We want to welcome you to the May 2003 State Council meeting.

 

The last State Council for what has been a long and difficult year.

 

I have some good news and I have some bad news.  First the good news.

 

Despite the fact the state is looking at a $35 billion to $39 billion deficit.

 

Despite the fact that there were those that said education gets 40% of the state budget, education should receive 40% of the cuts.  That would have been $14 billion education would have been cut.

 

Despite the fact that just a few weeks ago there was serious talk of education being cut $5 to $8 billion for next year.

 

Your Officers, Barbara, David, Dean, John and Carolyn met with the Governor three times.  He is in trouble and he needs CTA.

 

These meetings led to John Hein meeting with Budget Director Steve Peace several times.

 

John was able to negotiate only a $1.5 billion cut for education next year.

 

The work that John, the CTA Finance Department and the GR staff were able to accomplish is nothing short of amazing.

 

They negotiated a potential $14 billion cut down to $1.5 billion.  This was the best negotiations job I have ever seen.  My hat is off to John Hein for a brilliant job.

 

The bad news is there is a $1.5 billion cut in education for next year.

 

Any cut is bad - but California started out in an educational funding hole.

 

So any cut will have a major impact.

 

California before the cuts ranked in the bottom 20% of states in school funding.

 

This year California averaged $6,200 per student compared to $11,000 for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

 

We rank 49th in class size, just barely ahead of Utah. 

 

Some of the proposed cuts that will hurt are:

This means that next year will be a very difficult year for kids, teachers, and the classroom.

 

Despite this budget cutting disaster, you will still be expected to raise test scores and improve quality of education in the largest public school system in the United States.

 

It's like the old saying, "The beatings will continue until morale improves."

 

I can guarantee you that next year's bargaining will be incredibly difficult.

 

This despite the fact that the law allows the districts to use the $4 billion they have in reserves to cover most of the cuts that the state has imposed for next year.

 

Districts will go into their "the sky is falling mode."

 

They will claim poverty bordering on bankruptcy.

 

They will try to raise class size - they will demand salary take backs.

 

They will demand caps and cuts in medical benefits.

 

This has already happened in many parts of the state.

 

In the north state, up around Redding, some teachers already pay $300-400 a month out of their pocket for health insurance.

 

Some districts it seems want you to teach for health insurance.  You will have to get a second job to feed yourself.

 

Many districts this year tried to intimidate teachers by sending out massive layoff notices.

 

This was done to frighten and divide teachers.

 

This was a plan to gain an advantage at the bargaining table.

 

It was hoped this would frighten teachers into accepting give backs in contract negotiations.

 

Give backs like pay cuts, cap on medical benefits, class size increases and others.

 

We know that was the case because some of the dumber school administrators came out and said if teachers would accept some of these take backs they would rescind the layoff notices.

 

They were trying to get teachers in the trap of negotiating with themselves on their salary and benefits with the jobs of their fellow teachers.

 

Teachers didn't fall for it!

 

You organized and protested and made a huge media fight out of it and you won.  The districts were lying and they knew it.  They knew there would be no layoffs.

 

Alan Bersin and San Diego sent out 1,400 layoff notices.  They then rescinded them all.  A few weeks later they announced San Diego would be hiring an additional 700 new teachers next year.  Unless they are totally incompetent buffoons, they knew all this before they sent one layoff notice.

 

Al Nishino, the Superintendent in Alameda, sent layoff notices to every teacher in the district.  Anyone who would do this is not the brightest person on the planet or he was trying to manipulate teachers into contract concessions.

 

Percy Clark in Pasadena sent layoff notices to all secondary school counselors, nurses, and about 400 elementary school teachers.

 

But when asked who would perform the state mandated services of counselors and nurses, Percy replied, "they had not thought about that."

 

When pressured strongly by the Pasadena teachers, Percy rescinded all the layoffs except about 50 elementary teachers.

 

I think they left 50 teachers with layoff notices as a face-saving device.  I think that these 50 notices will be rescinded also.

 

We at CTA knew that this massive layoff blizzard was a joke.

 

All you had to do was analyze the situation.

These layoff notices were pure and simple an attempt to use the budget deficit to intimidate teachers and force take backs at the bargaining table.

