Milpitas Teachers Rally for Tax Extensions

Teachers throughout the state are participating in actions this week to call on legislators to extend current taxes now–to avoid major cuts to public school budgets.

Milpitas teachers will show their solidarity on the sidewalk in front of the Red Lobster on Calaveras Boulevard on Thursday from 3:30-5:30 p.m.

Other events in the Bay Area and Sacramento are as follows:

MONDAY, MAY 9 

Sacramento:  11:45 a.m. news conference and interfaith prayer service and silent procession on May 9 to launch State of Emergency week in Cathedral Square in front of Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, 1017 11^th at K Street, Sacramento, 95814.  Hundreds of  educators, clergy, parents, public safety, community organizations and public workers from across the state will march in silence to the Capitol, walk the perimeter and go inside to drop off materials to each legislator’s office that highlight the school district cuts in their representative district. At 1:30 p.m., participants will attend the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee hearing in Room 126.  

San Francisco: The Bay Area kickoff is at 7 a.m. May 9, when members of the United Educators of San Francisco will rally at the State PUC building, corner of McAllister and Van Ness, then march a few blocks to the school district office at 555 Franklin. There, the superintendent and UESF President Dennis Kelly will speak, then 65 educators will get on the chartered bus in the parking lot to head to Sacramento to take part in sit-ins at the Capitol.  

TUESDAY, May 10 

Sacramento:  9:30 a.m. on May 10 at Capitol (South Steps). Parents from Books Not Bars, PTA and other organizations will join educators in a news conference calling for lawmakers to protect our children from deeper cuts in education, health care and other programs that they need to ensure their future.  Immediately following the news conference parents will distribute information to lawmakers outlining the high cost of incarceration vs. education. 
Walnut Creek: 4 p.m. “Main Street” news conference with CTA Vice President-elect Eric Heins, and Contra Costa County parents, teachers, administrators about state cuts being a Main Street issue. Location is in front of City Hall, 1666 N Main St, Walnut Creek, 94596.  

Bay Area: Many CTA chapters are doing “grade-ins” at several malls from 4-6 p.m. May 10 to show how much work teachers do after school and to reach out to the public about the state budget crisis. Malls include Corte Madera Town Center in Marin County, Stoneridge in Pleasanton, Bayfair in San Leandro, South Shore in Alameda, the Hub mall in Fremont, and three San Jose malls: Eastridge, Oakridge and Valley Fair. 

WEDNESDAY, May 11: California Day of the Teacher

Sacramento: 1 p.m. news conference May 11 at Capitol (West Steps) for California Day of the Teacher event with Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, Teachers of the Year from around the state, and other educators.  Teachers will then honor firefighters, health care workers, bus drivers, security workers, and others for the hard work they do in our communities and present them “thank you” certificates. Strong visual will be 400 empty chairs, each representing 100 educators who have been laid off in the last three years.  Immediately following, educators will deliver Blue Books with a writing assignment to each lawmaker’s office asking them: “How will you solve the budget crisis by June 15?” 
San Francisco: CTA President David Sanchez will be discussing the State of Emergency campaign on the Ronn Owens KGO Radio talk show May 11 from 11 a.m. to noon, in the KGO studios at 900 Front St., San Francisco, 94111. He will be available for interviews immediately after the end of the call-in show.  

San Francisco: CTA President David A. Sanchez will join San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and San Francisco Unified Superintendent Carlos Garcia in honoring 10 teachers of the month from San Francisco Unified on California Day of the Teacher. The ceremony is at about 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at homeplate at ATT Park before the 7:15 San Francisco Giants game. The monthly teacher award program is a joint effort of the mayor’s office, the San Francisco Education Fund, and United Educators of San Francisco. The honored teachers will wear jerseys with pink lettering as a reminder of the more than 20,000 California educators who received preliminary pink slips this spring. 

THURSDAY, May 12 

Sacramento: From 9-11 a.m.  May 12 at the Capitol (location is TBA), a “Revenue Tax Fairness Teach-In” will be held with Jean Ross, California Budget Project and Stephen Rhoads, Strategic Education Services.  

Sacramento: At 11:30 a.m. on May 12, in Assembly and Senate Gallery, Day of the Teacher resolutions will be read on the floor and presented to CTA President David A. Sanchez and California Federation of Teachers Secretary-Treasurer Jeff Freitas. 

San Jose: 6-8 p.m. The CTA Berryessa chapter is hosting a town hall-style meeting about dire school cuts and need for more revenue from 6-8 p.m. May 12 in the Berryessa Library, 3355 Noble Ave., San Jose, 95132. Parents, public safety workers and community leaders joining in.  

Fremont: 6:30 p.m. town hall May 12 meeting on dire need for more school revenues, held by Fremont Unified District Teachers Association and school district. Event is at offices of Fremont Unified School District, 4210 Technology Drive, Fremont, 94538.

FRIDAY, MAY 13: Regional rallies 

Sacramento rally: Huge State of Emergency Coalition Rally from 4-6 p.m. on South Steps of Capitol to save our schools and save our state.  Entertainment starts at 4 p.m., and speakers are from 5-6 p.m. Speakers will include CTA President David A. Sanchez and Art Pulaski, executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, and representatives from the State Education Coalition, and many other labor and community organizations.  CTA will be streaming live video of this May 13 rally beginning at 4:45 p.m. at www.castateofemergency.com.  

San Francisco rally: Huge 4-6 p.m. regional rally May 13 in front of City Hall in the Civic Center Plaza. Music provided by Hayward Unified music teachers and their “Angry Tired Teachers Band.” The saxophone player, Bryan Holbrook, is pink slipped. Speakers include Carol Kocivar, president-elect of the State PTA; Alicia Sandoval, Parent Leadership Action Network; Cathy Campbell of the California Federation of Teachers; and pink-slipped Bay Area educators, including Union City teacher Quyen Tran, who is eight months pregnant.