement he made with CTA and the entire Education Coalition last year. We all agreed; public schools would give $2 billion to help balance the budget with the promise that the money would be repaid and that schools would get their fair share if state revenues increased. Well, state revenues increased, but the Governor told our six million students and 335,000 educators, tough luck.

 

He said, I'm not going to pay you the $2.3 billion public schools are owed, which is a cut on top of the $8.9 billion dollars in cuts schools suffered over the last four years.
 
He also said he wants to repeal portions of Proposition 98, the CTA led and voter-approved initiative that provides minimum funding guarantees for public education. His plan would allow multiple, mid-year cuts with no promise of repayment. 
 
He wants to do all of this, despite a recent study by the RAND Corporation that shows what we already know and see every day in our classrooms. California ranks near the bottom compared to the rest of the country in almost every measurable category. In per-pupil funding, we rank 38th. In the fifth richest economy in the world, we spend about 3.8 percent of our personal income on education…compared to 5.8 percent in the 1970's. We have some of the most overcrowded classrooms in the country. And California teachers' salaries are dead last among the most populace states. 
 
He told the Orange County Register this week that parents, as he was dropping off his kids at school, ask him if he broke a school funding deal he made with educators last year. He said you are simply being fed inaccurate information by the teachers union. Of course he was telling this to parents while dropping off his kids at their private school in Brentwood.
 
I hate to disappoint the Governor, but I was in that room when you made the agreement, and I'm not going to let you forget it.
 
Don't Agonize. Organize!
 
We also heard from the Governor that all of us in this room are a "special interest" that the state must – quote – "rise up and battle against."  You don't care anything about children, just protecting your job.
 
Don't Agonize. Organize!
 
He said that you are not working hard enough and that's why he's proposing a merit pay system. In fact, let me quote the Governor again:  "I propose that teacher employment be tied to performance, not to just showing up. The more we tolerate ineffective teachers, the more our teachers will be ineffective."

 

I don't know where this guy gets his information, but he certainly hasn't been in any classroom in California. Because if he had, he would have seen what I see when I visit schools: hard-working teachers who take money out of their own pockets to pay for basic classroom supplies because the state budget cuts have forced schools to limit even the number of copies we can make each week.
 
Or he would meet teachers, like Dave Chamberlin, a technology and science teacher at Cajon Park Junior High in Santee who organizes a community, fundraising walk each year in order to pay for computers and technology for his students. Oh yes, Dave is a special interest that our state must rise up and fight against.
 
We all know merit pay systems don't work – especially when you want to base it solely on student test scores on standardized tests. If pay is based solely on test scores, you are never going to get a teacher to teach in our poverty schools.
 
All teachers merit good pay. That RAND Report I mentioned said the average teacher salary when adjusted for living in California was $39,000 a year.
 
Don't Agonize. Organize!
 
The Governor also said that your retirement plan is too good and that it's time you paid a bigger share of your benefits. He wants to shift almost $500 million currently paid to STRS by the state to local school districts, which can pass on the costs to us.
 
And for new teachers, those who enter the profession after July 1, 2007, he's going to force new teachers into a risky, 401-k plan. You know the same thing they are talking about for Social Security. And if he does, he will undermine the retirement system for all of us.
 
We know that this 401k system would cost the state more money and make it even harder to attract and retain quality teachers into the profession.
 
And while he kept his agreement with higher education, these merit pay proposals and retirement changes impact all teachers, including community college and CSU faculty.
 
About the only thing that I heard the Governor say that I agreed with was when he said, "This is going to be a big political fight."
 
He's right, there is going to be a fight.
I'm going to fight. David is going to fight.
Dean is going to fight.
The CTA Board is going to fight.
The NEA Board is going to fight.
Our staff are some of the best-trained fighters in the country.
All of you are going to fight.
And our 335,000 colleagues across the state are going to fight.
 
The Governor likes to quote movie lines. I've got a favorite movie and in it the Dark Side loses because the FORCE is too powerful. You are CTA's FORCE. You give CTA the power and ability to conquer any challenge. And it's going to take all of us. Sometimes, we would like to close the classroom door and not come out until what's happening is over. That is not an option this year.

 

I want to be clear, the Governor and his big business allies are carefully planning a strategic assault on public education and employee unions. It's a strategy that not only includes his proposed state budget to whack school funding and dismantle the voter-approved, Proposition 98, but it also includes a barrage of initiatives that he and his "special interest" pals have been filing every day with the Secretary of State's office.
  
