| Sen. Brulte urges CTA to work for bipartisan education efforts
With his customary humor, Republican State Sen. Jim Brulte appeared before CTA’s State Council of Education to warn teachers not to ignore pro-education Republicans when CTA does business in Sacramento.
"Some of you have not yet heard that some Republicans are actually trying to ensure that support of public education remains a bipartisan activity in Sacramento," Brulte told the council during remarks Sunday.
"While we have a great deal where we disagree, on the vast majority of the issues there is so much room for bipartisan cooperation."
The Republican Minority Leader from Rancho Cucamonga is no stranger to CTA, having appeared at CTA’s Summer Institute, where he has also taken CTA to task for ignoring pro-education Republicans.
To illustrate his own commitment to bipartisanship, the legislator joked that he had reached out to CTA "even before my younger brother became a teacher and a CTA member."
Brulte pointed out that not all public school legislation is opposed by Republicans. Funding equalization for low-wealth school districts, for example, was an issue championed by Republicans in 1995, as was legislation on school safety. And, "Last year," he said, "it was the Republicans that led the fight for a record level of unregulated, unattached deficit reduction funding."
Brulte acknowledged, "While we have a great deal where we disagree, on the vast majority of the issues there is so much room for bipartisan cooperation."
Brulte continued his rapprochement by offering to be a resource to CTA in opening those Republican doors in Sacramento.
But, he observed, "Just as everyday that goes by in Sacramento I am reminded we have not convinced every Republican to have an open door to your organization, you need to be reminded that there are still people in your organization at the local level who do not have an open door to people like me."
Council opposes new Connerly initiative Connerlinitiative
CTA’s State Council has gone on record opposing the Race, Ethnicity, Color or National Origin Initiative ballot proposal for the November election.
As proposed, the initiative by UC Regent Ward Connerly who also led the repeal of affirmative action in California, would prohibit state and local governments from using race, ethnicity, color or national origin to classify current or prospective students, contractors or employees. Council also:
heard polling information regarding views of underrepresented minorities on education.
approved a policy opposing the state API ranking as biased against minorities and economically underprivileged students.
opposed use of a state-mandated subject exam or end-of-course exam as the sole determinate of a passing or failing grade within a course.
viewed a CTA video welcoming delegates to the NEA RA in Los Angeles, July 1-7, and requested volunteers.
elected Jim Groth of Chula Vista Education Association to CTA-ABC Committee.
Johnson: Fight for salary raises
Despite the state’s energy woes, there will be money in the state budget for salary increases for teachers -- and teachers must stand up and demand those increases, CTA President Wayne Johnson told the State Council of Education Saturday morning.
"Don’t let them use energy cost increases to beat you out of a decent salary increase for next year. Fight for those salary increases just as Fairfield, El Cajon, and Alameda are fighting for them right down to the wire this year," Johnson said.
"We need salary increases because there is a growing teacher shortage," he said, noting that in California, 50 percent of all teachers are 45 years of age or over.
"Last year California had 32,000 teachers on emergency permits. This year we had 40,000 on emergency permits. What are we going to need next year? 50,000, quite probably. I’m not here to beat up on emergency permits but we’ve got to fix the problem that is leading to such a shortage of teachers," he said.
Over the next 10 years, California will need 287,000 new teachers, according to the New Teacher Center of UC Santa Cruz. "Go back to your districts and fight for salary increases. You deserve them and you need them! . . .
We are going to Sacramento to make sure that you get as much money in your local districts as we can get. Never, never forget that teachers are the education program," he said.
At the same time, California must put resources into those "schools of greatest need" that rank at the bottom 20 percent in the Academic Performance Index if it is going to meet the challenge to improve all of its schools.
"There is a crisis of poverty, of under-funding, of poor kids not getting what they need. . . and it is not going to go away until we do something about it. Public education is being made the scapegoat. Teachers are not the problem, let me tell you that," he said.
"We never hear, ‘Let’s get a fully credentialed teachers in every California classroom.’ We never hear ‘let’s reduce class size to 15 to 20 in every school with low test scores.’ We never hear ‘let’s make sure kids have text books and the latest supplies they need,’ " he said.
Johnson said rather than threats, the government should listen to teachers. Teachers, he said, must have control over their own profession.
"Teaching is not an assembly line job," he said.
Teachers honored by State Council
The CTA State Council of Education honored a number of teachers June 2 for their contributions to the classroom, to their association and for their political involvement. Also honored were 12 journalists who received CTA’s John Swett Award for Media Excellence.Among the teachers honored by council were Guillermo Gomez, a member of the Chula Vista Education Association, California’s nominee for the NEA Foundation Award for Teaching Excellence; Adele Prince, high school English teacher and member of the Glendora Teachers Association; and Scott Malloy, high school math teacher and member of the Brea-Olinda Teachers Association. Prince and Malloy were two of five recipients of the California Teachers of the Year and Malloy is also California’s entry in the National Teacher of the Year competition.
State Council recognized seven teachers and four chapters for outstanding efforts in political action during 2000. Among them was Jane H. McGill, a member of the Sweetwater Education Association, who won the overall Ted Bass Teacher-in-Politics Award.
Six other teachers received CTA Teacher-in-Politics categorical awards: Steve Savage, South San Francisco Classroom Teachers Association, in the Getting Others Involved category; Susan E. Katt, North Sacramento Education Association, and James M. Rogers, La Habra Education Association, in the State Priorities category; Mary Ellis, Natomas Education Association, in the Local Priorities category; Debra K. Redenbaugh, San Diego Education Association, in the Partisan/Nonpartisan Activities category; and Leobardo Zamora, Pittsburg Education Association, for Coalition Building.
For the first time, awards were presented to chapters in various categories as part of the Joyce Fadem Chapter-in-Politics Award: The Stanislaus Union School District won the Small Chapter Award; the Covina Unified Education Association won the Medium Chapter Award; the San Diego Education Association won the Large Chapter Award; and the Natomas Education Association won the "Rookie" Chapter Award. Receiving special recognition for minority outreach was the Capital Service Center Council.
Also honored were State WHO Award Winners, outgoing State Council members, outgoing NEA Executive Committee member Denise Rockwell Woods, and outgoing CTA Board Member David Lebow. |
