January 13, 2011
New Governor Making Changes
State Board Overhauled, Budget Announced
It was a quick start to the new year as Governor Jerry Brown took office on January 3. I and the other CTA officers attended the inauguration in Sacramento, where Brown made history as both the youngest and oldest governor to lead California. He talked honestly about the challenges facing the state, the need for everyone to join in the solutions and again recognized the importance of public education in building a better California.
Public School Educators, Including CTA Advocate, Named to State Board
Two days later, Gov. Brown proved his commitment to public schools by returning classroom educators to the State Board of Education, including CTA legislative advocate Patricia Rucker. Rucker is a former Sacramento County Teacher of the Year and a respected expert on pedagogy and education issues. Brown appointed seven new members to the State Board - all of them have ties to public schools and colleges. Stanford Professor Emeritus Michael Kirst will take over as State Board chair. Brown also announced he will not fill the position of Secretary of Education, something CTA has long advocated as the position is unnecessary and wastes taxpayer money on just more administrative bureaucracy.
State Budget Proposal Includes Revenues
Recognizing that the state's $28 billion deficit cannot be closed by cuts alone, Brown this week announced a balanced approach to solving our state's budget problems that includes much needed revenues. Brown has proposed a special election in June to simply extend the taxes that were approved in 2008 for five years. Still, the 2011-12 budget proposal includes some very painful cuts. We appreciate the governor's attempt to maintain current funding for K-12 schools, as he recognized that public education has borne the brunt of budget cuts the last three years with a loss of more than $18 billion. However, there are more than $2 billion in K-12 education funding deferrals and about $1.3 billion in cuts to higher education that will directly impact students. CSU and UC enrollment fees have seen triple-digit increases that are pricing many students out of college. And we all know that investing in education is key to improving our economy and creating jobs.
CTA legislative and financial experts are reviewing all the budget details and the proposed special election will be discussed at the State Council of Education meeting in February. Without the additional revenues, public schools and colleges are looking at another $2.3 billion in cuts.
Torlakson and Other Elected Leaders Take Office
I also had the pleasure of representing CTA members as Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson and other CTA-supported candidates were sworn into office. We met with Torlakson last week to discuss a variety of education issues facing the state and I can tell you that educators will have a voice at the table. He recognizes the hard work teachers are doing every day, plans regular visits to public schools, wants to revisit the state's testing and assessment system and has many concerns about the so-called education reforms being pushed down by the U.S. Department of Education. While in Sacramento, we also met with legislative leaders, including the new chair of the Senate Education Committee, Alan Lowenthal, who said it was time to end the rhetoric and teacher bashing.
QEIA Symposium Showcases Proven and Teacher-led Reform
More than 200 participants attended CTA's symposium, QEIA: Initial Successes from the Classroom. The symposium unveiled a new report by Vital Research highlighting the progress of lower-performing schools in the program and showcasing 10 lessons learned. For the 2009-10 school year alone, QEIA schools, on average, experienced nearly 50 percent higher growth on the California Academic Performance Index (API) than similar, non-QEIA schools. The report shows QEIA is helping to close student achievement gaps with African-American and Hispanic students, English Learners, and socioeconomically disadvantaged students. The report also shows that proven reforms like smaller class sizes, quality professional development, including educators in decisions and additional resources make a difference. Higher growth schools engaged in more teacher collaboration time to develop lesson plans and teacher training, create common assessments, and analyze student data. About 500 California schools are currently part of QEIA. CTA's radio campaign also highlighted the success of these schools.
Conferences and Scholarship Opportunities in the New Year
CTA is offering many professional development, scholarship and award opportunities in 2011. Check out the upcoming conferences, which include the Issues Conference this weekend, followed by the Good Teaching and Human Rights conferences. Special pre-conferences at Good Teaching this year will focus on the new Common Core State Standards and National Board Certification.
Deadlines for various CTA scholarships and awards are also fast approaching. From the César E. Chávez Memorial Education Awards Program to scholarships for CTA and Student CTA members who are continuing their education, there are many opportunities.