CA's Grassroots Electoral Alliance wins demands in State Budget Battle

The spin of the progressive labor-initiated Alliance for a Better California is that they have leveraged their grassroots electoral power from the 2005 successful battle against Arnold's special elections into today's announcement of the Governor's New Budget Deal with CTA [California Teachers Association] and other education advocates.

VOICES OF TEACHERS, NURSES, FIREFIGHTERS AND EVERYDAY CITIZENS ARE HEARD WITH $5 BILLION FUNDING ANNOUNCEMENT FOR EDUCATION

On the heels of an overwhelming victory for working families in November’s Special Election, today California’s teachers, nurses, firefighters and other concerned citizens scored another big win with a budget announcement that included $5 billion in funds for California’s schools.

Throughout the Special Election campaign, the Alliance for a Better California called on Governor Schwarzenegger to repay the billions he owed California’s schools. After voters rejected the Governor’s damaging agenda, the coalition of teachers, nurses, police officers and firefighters remained together to ensure that the concerns of everyday Californians, like funding public education, remained in the forefront.

In his Choosing Democracy Blog, Sacramento State University Professor and social justice activist Duane Campbell has posted the CTA statement which stresses the impact of the budget deal on low income communities and in urban school districts like San Francisco, Oakland and Los Angeles.

“This is a good thing for our schools and community colleges throughout California,” said Barbara E. Kerr, president of the California Teachers Association. “Having all the money owed to our schools under Proposition 98 and the governor’s agreement of 2004 restored to our students is the news we’ve been waiting for. It is especially good for those students who live in high-poverty areas and who do not speak English as a first language. Using some of the repayment money to improve learning and instruction in our schools of greatest need will help us close the achievement gap.”