Council Decides May/June 2003
State Council says goodbye to Johnson, welcomes new officers
Council also votes to oppose recall of Gov. Gray Davis
In his final State Council of Education speech as president of CTA, Wayne Johnson called on delegates to oppose the recall of Gov. Gray Davis - and closed out his 28-year career as an elected union activist with warm praise for teachers statewide.
"You are the engine that drives the whole system," he said. "You are the best and I know it and I want everyone to know it."
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| CTA President-elect Barbara E. Kerr, President Wayne Johnson, NEA Vice President Dennis Von Roekel, NEA President Reg Weaver, NEA Treasurer Lily Eskelsen, CTA Vice President-elect David A.Sanchez, and CTA Secretary-Treasurer-elect Dean E. Vogel celebrate "Team NEA/CTA." | The nearly 800 Council representatives listened while wearing T-shirts marked with "Wayne's Final Tour 1975-2003" honoring Johnson's union career and victories, including the 1989 United Teachers-Los Angeles strike he led as UTLA president, the defeat of the voucher initiative in 2000, and the passage of the $13 billion school bond last year.
In a moving show of unity, the Council weekend concluded with an inauguration speech from CTA President-elect Barbara E. Kerr calling on all activists in the room - delegates, Board members, committee chairs, retirees - to stand and affirm their desire to do the hard work that lies ahead. Flanked by family and friends, Kerr, Vice President-elect David A. Sanchez and Secretary-Treasurer-elect Dean E. Vogel all vowed to keep the momentum going after their terms begin June 26.
"We will do everything we can for you, but we don't intend to do it alone," Kerr said.
Council voted overwhelmingly to oppose the recall of Gov. Davis.
Johnson said the recall is a "distraction from the real work that needs to be done to find a quick, balanced budget solution that prevents deeper cuts to our classrooms."
"CTA has not always agreed with the policies of Governor Davis, but this recall effort is bad public policy," Johnson said. "The recall provision was put in the state constitution in order to remove leaders guilty of malfeasance and criminal acts." To recall an elected official for any other reason would set a dangerous precedent that could destabilize the government, he said.
Johnson, who taught history and government at the high school level for 25 years, said teachers oppose the recall "in the interest of good state government" and warned that the state budget crisis must remain the top concern.
He said the good news is that the governor's revised budget proposal is to cut only $1.5 billion from education next fiscal year, despite a $38 billion budget deficit, and would fully fund Class Size Reduction.
Despite the fact that the governor's proposal would allow districts to use their reserves to cover most of the cuts that the state will be imposing, Johnson predicted that "districts will go into the sky-is-falling mode." Claiming poverty bordering on bankruptcy, districts will try to raise class size, demand salary take-backs, and demand caps and cuts in medical benefits, just as they have this year, he warned.
Johnson added that California has one administrator for every 11.6 teachers, according to EdSource.
"If districts want to make cuts next year, I have some suggestions: Cut those paper shufflers and coffee carriers at the district office."
State Treasurer Angelides advances education funding proposals at Council
Calling a good public education system the "heart and soul" of public policy, California Treasurer Phil Angelides told Council delegates in a speech that he favors ending some corporate tax breaks and taking other measures to protect the state's financial future and create new revenue for schools.
"We can keep the California dream alive if we educate our children," Angelides said.
Quoting Aristotle, he said poverty is the greatest threat to democracy and must be eradicated, especially in a wealthy state with a gross state annual product worth $1.4 trillion. Angelides said one in six of California's children lives in poverty, while in the Central Valley, one in three of all kids are poor.
Coping with the state's record $38 billion budget deficit, caused by a "perfect storm" of bad economic pressures, requires new ways of thinking. In the state's search for new revenue, Angelides said California could reap $3 billion a year if commercial properties were reappraised at market value when they change hands.
He blasted President Bush's tax-cutting policies as favoring the rich, and alluded to the president's flawed "No Child Left Behind" education law in his criticism of the White House political agenda.
"Their agenda is simple - it is to leave no millionaire behind."
