Congratulations to former 17th District President Colleen You on her election as 2011-13 President-elect! Colleen will automatically accede to the position of State PTA President for the 2013-15 term. Congratulations also to former DP Kathryn Cross on her election to be State PTA’s Vice President of Communications.

• President: Carol Kocivar (automatically assumes office)
• President-Elect: Colleen You
• Vice President for Leadership Services: Sue King
• Vice President for Programs & Member Services: Maggie Steele
• Vice President for Communications: Kathryn Cross
• Vice President for Convention: Justine Fischer
• Vice President for Community Concerns: Kathy Rabun
• Vice President for Education: Debbie Look
• Vice President for Parent Involvement: Brian Bonner
• Vice President for Health: Linda Mayo
• Vice President for Membership: Patty Christiansen
• Secretary: Laurie Koch
• Treasurer: Kathy Stevenson
• Parliamentarian: Shirley Gold (appointed)
• Director of Legislation: Patty Scripter (appointed)

The 2011-13 Board of Directors will be installed at the Convention’s Fifth General Meeting on Sunday, May 1.

Cross-posted from the State PTA Press Release:

Governor Brown joins thousands to connect for kids at kickoff for annual PTA convention

Governor Jerry Brown today joined thousands of parents and PTA members from across the state on Thursday, April 28, for the start of the 112th Annual California State PTA Convention at the Long Beach Convention Center.

“Schools are the future, and you are the voice of those schools, so we’ve got to hear from you. You have the credibility,” Brown told the delegates. “It’s going to have to be the voice of parents and teachers and, yes, even the school students themselves, to awaken the conscience of California to our true path forward, which is to invest in the future, not steal from it.”

Jo A.S. Loss, president of the California State PTA, said the association’s members clearly support protecting education funding.

“Our nearly 1 million members have said loudly and clearly that adequate school funding is their top priority,” Loss said. “They are deeply concerned about the massive budget cuts that education and children’s programs have already absorbed in the past few years. We will continue speaking up for a balanced budget solution that will prevent deeper cuts that would affect children.”

The PTA has been focused on raising awareness about the devastating impact of state budget cuts on children. The association recently launched a “Cut$ Hurt Kids” campaign, supported by a Facebook page. Thousands of PTA members have already contacted legislators urging them to reject an all-cuts budget and to protect funding for education and other crucial children’s services.

The annual convention, attended by about 3,000 PTA members and delegates, runs through Sunday morning. It is the premier training event for the association, which is the largest and oldest children’s advocacy group in the state. Delegates here will map out the path ahead for the association, from electing officers to adopting resolutions that guide advocacy and public education efforts.

“California State PTA leaders and volunteers make a difference in the lives of children every day. Our mission is to educate our members to empower them to become advocates for California’s children and families,” President Loss told attendees during the opening meeting. “It takes a daily effort of our passionate and committed volunteers to ensure the sustainability of such a valuable and powerful ally for every child that speaks with one voice.”

During the opening meeting of the convention, attendees were also greeted by Charles “Chuck” Saylors, president of the National PTA.

“When one child lands in prison and poverty because our education system has failed them, it is a tragedy,” Saylors said. “When a million children a year fall into despair because we are not providing them the high-quality education they deserve, it is an embarrassment for our nation and ourselves. If we continue to deny our children the resources they need, we are condemning ourselves to futures of despair.”

Saylors then spoke about the way PTA can remedy this bleak reality.

“Our children need effective advocates for their wellness and academic success,” he said. “They need caring adults skilled at building alliances that support improving public education. Most of all, they need an army of passionate defenders working tireless on their behalf in schools, communities, statehouses and Capitol Hill. Our children need PTA. What we do is transformative. When PTA engages more parents in education, our kids will succeed in school and in life.”

• President: Susan Bell
• 1st VP – Programs & Convention: VACANT
• 2nd VP – Leadership: VACANT
• 3rd VP – Membership & Member Services: Myra Gruschka
• 4th VP – Communications: Ellen Fitzpatrick
• 5th VP – Education & Health: Colette Rudd
• 6th VP – Advocacy & Community Concerns: Keiko Smith
• Secretary: Kathryn Cross
• Treasurer: Bill Etling
• Financial Secretary: Emily Sarver
• Auditor: Napoleon Garcia
• Historian: Elizabeth Luaulu

Also, these chairmanship appointments have been made for the 2011-13 term:

• Legislation Coordinator: Deborah Kemper
• Reflections Chairman: Christine Semenza
• Founder’s Day Luncheon Chairman: Lori McBride

A special thanks to all of the dedicated volunteers whom have stepped up to serve 17th District for the next two years on our Board of Managers. The board will be installed at our “Spotlight on PTA” meeting on May 16, and will assume office on July 1.

