“Banded together we are taking on the issues one after the other…”
–Lauren Pomrantz, Santa Cruz first grade teacher, in one of the new CTA ads.
BURLINGAME – This week the California Teachers Association launched “Our Fight,” a series of television advertisements in media markets from San Diego to Eureka designed to highlight the stories of teachers across the state and draw attention to the need for more school funding for our classrooms and communities.
“One out of every eight children in the United States lives in California. What we do in our public schools matters. We are home to diverse communities in our state – but in every community you will find overwhelming support for investment in our public schools,” said CTA President David Goldberg. “California is also home to immense wealth. We are the fifth largest economy in the world, yet we are failing to fully staff our schools, pay our teachers a living wage, and secure the resources every student deserves. At CTA we refuse to see a future for our students that is defined by years of inadequate funding and cuts. Students and educators deserve more resources now and for years to come – not less. We’re going to trumpet that message that funding education is critical to our students’ and our state’s future.”
The ads share the stories of six CTA members in various positions and school districts throughout the state, showing that one thing they have in common is pride in being a union educator.
The ads began airing July 29. Each of the six, 30-second commercials, as well as longer features for social media, are built around a teacher talking about issues directly related to their classrooms. The advertisements were filmed on location in the CTA member’s school or surrounding community.
One ad focuses on Lauren Pomrantz, a Santa Cruz First Grade teacher who loves her job, believes her students are at a “magical age,” and regularly introduces them to the study of science in her classroom. Pomrantz discusses the teacher layoffs that have hit school districts across California at the end of last school year and the resulting increase in class size.
“… With a loss of funding we have to fill our classes to maximum capacity,” Pomrantz says in the ad. She adds that in her district, “dozens of teachers have been laid off.”
According to EdSource, 100 California school districts issued pink slips to teachers in the spring of 2024, generally citing revenue shortfalls as the reason. The majority of the 2,000+ layoff notices were rescinded this past Spring thanks to local and statewide union organizing efforts. While districts rescinded notices this year, it’s clear California does not have a stable revenue system in place to protect schools from future cuts and layoffs to educators across the state. The boom-and-bust cycle of California’s state budget has dire impacts on recruiting and retaining highly qualified teachers for California students.
It’s not just teachers who are missing from California’s schools. In another ad released by CTA, LAUSD teacher Noriko Nakada laments the lack of campus aides and social workers at her Los Angeles middle school.
Other ads introduce dedicated teachers such as San Diego middle school teacher Khamphet Pease who uses her robotics lab to spark student interest in future careers in technology. In the video Khamphet acknowledged the critical role of her union in passing a local school bond to fund the robotics lab and other school site improvements.
In a similar manner, Salinas elementary school teacher Oscar Ramos was able to organize afterschool programs at his school site to help students, most of whose parents are migrant farm workers, to better understand mathematics and reading. Through the union, Ramos and his colleagues also have successfully fought to limit the use of dangerous pesticides harmful to children’s health in fields adjacent to their school and other Salinas schools. Those fields are now reserved for organic farming.
The campaign also delivers the message that “teachers are heroes.” They feature teachers who join together to advocate for their students, for better school funding, and who go the extra mile for the children in the classrooms. As Pomrantz says on camera, “Banded together we’re taking on the issues one after the other.”
The ads also highlight the challenges that teachers in California are facing. In her 30-second spot, Los Angeles high school teacher Gina Gray talks about struggling to make ends meet. She describes how she finds it necessary to tutor and deliver groceries to earn enough income to stay in the classroom.
The high cost of living in most California communities, combined with threatened layoffs, salaries that aren’t keeping pace with other fields requiring a college education, and burnout caused by large classes and a lack of classroom resources, is making it difficult to both retain and recruit teachers in California. According to Newsweek, California, along with Nevada, Utah and Florida have both the worst class size ratios and the most difficulty attracting new teachers. It’s stunning that last year, at the start of the school year, a quarter of the San Francisco Unified School District’s teaching positions were left unfilled.
In many districts, CTA members with years of classroom experience are helping to reduce teacher turnover by mentoring new teachers. This is addressed in an ad featuring Stockton middle school teacher Angela Pacual.
“We’re proud of our union and the fight we’re taking on,” said Goldberg. “No other organization in California has the combined reach and resources that CTA has to advocate for better schools and a better future for California’s students. We have an obligation to take action every day to improve the lives of our students and their families and our broader communities.”
In May, CTA also took to the airwaves to challenge proposed hits to funding in the California budget. Through its public campaign and other outreach, the union was successful in preventing the loss of funding and preserving Proposition 98 school-funding guarantees. If it hadn’t succeeded, California’s schools could have lost as much as $12 billion in state funding.
CTA is encouraging its members, parents and public-school supporters to join its campaign by registering at www.CTA.org/ourfight. CTA’s “Our Fight” advertisements and additional information about the campaign also can be viewed at www.CTA.org/ourfight.
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