Fabulous Friday's return to the SMFC School District

Join SMETA and CSEA for an afternoon of bowling on Friday January 25th from 4 PM to 6 PM at Bel Mateo Bowl in San Mateo. Reconnect with colleagues and friends and make new ones over beers, sodas, snacks and of course bowling.  You might even win a nice prize or two.  RSVP to your site SMETA rep by January 16th.  Bowling is $10 cash for 2 games of bowling and amazingly stylish shoes.  This event is sponsored by SMETA but we want to welcome our CSEA friends as well.  Get out there and gather some friends and make a team or come as you are and we will put you on a team with some wonderful people. We hope to see you there! 

Bel Mateo is located at 4332 Olympic Ave, in San Mateo

Proposition 30

Hey California voters, if you are wondering which proposition to vote for to fund public education, teachers would like you to vote YES on Proposition 30. We feel it covers many of the issues that face our underfunded schools.

Let's go for a walk

Maybe you'd rather hit the pavement and hand out literature instead of making phone calls. With this beautiful fall weather we're having why not walk around the neighborhood with your friends and family handing out literature letting people know how important passing Prop 30 and defeating Prop 32 is to public education in this state.
Precinct walking always meet at the CTA Regional Resource Center RRC 333 Hatch Drive, Foster City across the parking lot from the DO.
Enjoy complimentary coffee, donuts, snacks, and lunch while you're at it. So if you have an hour of time or more, come on down.

10:00 AM to 3:00 PM

Saturday, October 13
Saturday, October 20
Sunday, October 21
Saturday, October 27
Saturday, November 3

Contact SMETA at 650 558-9690

So many options it's hard to say no

Phone banking is really easy. You basically call other CTA members. The goal is to just make sure all our past and present members know about two issues affecting education, voting No on Prop 32 and Yes on Prop 30. You are given a phone, a list of names and numbers, and a super easy script to follow for when someone answers or when you get voicemail. You call the numbers and keep track of the data. When you are done or have to go, you turn all your stuff in and say goodbye. Bring some colleagues along and have fun with it. Got an hour or two? Every little bit helps.

Tu, Wed, Th October 9, 10, 11
Wed, Th October 17-18
Tu, Wed, Th October 23-25
Tu October 30
Th November 1
Monday November 1

Shifts start at 3:30 and 5:00.
Contact SMETA office for more info 650 558-9690

Talking points on Prop 32

1. It singles out middle class workers and their unions for unfair restraints on political spending while providing loopholes for big business
2. Says it stops corporations and unions from collecting political funds through payroll deductions but corporations usually use profits for this
3. Corporations already outspend unions 15 to 1
4. Will prevent educators from using their political voice to protect students, improve schools, and colleges, and enhance the teaching profession
5. CTA would be curtailed from being a strong advocate for school funding, collective bargaining, class size reduction, or taking a stand on local school board races and measures.

Phone Banking

Calling all teachers! September 19th is our first night of phone banking for Campaign 2012. Meet at the RRC (building next to the District Office) from 4 to 7:00 PM.
Can't make it on the 19th? Save the date for September 26th for our second night of phone banking. Same place and time.
Remember, we will be contacting our fellow CTA members to make sure they understand what's at stake if Proposition 30 doesn't pass and if Proposition 32 does pass. We all have something to lose here. If we all pitch in just a little we can do great things.

Vote NO on Proposition 32!

As we become bombarded with election commercials and flyers in our mailboxes I want to talk to you about an extremely important proposition that would greatly affect all union workers in California.  You might wonder what unions have actually done for you.  Let me assure you, unions have done plenty.  Not only have we been able to define what is a work week,  we have maternity leave, family leave, retirement, sick leave, competitive salaries, job security, due process, seniority, and plenty of other rights that were once non-existent until negotiated.  Well proposition 32 is a deceptive plan to silence unions for good.  Take a look at what has happened in Wisconsin if you don't believe me. Here is a link to a short video called Voices of WEAC on the aftermath of union workers in Wisconsin.  http://youtu.be/9hMM16w9vhs Teachers there are given guidelines of how to dress and behave in and outside of the workplace or suffer the consequence of getting fired.  There is no longer seniority. Anyone can be fired without just cause.  To cut corners our administrators could just fire the highest paid member, no questions asked.  Can you imagine how awful that would be?  If proposition 32 passes we will no longer be allowed to even talk about political action or have a say in protecting our students, schools, and profession. All unions would suffer the same consequence.  That's nurses, firefighters, police officers and even farm worker union members.  All unions would be silenced. 
    So why is this happening?  Who is behind this?  Large corporations would like you to believe that they are protecting people against "special interest" groups.  We are all special interest groups.  Ours is education.  Theirs seems to be filling their pockets and not paying their fair share in taxes.  They would like you to believe this proposition would stop corporations and unions from collecting political funds through payroll deductions.  Well here's the loophole.  Corporations rarely use payroll deduction to collect money for political action.  They have deep pockets and historically pull money from their profits or they can create a SuperPac.  So they would be able to continue supporting any political cause they want while we would not. Yes our union uses payroll deduction but it is voluntary.  Any one of our members can choose to not have a part of their union dues taken out for political purposes.  While unions would be silenced, corporations would be able to continue to put their money toward any cause they want. Corporations already outspend us 15 to 1.  There has been a growing urge from the right side to silence unions for years now.  They know we might not have the money but we have people.  We have more voting power than they have money to fight us.  Please please please educate yourself on prop 32 and tell 5 people about it.  We need to work harder than ever in the next few months.  You might not have gone into teaching to be an activist but unfortunately we must.   This is our profession.  We must fight to protect it and the students we serve. Your governing council rep will be getting you information and letting you know how you can help.  You can also learn more from cta.org/campaign2012.