Call for the Jobs Bill

Below is a letter that was sent to the House Appropriations committee by AFT as well as the chairman.

Thank you to all that have made contact regarding this important bill. It still has not gotten out of the committee yet. Please

call 866.608.6355, and it will connect you directly to your congress person's office. If we get this bill passed $23billion will be sent directly to backstop the deep cuts to education. Roughly $3-$4 billion will come to California.

Opinion Piece by Marty Hittelman

Opinion: As rising tide of inequality drowns education, don't blame teachers

The May revision of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget proposal includes an additional $2.5 billion reduction to public school funding, on top of $17 billion in cuts over the past two years.

The human cost of these cuts is staggering. Across the state, the ability of teachers to deliver quality education is being drastically compromised. Many thousands of teachers and support personnel will have to seek other employment. Class sizes are skyrocketing. School librarians and school nurses are becoming scarce. Fewer janitors must rotate classrooms to clean instead of cleaning nightly. Art, music and adult education programs are being eliminated.

Students don't get a second chance at second grade. They should have the attention of a teacher when they need it. But when there are 29 other kids who need attention, instead of 19, that becomes difficult. Any adult who has attempted to take care of this many children knows each additional child matters in the effort to maintain order, let alone ensure that learning can occur.

This spiraling catastrophe's origins predate the recession. The recession has simply provided a tipping point.

California is becoming a much more unequal place. The wealthiest 1 percent of Californians, who earn at least $400,000 per year, now take home one-quarter of the state's income. This compares with 15 years ago, when the same demographic group received 13 percent. But the poorest one-fifth of California's

families pay a higher percent of income (11 percent) in state income, sales and property taxes than the top 1 percent, who pay less than 8 percent.

Even as the rich got richer, they received tax cuts. They no longer pay their fair share for our schools and other public services — to the tune of billions of dollars each year that go into their pockets, not into education.

California's public school system was once the envy of the nation. It helped create a vibrant middle class. After years of financial neglect, it is now barely on life support. Only the extraordinary work of teachers and support staff keep it alive.

Yet the governor and some legislators are attempting to blame teachers for the ills of the schools, in an effort to direct public attention away from the political choices Sacramento made that created this unfolding disaster. The governor and his legislative allies loudly lament the layoffs of young teachers caused by their decisions to keep enormous tax loopholes intact for the rich and corporations, while blaming seniority provisions in teacher union contracts (and by implication, older teachers) for layoffs of the newest teachers.

Any good school needs a mix of younger and older teachers. The youngest teachers have energy and idealism. But they are still learning their craft. We also need experienced teachers to help the new ones become the best teachers by sharing lesson plans, teaching tips and advice about how to maintain discipline. We need to restore funding for programs that mentor the newcomers.

Seniority provisions in collective bargaining agreements did not cause the layoffs. Seniority provides transparent rules for workplace fairness, benefits younger teachers as they progress and allows them to envision careers in teaching. Before seniority rights existed, layoff decisions were based on arbitrary and inconsistent criteria, like who was closest to the principal.

The public should not be distracted by this blame game, and the state budget crisis should not provide an excuse to erode workplace rights. The real issue is whether we allow our elected officials to continue to enable wealthy individuals and corporations to dodge their fair share of taxes, or instead fund public education and vital social services at the level required for a healthy and prosperous California.

MARTY HITTELMAN is president of the California Federation of Teachers. He wrote this article for this newspaper.

The Educator's Voice

May's newsletter will be a brief publication. This month has been very busy for you and me. You want a local organization to be there for you right away when issues arise, and that is what you will get by joining La Joya AFT. Local office and staff to help you out.

2010 Teacher of the Year Honors Jean Decker

Jean Edith Brockley Decker was born in Rochester New York, the youngest child of Harvey and Phyllis Brockley.  Jean MUST have received her love of teaching from her parents who were both teachers!  After attending elementary school in Webster, New York and middle and high school in Williamson, New York, Jean attended college at Plattsburgh State.  She moved to the Albany area in 1986 and East Greenbush was fortunate enough to hire her in 1987 as a Math Lab teacher at Red Mill.  In 1988, she was hired as a First Grade teacher and taught that level for 16 years.  Jean now is enjoying her 6th year in Kindergarten in her beautiful corner room!

Besides being an AMAZING teacher, Jean has served on many district committees!  Jean has been an EGTA building Representative and the EGTA Benevolence Representative.  Jean serves as the elementary liaison to the District Calendar Committee, and as a member of the District Mentor Steering Committee, the Report Card Committee and the Curriculum Selection Committee.  At Red Mill, Jean has been a PTO rep, served on the Special Events Committee, has been a Building Level Specialist on numerous occasions, scheduling committees and hiring committees!  Basically, anywhere she is needed, Jean is THERE!

When she is not busy teaching and serving on these many committees, Jean enjoys hiking, gardening, kayaking and all things nature!  She loves to spend time at the family camp on Lake Ontario with her many families! We also can’t forget her AMAZING pottery talent!!!!

Jean shares her life with her husband, Kevin, her Stepson Adam, her mother Phyllis, her 101 year old grandmother Ruth Gragan, her brother Mark and sisters Joanne and Janice as well as many nieces and nephews!

We are PROUD to have this dedicated, multifaceted woman as our

2010 TEACHER OF THE YEAR!

Taking Action

There are two issues that you can take up that would help the education profession in these difficult times.

  • Contact your Congressman today to support the $23 billion for education jobs in the upcoming supplemental appropriations bill.  The AFT believes such funding could save up to 300,000 jobs in education this year.  Here is the AFT action center: www.unionvoice.org/campaign/jobs051910
  • Urge your representative to vote "yes" on the Promoting American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010.  This bill will close Wall Street tax loopholes and help put Americans back to work.

 

Analysis of Obama's Education Plan

One of President Obama's education initiatives ties student progress to teacher evaluation through a "value added" approach.  What that means is that evaluators would take into consideration differences among students and other factors most would consider out of the control of the teacher.

Now the National Research Council and the National Academy of Education both issue strong warnings against the reliability of using a value added approach and about using student testing data in general.

Here is a link to the article.

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