A strong supporter of increasing and stabilizing funding for California's public school system, the largest in the nation, Angelides noted that he fought hard to pass the statewide $13 billion school bond last year, and will fight for the $12 billion school bond on the March 2004 ballot.
These bonds will help strengthen the infrastructure of the state - a key part of getting the state back on the road to financial health, he said.
CTA Board can proceed with initiative
Council voted to authorize the CTA Board of Directors to submit an initiative for the November 2004 ballot that would produce at least $2.2 billion in additional funding support for K-12 classrooms.
While the CTA initiative's revenue-raising method has not been chosen, use of the funds would be restricted to class size reduction, textbooks, instructional materials and supplies, teacher training and compensation. The initiative would prohibit the use of funds for administrative overhead.
In other business, State Council:
- Adopted a new budget for CTA.
- Recommended positions on NEA governing documents to the California delegation to the NEA Representative Assembly.
- Approved the endorsement of Paula Monroe as a friendly incumbent for the NEA Board.
- Voted to sponsor legislation to provide permanent status for certificated support staff working for county superintendents.
- Decided to let the CTA Board of Directors recommend the teacher representatives on the STRS Board for the first term, given the tight timelines for the election; the decision will be ratified at the October meeting of Council.
- Took the position that minimum days for students should be based on the number of minutes students attend school, not the number of periods, because some schools with block scheduling or finals scheduling may lose funding as a result of not offering the proper number of periods.
- Took the position that the exploitation of workers - in the form of poor working conditions, sub-par wages, extraordinarily long hours and unsafe workplaces - is inhumane and unjust, especially when the workers are under-age.
- Took the position that school districts must coordinate with parents and law enforcement to combat child abduction and employ the fast and effective release of life-saving information on the identity of missing children.
- Released the findings of a survey of Council delegates about school safety issues; the failure to notify teachers regarding problem students topping the list.
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean addresses State Council
Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean demonstrated his support for teachers and public education during a well-received speech before Council Sunday afternoon.
The maverick Democrat who maintains he represents the "Democratic wing of the Democratic party" said he "disagrees strongly with President Bush on virtually every policy I can think of" from tax cuts to the president's pronouncements that the University of Michigan's admissions policy constituted a quota system.
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| Howard Dean speaks before State Council | Dean, a medical doctor and former five-term governor of Vermont, was responsible for a number of changes in his state that resulted in balanced budgets, cleaner public lands, healthier children and progressive education initiatives, CTA President Wayne Johnson said of the candidate in introductory remarks. He is also the only candidate on record who opposes the federal "No Child Left Behind Act" which he said is the second-largest unfunded mandate in the history of education.
The act, he said, "sets such unreasonable standards that are so high and have consequences that are so big that every single school in America will be a failing school by 2012. It opens the doors for a voucher system, which is the real agenda of this president."
Dean advocated that the country follow the example of his state and fund children's health and education programs rather than finance a much more expensive and extensive prison system for adults. He also called for a paid parental leave system that would allow parents to take time to participate in their children's school programs.
"The single most important variable in whether a kid will succeed in school or not is not the teachers, the computers, not the principals, though all of these are important, it's what kind of message parents give kids about education at home, and I am frankly tired of politicians who continue to blame the public school system in this country without asking parents to take responsibility for their kids."
Council elects members to fill vacancies on CTA, NEA boards and CTA/ABC Committee
Among the elections held at State Council, the delegates voted for two new members of the CTA Board of Directors and made other key election decisions.
The delegates elected:
- Larry Allen (District A) to the CTA Board of Directors, representing teachers in the counties of Del Norte, Humboldt, Mendocino, Yolo, Lake, Sonoma, Napa, Marin and Solano. He fills the seat vacated by Dean E. Vogel, the CTA secretary-treasurer-elect.
- Bonnie Shatun (District I) to the CTA Board of Directors, representing Mono and Inyo counties, and parts of Los Angeles and Kern counties. Paul Markowitz was termed-out of this seat.
- Virginia Ann Shadwick (District 17) to the NEA Board of Directors.
- Steve Savage, president of the South San Francisco Classroom Teachers Association, to the District B seat on the CTA/ABC Committee.
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