 

California has a huge and growing teacher shortage and the only teachers that will be laid off are teachers in districts with declining enrollment.

 

Teacher organization, strength, and resolve showed these administrators to be the underhanded, manipulators they are.

 

As I said, with a $1.5 billion cut in the budget next year, you can only imagine what districts will say and try at the bargaining table next year.

 

Just remember Linda Darling-Hammond, the Stanford University researcher, reported in her study this year that on average only 36.7% of California school districts' budgets goes to teacher salaries.  Which she said "is a small percentage compared to other states."

 

And EdSource reported this year that in California, there is one administrator for every 11.6 teachers.

 

Districts want to make cuts next year - I have some suggestions. 

 

Cut those paper shufflers and coffee carriers at the district office.

 

We have some more good news.

 

CTA has beat back and killed all the legislation that is aimed at weakening the K-3 class size reduction law.

 

Local CTA leaders jammed Sacramento when these bills were being heard in committee.

 

These leaders testified, walked the halls and lobbied.

 

I was not there but I heard it was wonderful. 

 

To all of you that were there - thank you - that is the strength of CTA - 335,000 hard working members.

 

CTA brought in Professor Alex Molnar from Arizona State University to testify against these bills.  He was brilliant.  We deeply appreciate what Professor Molnar has done for California public education and we won't forget it.

 

We should also thank Assembly Speaker Herb Wesson for the defeat of this legislation.

 

He was a big help and we won't forget that either.

 

But don't worry they will be back to attack class size reduction.  I should add at this point that in next year's education budget, Governor Davis has fully funded the K-3 class size reduction program.

 

And on May 21 in Sacramento, at a Town Hall Forum that I attended hosted by ABC's Peter Jennings, Governor Davis said he fully supported class size reduction in K-3, had fully funded it and was opposed to the legislation that would go to a class size average of twenty with a cap of 22.

 

I must add at this time, and this has nothing to do with the budget or class size reduction.  I hope at this Council meeting that CTA takes a position in opposition to the recall of Davis.

 

As an old high school Government teacher I know, the recall initiative was added to the Constitution to remove elected officials from office for malfeasance or criminal behavior.

 

Bob Nichols and I were talking, and one good teacher to another agreed, removing someone from office simply because you don't like them or their policies is bad public policy, and I believe a dangerous precedent.

 

I believe for the integrity of our organization, we should be on the record opposing this recall.

 

It looks like it may very well happen.  And I think CTA should be on the side of good public policy and stable government. Just a few words on vouchers and the charter school movement.

 

CTA has endorsed charter schools and there are some good charter schools. 

 

But I have always thought and continue to think that charter schools are potentially the back door for vouchers and has some very dangerous consequences for kids in those schools.

 

California charter schools received some bad news recently.

 

On April 7, 2003, Professor Bruce Fuller of U.C. Berkeley released a study by the Berkeley think tank Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE).

 

As I said, this study was very damaging to California Charter Schools. 

 

The report found:

These facts are very disturbing and I believe put these kids in these charter schools at risk.

 

The report went on to say "California has . . . had some alarming charter school scandals and the legislature has twice changed the law in response to shady charter school operations."

 

My good friend and CTA Board Member Tom Conry who sits on CTA's Charter School Workgroup told me recently of something he found out when he attended the State Advisory Commission on Charter Schools.

 

With some probing by Tom it came out that John Hall, operator of Options for Youth Charter Schools, had collected from the State of California $37 million and had spent less than half on instruction.  The rest went to Hall or organizations that he controlled.  Tom led a movement that resulted in Mr. Hall's charter school budget being cut by 40%.

 

Excellent job Tom.

 

The question is how many other John Hall's are out there running questionable charter schools.

 

President Bush has asked Congress to approve $753 million in new funding for charter school expansion and voucher experiments.

 

As for vouchers, Professor Alan Kruger or Princeton University analyzed a study on vouchers by Professor Paul Peterson of Harvard University, and Mathmatica Policy Research Inc.  Dr. Kruger analyzed data from African American students from New York City Schools who had won a voucher lottery in 1997.  Dr. Kruger concluded that these voucher students had scored only 1-1/2% better than their peers in the public schools they had formally attended.

