Join us on Wednesday, September 9 for a Prop. 15 virtual rally and voter outreach event

On Wednesday, September 9 at 5:30 p.m., you are invited to join fellow educators, classified professionals, students, and school supporters for a virtual rally and voter outreach event to pass Prop. 15. If passed in November, Prop. 15 will bring in $12 billion a year for our schools and local communities by closing corporate commercial property tax loopholes.

With California schools and community colleges facing a $20 billion deficit in the coming year, passing Prop. 15 will be critical to ensure our schools receive the funding they deserve and to avoid deep and painful cuts for years to come.

Are you ready to help? Please sign up today for the September 9 virtual rally. CFT’s Senior Vice President Lacy Barnes will be a featured speaker at the event!

California Legislature comes up short on revenue, but other CFT priorities make it to the Governor’s desk

Despite the looming $20 billion deficit faced by schools next year, this week the California Legislature failed to pass CFT’s two priority revenue bills before the August 31 deadline. AB 1977 (Bonta) would have imposed an annual tax of 0.4% on individuals with a net worth in excess of $30 million, raising $7.5 billion per year. AB 1953 (Santiago) would have increased personal income taxes on people with an annual income over $1 million dollars, raising $6.8 billion annually. The failure of the Legislature to act makes it even more important that we pass Prop. 15 this November.

Despite the setbacks on revenue, several important bills supported by CFT were passed by the Legislature and are now on the Governor’s desk. Among the most important were the following:

AB 376 (Stone) – Also known as the California Student Borrower Bill of Rights, this bill will create new rights for all California borrowers, and establish special protections for military families, nurses, teachers, and other public service workers.

AB 3308 (Gabriel) – This bill will make it easier for school districts to build affordable housing for educators and classified staff on district-owned property.

AB 841 (Ting) – This bill directs state energy efficiency funding to upgrade heating, air conditioning, and ventilation (HVAC) systems in public schools, prioritizing schools in underserved communities and those near freeways or industrial facilities.

AB 331 (Medina) – This bill would require that all high school students pass a one-semester ethnic studies course to graduate.

AB 3088 (Chiu) – This bill, already signed by the Governor, extends protections against evictions by five months for California renters facing financial hardship because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Higher education faculty taking part in #ScholarStrike September 8 and 9

Starting Tuesday, September 8 higher education faculty across the country are taking part in a two-day action in support of racial justice under the hashtag #ScholarStrike. While some tenured faculty will actively cancel their courses during the two days, others are being encouraged to participate as they are able – by offering solidarity, sharing teach-in resources with their students, and more.

For more information about the action, read this blog post by the professors organizing the days of action. To join the discussion online, check out #ScholarStrike on Twitter.

UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz to join our weekly Facebook broadcast today at 3:00 p.m.

UTLA President Cecily Myart-Cruz will join CFT President Jeff Freitas on his weekly Facebook broadcast today at 3:00 p.m. Jeff and Cecily will discuss her historic election as the first woman of color to lead UTLA, the second largest educators union in the country, and how her union has continued to build on the progress they made during their January 2019 strike.

To tune in, please head to the CFT Facebook page today at 3:00 p.m.

Happy Labor Day!