The Governor threatened lawmakers that if they don't do what he wants, he'll call a special election and take his initiatives to voters. He repeated that threat this week and accused the Legislature of "stalling," even though he has failed to introduce details on many of his proposals.
 
So far, he and his big business partners have filed about 20 initiatives. Some of them would cap state spending, which impacts all school budgets. A couple offer plans to redraw legislative boundaries. Others repeal portions of Prop. 98. One would undercut every local collective bargaining agreement in the state.

One would eliminate seniority and tenure, requiring teachers to work 10 years before getting permanent status. And one would attempt to silence the voices of teachers, nurses, firefighters and state workers by making it difficult for public employee unions to spend any dues money on political issues.
 
Yes, for those of you who remember Pete Wilson, this is all very familiar. And we shouldn't be surprised. Many of the Governor's advisors were part of the Wilson administration. Maybe our only surprise should be that it took this long for Governor Schwarzenegger to drop the disguise.
 
If he wants to bring it to the people, he better remember that we are the people. And voters believe us. Who do you think voters will listen to, Governor Schwarzenegger and his misguided reform ideas, or teachers who say the best ways to improve our schools are smaller class sizes, up-to-date textbooks and materials and quality teachers in every classroom?
 
But let me tell you the Governor and his allies are very clever. They have proposed initiatives like merit pay and even one that would require at least 80 percent of all education money to be spent directly in the classroom as a smokescreen to distract us from his funding cuts and as a way to divide us in the Education Coalition. They want us to divert our attention from the real issues and fight among ourselves, rather than be united against his budget and legislative proposals and his misguided initiatives. We will not fall into his trap.
 
CTA Action
 
I want you to know that CTA is not taking any of this lying down and is busy organizing on all fronts.
 
We're working with the entire education community to oppose the Governor's proposed budget and his attacks on our public schools. I was on a conference call with reporters, Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, parents and the entire Ed Coalition on the day the budget was proposed, and I haven't stopped talking to reporters since.
 
I also know that many of you are already working with your local education coalitions and holding events to speak out against these budget attacks.

 

The Ventura Teachers Association already held a news conference with their superintendent and school board members.
 
I can't tell you how important these local activities are. When reporters say to me, the Governor has the power of his office and his Hollywood personality, what do you have? I tell them I have the FORCE of 335,000 educators in every community in this state. These are people who go to Church, belong to service and social clubs and shop in these communities, and who are respected in these communities. That's what I have.
 
A new CTA radio commercial has been running for two weeks, calling on the Governor to keep his promise and to stop balancing the budget on the backs of our kids. I hope you have heard the commercials. They are airing on more than 56 radio stations across the state, including Spanish and Asian-language stations.
 
We know our radio ads are having an impact because the Governor and his henchpersons are trying to attack our credibility. Remember, the Governor told the Orange County Register that parents only believed that he went back on his word because the 'teachers union was lying to them." 

 

And all the little "mini-me's" were chirping the same line on conservative talk radio across the state.  I hear my friends "John and Ken" on KFI here in LA were calling me all sorts of names: Liar, being my favorite.
 
Luckily, the public is hard to fool.  The just released PPIC poll once again showseducation is the leading concern of California voters and a majority gives the Governor poor marks for his performance on public schools. As columnist George Skelton said in the Los Angeles Times "The Terminator could meet his match in teachers — and schoolkids and parents."

 

We've also joined in a coalition with all public employee unions to defeat the 401-k retirement proposal. This coalition is working in the Legislature to make sure that measure doesn't see the light of day.
 
However, the best defense is always a good offense. So, most importantly, we're working with a coalition of other labor, consumer and community groups to make sure that if the Governor calls a special election to run his initiatives, there will be a number of other initiatives on the ballot as well. Initiatives that protect school funding, improve health care benefits and close big business tax loopholes. 
  

PIC will be looking at all these initiatives this weekend. We also want to hear what you have to say. We want hear your ideas and we want to know what you think CTA should be doing. That's why before committee meetings today, you will be meeting in moderated groups to talk about the Governor's proposals and give us your thoughts and ideas.
 
We'll also be meeting with staff next week to get their ideas. These ideas will be utilized this coming week when a group of leaders and staff from across the state meets to develop a statewide strategic plan for adoption by the CTA Board of Directors.
  

This going to be a fight, but remember:
 
Don't Agonize. Organize!
 
We are part of the powerful CTA family working to keep students achieving in the largest public schools system in the nation. Children are our "special interest." And we will continue to use our power every day in the classroom, at local bargaining tables and in the halls of the state Capitol.
 
Thank you.