 

Dr. Kruger stated "for the most representative sample of African American elementary school students, offering a voucher had no statistically discernible impact on achievement scores in the New York City experiment."

 

This damning evidence against charter schools and voucher schools is what we all suspected.

 

But now there is growing evidence that charter schools and voucher schools work better than traditional public schools and often times much worse. 

 

This evidence is falling on deaf ears.

 

Reed Hastings, the President of the State Board of Education touts charter schools as though they are the equivalent of the second coming. 

 

Bill Bennett, Chester Finn, Rod Paige, President Bush and every right wing commentator from New York to Los Angeles attack public schools and propagandize that vouchers are the answer to America's failed public.

 

They simply ignore all the evidence that vouchers don't work.

 

We may be losing the war of words about our public schools.

 

The right wing has a huge army of voucher advocates that fill the airways with their snake oil voucher propaganda.

 

Teacher organizations have not been aggressive enough in fighting this propaganda with the truth.

 

American public schools are the best in the world and I will prove it in a few minutes.

 

I believe that the voucher movement is nothing more than a way for the federal government to end its responsibility to educate all of America's children.

 

Vouchers are a program where the government hands each child a voucher of $3,000 or $4,000 and with that ends our responsibility to that child.

 

If they don't get a good education it will be their own fault because they were not good consumers.

 

We know who will win the voucher game.  It's the kids who are already winning the education game.  They will be the middle and upper class kids.

 

Poor kids will continue to be losers and vouchers will increase the odds that the poor, the English language learners, and special education kids will not find schools that will meet their educational needs.  They will find the John Hall's of the world.

 

The government's attitude will be tough luck kid, better luck next time.

 

"Leave No Child Behind" is a nice slogan but it is legislation that is meant to cripple public education and make it easier for the voucher movement.

 

That is the Bush-Cheney education agenda - don't you doubt it.

 

Professor Gerald Bracey wrote recently that the massive defeats of vouchers in California and Michigan took vouchers out of the "Leave No Child Behind" legislation but not out of the Bush agenda.

 

Despite being under-funded, California and American public schools are called on to do the near impossible every day.

 

As more and more demands are placed on public schools, teachers are about the only ones in the system that are held accountable.

 

Teachers are held accountable but we do not control what we are being held accountable for - teaching kids in our classrooms.

 

We are told what, when, where and how to teach.

 

And when that doesn't work, which is often the case, it is our fault.

 

As you remember last year, CTA with Jackie Goldberg wrote legislation to give teachers some say in curriculum and textbook selection.

 

As you remember, all hell broke loose.  You would have thought we had introduced a bill to legalize heroin.

 

We were attacked by every right wing group in the state. 
Administrators and school boards attacked us saying the legislation was  not needed - teachers already had a say in the selection of curriculum and textbooks.

 

I just received a copy of a letter from the Santa Ana Teachers Association.  Teachers had been asked to review and recommend a language arts series.  The teachers overwhelmingly recommended the Houghton Mifflin program.  The district then accepted the Open Court series. 

 

The Santa Ana teachers said, "we were dumbfounded that our input counted for so little."

 

Teachers have no say in curriculum and textbooks.

 

I believe that if teachers are going to be held accountable, then we must control the classroom and what goes on and is used in those classrooms.

 

We are the professionals, we know what works and what doesn't.

 

Only when we control our classrooms will we truly be a profession.

 

CTA must never stop the fight for professional control of our classroom.

 

As I said, California teachers are called on to do the near impossible - and no one does it better.

 

The United States Department of Education National Center for Educational statistics reported in 1998, that the U.S. had 46 million K-12 students attending 87,125 public schools in 14,471 districts.

 

This year California has 6.3 million K-12 students in 999 school districts.

 

And I can guarantee you things have not gotten better since 1998.

 

Of America's 46 million kids in 1998:

 

Six million kids had disability that required extra funding for their education.

 

6.2 million were limited English speaking.

 

2 million spoke no English.

 

2 million latch key kids.

 

2 million abused or neglected.

 

500,000 public school kids live in foster homes or institutions.

 

30,000 alcohol syndrome kids in school.

 

400,000 crack babies attending public schools

 

500,000 homeless children - CNN reported that New York City has 12,000 homeless children.

 

New York City Schools reported that 20% of their students change school every year.

