Whether she's teaching a roomful of first-graders or testifying before state lawmakers in Sacramento, California Teachers Association President Barbara E. Kerr is a forceful and passionate advocate for students, public schools and the more than 335,000 members of CTA - the largest state teachers' organization in the country.

 

Her teaching and advocacy career spans more than three decades. Becoming the president of her local chapter just after the passage of Proposition 13, which began the drain of money away from public schools across the state, Kerr quickly became an expert on school finance issues. She served on the teacher task force that created and secured passage of Proposition 98, which guarantees that at least 40 percent of the state budget must go to education.

 

For several years, Kerr has served as the CTA liaison to the statewide Education Coalition, which has won several victories to keep state budget cuts as far away from the classroom as possible. She's also fought in Sacramento to protect smaller class sizes, provide additional resources for our schools of greatest need, improve teacher salaries, and free up more time for student learning by reducing the battery of state-mandated tests.

 

Highly regarded by elected officials on both sides of the political aisle, Kerr has led several CTA political campaigns. She coordinated efforts to pass the statewide school construction bond in 2002, worked to defeat two voucher initiatives, and helped elect hundreds of school board members and lawmakers who support public education and teachers. She worked on the National Education Association's committee that makes policy to fight school privatization, and helped found the California Alliance for Public Schools.

 

Committed to CTA's mission of maintaining a quality public education for all students, Kerr stresses the power of family involvement and provides tips to parents to help their children learn in a series of statewide radio ads. Her family involvement messages are printed in 11 different languages. And believing that strong local chapters build a strong CTA, Kerr chaired the CTA Crisis Assistance panel that provides financial help to chapters in difficult negotiations or representative elections, as well as contract enforcement activities.

 

A graduate of public schools, she attended elementary school in Southern California and then moved with her family to Hawaii, where she graduated from Waianae High School on Oahu. She received a bachelor's degree in English from the University of California at Riverside, and completed advanced work in education at California State University, Long Beach.

 

Kerr is a long-time first-grade teacher at Woodcrest Elementary School in Riverside, where she lives. She served as president of the Riverside City Teachers Association and the Associated Teachers of Metropolitan Riverside. As a member of the CTA Board of Directors, she represented thousands of teachers in Riverside and San Bernardino counties.

 

Contacting Barbara E. Kerr
California Teachers Association

P.O. Box 921, 1705 Murchison Drive

Burlingame, CA 94011-0921

Phone: (650) 552-5306

FAX: (650) 552-5007

E-mail: bkerr@cta.org

Barbara E. Kerr

President