The delegates of the California Teachers Association State Council of Education voted to recommend Gov. Gray Davis for re-election giving him an early endorsement for the March 2002 primary election. The State Council voted on Sunday afternoon, a day after the 760 delegates participated in a spirited debate in which pro and con opinions were aired. Although Davis has rankled members for some of his positions and programs, his backers cited his strong stand against school vouchers, his success in increasing funding for public education and his efforts to recruit and retain teachers. He has also signed several bills that have enhanced teacher pensions in the state. "We wanted to send a message early on that Gray Davis has been a friend of public education," said CTA President Wayne Johnson, following the vote. "We may not always agree with the governor, but he is clearly the best choice for supporters of public education." CTA endorsed Davis in 1998. Funding for public education has increased almost 13 percent during his administration, and it has exceeded the minimum-funding guarantee required by Proposition 98 every year that he has been governor. Although only 60 percent of the Council’s ballots were needed to endorse Gov. Davis, 86 percent of the ballots cast favored the governor. Through its vote, CTA’s State Council sends a clear message to voters in California that Davis has the full support of the 335,000 member CTA, an organization that has been a major force in recent state elections. In other endorsements the CTA State Council backed these statewide candidates:

• Lieutenant Governor: Cruz Bustamante.
• Attorney General: Bill Lockyer.
• State Treasurer: Philip Angelides.
• State Superintendent of Public Instruction: State Senator Jack O’Connell.
• State Controller: Steve Westly, a founder of eBay Internet auction site.
• State Board of Equalization District #3: Claude Parrish.
• State Board of Equalization District #4: John Chiang.

State Council contributes to NEAFT Sept. 11 Fund

In recognition of the lives that were lost during the recent terrorist attack on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, State Council members made generous donations to the NEAFT Sept. 11 Fund, a fund established by both the NEA and AFT to provide assistance to the children and families of the victims. Among those victims were three Washington D.C. teachers and three students.

Checks can be sent to NEA (atten.: Dennis Van Roekel) and made out to the NEAFT September 11 Fund, 1201 16th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036.

Other State Council Actions

Among other items the CTA State Council of Education approved during its three-day meeting:

• That CTA sponsor legislation to have the state provide districts with additional funding so that districts can, in turn, offer a salary attractive to retaining career teachers.
• That CTA waive the dues of any CTA member who is called up for active duty in the military.
• That CTA sponsor legislation to authorize earned personal income tax credit for community college faculty/academic employees equal to that authorized for credentialed teachers by the Personal Income Tax Law.
• That CTA support the "Legislative Term Limits" proposal headed for the March 5, primary ballot.
• That CTA sponsor and lobby for legislation that supports the reduction of class sizes in grades 4 through adult to a ratio of 25 to 1.

CTA President’s Report
Wayne Johnson: "It’s time for us to go on the offense" for public education

California’s teachers deserve to "go get every dime you can get" during salary negotiations while there is still money in the state budget for education, according to CTA’s President Wayne Johnson.

Johnson called recent warnings that school districts will have to make cuts this year, "Hogwash" and responded that school districts are going to get the same funding as last year plus 3.87 percent COLA.

"The California budget this year is 4.5 percent less than last year's budget," Johnson said, "But the education budget is 5 percent more than it was last year."

Still, Johnson urged the teachers to go for salary increases this year, because next year, the budget is expected to plummet.

Despite dire predictions for next year’s education budget, Johnson insists that more money - not less - be put into education to give all children the education they deserve.

"To bring California up to the national average, we would have to increase educational funding by $5.5 billion next year," Johnson said.

Those particularly in harm’s way are the 26 percent of California’s children who live in poverty.

"Everyone knows that poverty is a major impediment to a child’s being successful in school," Johnson said, citing figures that show 86 percent of kids in the bottom 10 percent of schools were poor compared to only 7 percent in the top 10 percent.

In spite of these statistics, critics like US Secretary of Education Rod Paige seemed to place the blame on teachers and schools. He was quoted in the Los Angeles Times recently as saying "We have spent $147 billion on federal programs since the Johnson administration, why is it . . . that 70 percent of our inner city and rural fourth graders can’t read?"

Instead of allowing Paige and others to offer vouchers, merit pay and doing away with teacher due process as education reforms, Johnson urged the Council to support proposed legislation that would enable teachers to bargain items other than salaries and working conditions.

"We need to bargain textbook selection. We need to bargain lesson plans, discipline policy, classroom assignments, grade level teaching assignments, anything else that affects our classroom and our ability to teach." Johnson continued, "This legislation is going to come as a shock to administrators, school boards, anti-teacher and anti-union groups. But it is past time for us to go on the offensive and dominate the education agenda," he said.

"Schools of Greatest Need" Campaign to Continue

CTA was able to "extract" $200 million in state funds to assist schools of greatest need - those in the lowest 10 percent (Decile 1) on the II/USP - in each of the next three years. "It isn’t enough, but it is a start," said CTA Executive Director Carolyn Doggett at the October meeting of CTA's State Council.

The legislation creates the High Priority Schools Program, which provides $50,000 planning grants and implementation funding of $400 per student per year for three years for schools of greatest need that apply by the Jan. 15, 2002 deadline.

Only if funds remain after all the Decile 1 schools have had a shot at applying can schools in other deciles qualify.

Passage of the legislation is just the first step in the new direction CTA has set for itself as it moves into the 21st Century, said Doggett.

Since teachers are being judged by the progress made by students who have the fewest resources and the greatest challenges to overcome, CTA and its members plan to make sure their education continues to be the top priority.

The problems in low-performing schools are the problems of too few resources, of low English skills, of poverty-stricken families and of struggling communities, Doggett said. "Their problems will not be solved by bureaucrats looking for a quick fix and an election-day boost for their numbers. But they are problems that can be solved."

As part of determining what kind of assistance will help the students be successful in school, CTA is asking board members and leaders to conduct regional meetings before Dec. 7 to listen to members and gather their ideas. Coupled with information gleaned from the larger community, the findings will be compiled in a report that will help guide the effort to do something concrete to assist these schools.