 

20% of American public school children live with a mother that did not finish high school.

 

Believe me when I tell you that things have gotten worse not better since 1998.

 

California public schools face each one of these challenges at a higher rate than the national average.

 

The difference is here in California we do it with less money and a higher class size than almost any state in the union.

 

I read recently in David McCollough's book "John Adams" what Adams had said in the 1700's about education.  (pp.364)

 

He said, "A memorable change must be made in the system of education and knowledge must become so general as to raise the lower ranks of society nearer to the higher.  The education of a nation instead of being confined to a few schools and universities for the instruction of the few must become the national care and expense for the formation of the many."

 

John Adams, where are you when we need you?

 

I read recently that Victor Hugo wrote, "He who opens a school door, closes a prison."

 

It is sad to report the dismal situation in California and our great nation.

 

As I have said so many times before.  It has become my mantra. 

 

California is the richest state in the richest nation in the history of the world. 

 

We can afford and produce the most awesome military force in the history of the world - and thank God we can.

 

But if we can do that - we can afford the best financed ultra modern school system in the world.

 

It makes no sense to have the state of the art 2003 modern military, and an under funded 1950's public school system.

 

California has the 5th largest economy in the world, just ahead of France and just behind England.

 

Sadly to say despite all this wealth, California ranks in the bottom 20% in school funding in America. 

 

This year California $6,200.00.  New York, New Jersey and Connecticut - $11,000. 

 

It's funny to me that it is OK to be in the bottom 20% in funding but not OK to be in the bottom 20% or even bottom 50% on test scores - we must be the best.

 

Because of this funding deficit, and it is about to get much worse - we have virtually the largest class size in the nation. 

 

Add to this:

 

30% of our students live in poverty. 

 

20% more live in low income families.

 

50% of all kids live in difficult circumstances.  Many live on the edge, just trying to survive.  For our teachers working to educate these children who are trying to survive is very difficult.

 

But you fight on and despite the public school bashers you and teachers all across this country achieve amazing results.

 

America's teachers and especially California teachers are the best in the world.

 

I don't say that because I am talking to teachers - I mean it and I have the statistics to prove it.

 

The statistics that I am going to give you are from the National Center for Educational Statistics, Department of the U.S. Department of Education.

 

Despite the miserable conditions of California public schools, California teachers continue to perform miracles year in and year out. 

 

The United States Department of Education reported in 1998, in the age group 25-34, the U.S. had a high school graduation rate of 87.7% that was #2 in the world.  Number one was Japan, 93.5%.  Number three was Germany, 87.5%.  The U.S. is the only country that tries to get every kid, Special Ed., homeless, poor, English language learner to the 12th grade and to graduate from high school.  England graduates 63% of their kids, France 75.3%.

 

The United States Department of Education also reports for the last fifteen years California and the U.S. has sent over 65% of our high school graduates on to college; 44% of these kids to four-year colleges.  That's number one in the world.

 

In 2000, the U.S. had 14.9 million full-time college and University students.  Number one in the world in both number and percentage of kids in college.

 

In 1999 the U.S.D.E. reported that in the age group 25-34, 31% of Americans had a B.A. degree or higher.  That again was number one in the world.  Japan was number two with 23.5%.  England had 17%, France 14.7% and 13.9% for Germany.

 

These facts prove that the U.S.A. and California have the best free public education system in the world.  That system is the best because we have the best teachers in the world.  Good teachers are the only thing that really matters.

 

Classroom teachers make California's under-funded, over-crowded, poorly-administered schools work extremely well.  You are the engine that drives the whole system. 

 

You are the best and I know it and I want everyone to know it.

 

As Jean De La Fontaine said, "In everything we ought to look to the end."

 

Ladies and gentlemen, this is the end.

 

This is my last State Council.  And I say that with immense satisfaction and pride.

 

De La Fontaine was right there is always a time to go.

 

I am very proud of what we have done over the past four years.

 

I have been bolstered over the years with your support, your warmth, and your friendship.

 

This past eight years, because of you, gave me the best eight years of my life.

 

I don't want to get maudlin or pathetic.

 

I simply want to thank you for the opportunity you have given me and wish you all the very best, you deserve no less.

 

Thank you and God Bless You All!!!