Executive Director’s Report

My name is Alice Clement, and I will be your interim Executive Director from the California Teachers Association for about the next six weeks until a new executive director is chosen and is able to come on board.

Having previously written about CTA's goals and how CTA works for you, this month I would like to address the automatic benefits you receive as a member of CTA/NEA/GTA. Members are automatically eligible to participate in these valuable term life insurance programs at no additional cost.

The California Teachers Association’s rigorously democratic structure gives members the ultimate voice in what CTA does. You and your colleagues elect the 803 member State Council of Education, CTA’s highest governing body. State Council, which meets four times a year, sets all policy for the organization. BTA’s elected State Council representatives are: Bridget Highfill, Disney Elementary and Jerry Mullady, Burroughs High School.

As an employee of the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the Executive Director of both the Glendale Teachers Association and the Burbank Teachers Association, I'd like to introduce members to the goals of CTA.

Following is important information from Beverly Tucker, CTA's Chief Counsel. It is an excerpt from a June 2001 article in the California Educator.

With the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), first implemented in 1965 and renamed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) by President Bush in 2001, scheduled to take place in the coming months, CTA and the Burbank Teachers Association have a chance to persuade Congress to erase, rewrite and reauthorize! We need to erase the punitive and onerous provisions of the law so that it improves student learning and helps schools rather than punishes them.

This week, CTA and the California Nurses Association launched a statewide radio ad campaign exposing the hypocrisy of the governor calling teachers and nurses "special interests" as he rakes in millions from big businesses. Following is the text of a joint news release.

The California Teachers Association is mobilizing to oppose plans announced on January 5th by Governor Schwarzenegger that would gut Proposition 98's school funding protections.

By Denise Jennex This month Governor Schwarzeneggar gave his State of the State speech and his 2005-06 state budget proposal. While it is still very early in the budget year this gives a glimpse of where the state is headed and where public education must fight to maintain our funding. Here are a few areas [...]

By Denise Jennex Below is a chart of the health benefits contributions from the District and out-of pocket cost to our employees for the last four years. The chart shows what we are currently paying out-of-pocket for health benefits as compared to what we would be paying out of pocket if we had stayed in [...]