There are still a number of open positions for the 2011-13 Board of Managers, including Vice President of Programs & Convention, Vice President of Leadership, Parliamentarian, Student Involvement Chairman, Superintendents Luncheon Chairman, Honorary Service Awards Chairman, May Event Chairman, Student Aid/Community Schools Chairman, Seventeena Editor, and Webmaster. If you are interested in filling any of these positions or offering any other volunteer experience to 17th District next term, please contact Susan Bell, President-Elect.

California State PTA’s Nominating Committee Announces Slate of Officers

We are also really excited to share the news that two of 17th District’s past presidents have been nominated to positions on the State PTA Board of Directors for next term. Past DP Kathryn Cross (2005-07) has been nominated for Vice President of Communications, and past DP Colleen You (2003-05) has been nominated to serve as State PTA President-Elect in the 2011-13 term. If elected, she would then automatically assume the office of State PTA President in 2013-15.

We want to congratulate both Kathryn and Colleen on their nominations to these positions on the State Board of Directors. Their election will take place at the State PTA Convention in Long Beach on Thursday, April 28.

The full slate from State PTA’s Nominating Committee follows:

• President: Carol Kocivar (automatically assumes office)
• President-Elect: Colleen You
• Vice President for Leadership Services: Sue King
• Vice President for Programs & Member Services: Maggie Steele
• Vice President for Communications: Kathryn Cross
• Vice President for Convention: Justine Fischer
• Vice President for Community Concerns: Kathy Rabun
• Vice President for Education: Debbie Look
• Vice President for Parent Involvement: Brian Bonner
• Vice President for Health: Linda Mayo
• Vice President for Membership: Patty Christiansen
• Secretary: Laurie Koch
• Treasurer: Kathy Stevenson
• Parliamentarian: Shirley Gold (appointed)
• Director of Legislation: Patty Scripter (appointed)

We would like to thank the many PTA volunteers who signed the petition to put the “Local Control of Local Classrooms Funding Act” on the statewide ballot in November 2010. We know that many of you worked very hard to collect signatures from your fellow PTA members, neighbors and family members. We truly appreciate your efforts.

Unfortunately, we were not successful in qualifying the initiative for this year’s ballot. We fell far short of the signatures needed. The bulk of the signatures came from San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, Contra Costa County and Los Angeles County.

Despite being unsuccessful in our original goal, this effort did demonstrate that there are thousands of voters in California interested in efforts to support their local schools. We will continue to advocate on this issue. Senator Joe Simitian’s SCA 6 is a bill currently in the Legislature, that would reduce the threshold for local school parcel taxes from the current two-thirds to 55 percent. PTA has a Support position on this bill and will continue to work with the Senator’s office, should the bill move forward.

Once again, we would like to express our sincere appreciation to our many members for their support and tremendous efforts on this issue. Although our advocacy efforts do not always succeed in the short term, we know that they are never wasted, as we are building a base of support for this issue in the longer term.

A historic lawsuit was filed today against the State of California requesting that the current education finance system be declared unconstitutional and that the state be required to establish a school finance system that provides all students an equal opportunity to meet the academic goals set by the State.

The case, Robles-Wong, et al. v. State of California, was filed in the Superior Court of California in Alameda County. Specifically, the suit asks the court to compel the State to align its school finance system—its funding policies and mechanisms—with the educational program that the State has put in place. To do this, plaintiffs allege, the State must scrap its existing finance system; do the work to determine how much it actually costs to fund public education to meet the state’s own program requirements and the needs of California’s school children; and develop and implement a new finance system consistent with Constitutional requirements.

The lawsuit was filed by a broad coalition, including more than 60 individual students and their families, nine school districts from throughout the State, the California School Boards Association (CSBA), California State PTA, and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA).

“Filing this lawsuit was a last resort,” said CSBA President Frank Pugh. “Education funding has been in a deteriorating spiral in California for decades. A failure to act now threatens the future of California’s students and the future of our state. The Governor and lawmakers have known for some time that the current school finance system is harming students and they’ve done nothing to remedy the crisis. The $17 billion in cuts to education have only made a dire situation even worse. California’s unstable, unsound and insufficient school finance system is robbing our students of an education.”

