Q: How Do You Celebrate Education Week? A: Protest!

By Matt Coker, Tuesday, Nov. 17 2009 @ 11:43AM

Wooooo! It's American Education Week. Par-tay!

Um, not so fast. As part of the California Teachers Association's "Stand Up for Schools" campaign, instructors statewise are choosing to commemorate Education Week by warning of the harm being done to students by massive state budget cuts.

That harm includes the elimination of 20,000 teaching jobs.

The cuts have caused classroom sizes to soar, campuses to close and art, music and vocational programs to disappear, notes the 325,000-member CTA. "It's not business as usual in our classrooms any more," says union president David A. Sanchez. "American Education Week is a time to stand up for our public schools and to draw the line against additional cuts."

That time is noon today in front of the Newport-Mesa Unified School District Adult Education Center, 2045 Meyer Place, Costa Mesa, where Vicki Soderberg, president of the Capistrano United Educators Association, and Michael Stone and Jim Rodgers, members of the CTA Board of Directors, lead Orange County's protest against the cuts.

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David Dickey says:

How much money have you donated? Oh, you prefer the money come from me, right?

Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 17 2009 @ 2:17PM

truths says:

The CTA and union leaders are a disgrace! The teachers unions allow public school administrators to collect $100,000 plus yearly salaries, leave with exhorbitant pensions for the rest of their lives, move to another school district to collect a 2nd pension, and then REFUSE to demand accountability for the administrators' inability to manage public schools in the interests of all children.

Does anyone really believe that California's education budget cuts are the fault of legislators? ABSOLUTELY NOT! The teachers' unions do not represent public school administrators BUT school administrators do all the dirty political work for the unions by violating the civil rights of children, their parents and dedicated teachers, without accountability for busting the school system to pieces.

Public school superintendents spend so much money on attorneys and court costs because they violate multiple federal and state labor laws, without accountability. Has anyone every heard of a public school administrator in OC get fired for negligence, failure to protect a child or incompetence? If so, that administrator just moves to another public school district and commits the same mismanagement mistakes over and over. The teacher unions look the other way... and evil politics continue.

While the teacher unions and public school administrators are building their personal financial portfolios, innocent children are punished because of budget cuts.

SHAME ON YOU CTA!!!!! Clean your house and stop wasting valuable dollars that could be used for educating children

Posted On: Tuesday, Nov. 17 2009 @ 8:56PM