Topic: Elections

Article Elections 2016 Prop 55

The amazing election work of CFT members, officers and staff
Just days before General Election 2016

The election is just a couple days away, and we want to share with you the outstanding work that CFT members, leaders, and staff have done to ensure victory for Prop 55, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, and dozens of CFT’s state and local priorities.

Article Elections 2016 Prop 55

Prop 55 campaign gathers momentum with local events

In Orange County today, Andrew Tonkovich was dressed up as Uncle Sam, complete with pasted-on white beard. He clutched a thick sheaf of Prop 55 flyers in his hand, just a few steps away from a table with more literature, buttons, posters, voter registration forms, and an urn of free coffee, which he explained was to “stimulate” conversation about Prop 55.

California Teacher Elections 2016 Prop 58 English learners

Yes on Prop 58: Return language instruction that helps students succeed
Reverse Proposition 227 after 18 years of bad policy

In 1998, Proposition 227 essentially ended bilingual instruction in California schools. It forced English learners into one year of “sheltered English immersion,” hindering their ability to learn academic English and achieve at grade level. Many continued in those classes or were then placed in regular classrooms to sink or swim. The CFT strongly opposed Proposition 227.

Article Prop 55 Elections 2016

Campaign kick-off for Prop 30 extension, now Proposition 55

On May 11, in front of Sacramento’s California Middle School, leaders and members of unions and community groups stood before a large group of reporters and announced that the coalition they belonged to had just turned in more than a million signatures to place the “California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act” (now Proposition 55) on the November state ballot.

California Teacher Elections 2016

Primary Election 2016: CFT endorses proven leader Kamala Harris for Senate seat
California’s Attorney General brings educator values to a crowded field

With the retirement of Sen. Barbara Boxer after 24 years as a progressive champion, Californians are heading to the polls to fill the first open U.S. Senate seat in decades.

And the ballot is crowded: 34 candidates have filed to replace Boxer, although the clear front-runner is Democrat Kamala Harris.

Article Elections 2014 SPI

Californians vote to protect public education
CFT member action keys Torlakson victory and local election victories

On an election day when much of the country swung to the right, California solidified its standing as the progressive bulwark of the nation. Every single statewide office went to the CFT-endorsed candidate. And the main projectile launched by anti-union forces at public education — the billionaire-backed Marshall Tuck campaign for state superintendent of public instruction — went down to defeat.

California Teacher Elections 2014 SPI

Torlakson has the courage to face false reform efforts
State Superintendent has proven leadership and classroom experience

Her voice swelling with hometown pride, elementary school teacher Melinda Dart says, “Tom Torlakson was a student in our Daly City schools — and he went on to become a teacher and state superintendent of all schools.”

During his early years, Torlakson’s mother worked as a school secretary and his father as a welder. After high school, Torlakson attended San Mateo Community College before entering the Merchant Marine and serving in Vietnam. Upon his return, he earned a bachelor’s degree in history, a master’s degree in education and a teaching credential at UC Berkeley.

California Teacher Elections 2014 Up Front SPI

November 4 is our opportunity to elect an ally and defeat a self-appointed reformer

By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President

The CFT’s priorities in the November 4 General Election are straightforward: Reelect Tom Torlakson Superintendent of Public Instruction, elect Betty Yee for State Controller and pass Propositions 45 and 47.

In the remaining weeks before the election, we need all of our members to get involved with their local unions and their central labor councils. We have to approach this election as if the future of public education depends on it, because it does.

California Teacher Elections 2014

Vote June 3 Primary Election: Educators work to reelect Tom Torlakson
Educators work to reelect Tom Torlakson

The Primary Election on June 3 includes a number of candidates, but no races are more important for educators than those for governor and superintendent of public instruction.

Gov. Brown partnered with CFT to pass Proposition 30 in November 2012, providing new resources for strapped schools and colleges after seven years of devastating cuts.

California Teacher Elections 2013

Educators score local ballot box victories
Coalition building proves critical to electoral success

“We phone-banked until we couldn’t talk any more,” reported Pamela Ford, president of the Antelope Valley College Federation of Classified Employees, in describing how her local union worked with campus faculty and community allies to elect Barbara Gaines, a middle school principal, to the board of trustees in this conservative high desert region.