“This lawsuit seeks to ensure that the State, the Legislature and the Governor comply with the Constitution and fund and deliver the promised education program to all students in the state,” said Bill Abrams, a partner at the law firm of Bingham McCutchen and counsel for plaintiff students and families. “The Constitution requires that school funding ‘first be set apart’ to meet program demands, and provides that education is a fundamental right and must be made equally available to every child. Too often, this isn’t the case, and the State balances its budget on the backs of its students by cutting or underfunding education programs, and thus prevents schools from meeting its own education standards.”

California’s broken school finance system has undermined the ability of districts to educate our children by making no connection between what is expected of schools and students and the funding provided in order to meet those expectations.

California has set clear requirements for what schools are expected to teach and what students are expected to learn. But the state has failed in its obligation to provide the resources necessary to meet these requirements. The state’s failure to support the required educational program adversely affects all students. Academic achievement results show California’s irrational, unstable and insufficient school finance system denies students the opportunity to become proficient in the State’s academic standards.

“Numerous reports during the last decade have documented the state’s failure to remedy the broken school finance system. The Governor’s own Committee on Educational Excellence in 2007 concluded that our current system is not producing the results that taxpayers and citizens are counting on and that our students deserve,” said Chuck Weis, president of the Association of California School Administrators. “We are asking the courts to require the State to meet the expectations set by law in the Constitution.”

California’s unique revenue and expenditure system makes our schools almost completely dependent on the state, and yet the Governor and Legislature have failed to make education a priority.

The Constitution gives education financing a unique priority by requiring that “from all state revenues there shall first be set apart the monies to be applied by the State for support of the public school system.” Instead, school financing has been battered by instability that prohibits necessary planning to deliver what has been promised to students, and as a result all students suffer. Only half of all California students are proficient in English-language arts; and less than half (approximately 46 percent) are proficient in mathematics. In addition, fewer than 70 percent of California students graduate from high school.

“We require students to meet high education standards and then deny them the resources they need to meet those standards,” said Jo A.S. Loss, president of the California State PTA. “We must have a system that allows schools to deliver a high-quality education for all children – in good times and in tough times.”

Currently, the state ranks 47th among all states in its per-pupil spending on education, spending $2,856 less per pupil than the national average.

Yet most Californians, according to a recent poll conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California, believe there is not enough state funding going to public schools, and a majority single out K-12 education as the area that they most want to protect from spending cuts.

“Since I started going to school at Alameda High as a freshman, I know that summer programs have been cut. I know that teachers have been laid off. And I know that programs that are supposed to help my classmates and me go to college have been cut,” said Maya Robles-Wong, a 16-year-old 11th-grader and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. “I’m not an expert in education finance, but I know enough to say that it’s not because my teachers and our schools aren’t trying to give us what we need. I know that the real problem is that the State is not providing the support my school needs to teach me everything I need.”

Ignoring the facts about our state’s education finance system will deny generations of students the opportunity to be competitive and successful in our global economy. California educates the most diverse student population in the nation and yet we rank nearly last in per- pupil funding. Unless the State fixes the broken school finance system, students will be denied the opportunity to become informed citizens and productive members of society.

For more information about the school finance lawsuit, please visit www.fixschoolfinance.org.

###

Watch California State PTA President Jo Loss present at the May 20 press conference [Facebook Video]
Read all of the press statements from the San Francisco and Sacramento conferences [PDF]
View a Fact Sheet about the lawsuit
Download a Copy of the Robles-Wong v. California Complaint [PDF]

SACRAMENTO – Jo A.S. Loss, president of California State PTA, issued the following statement in response to the Governor’s May Revision of the 2010-2011 budget proposal.

The Governor continues to propose cuts to education, children’s programs and critical social services that are intolerable and unconscionable. The first responsibility of our elected officials is to meet the fundamental needs of all of our children, including a quality education.

The Governor stated that a budget should be a reflection of what we value most. Yet, his proposal does not at all support what Californians care about most: our children.

The Governor also spoke about the need to create jobs and stimulate our economy. Healthy, well educated students are critical for a strong economy.

Any responsible approach to solving the current fiscal crisis requires a balanced approach, including additional revenues. These brutal cuts jeopardize the future of our children and the future of our state.

We are deeply disturbed that the Governor’s May Revision chooses to solve the state’s current fiscal crisis with massive cuts. This was not the only option. Choosing to impose these cuts on our children is unacceptable.

We call upon all Californians to speak up and demand a budget that invests in and meets the needs of California’s 9 million children.

We have seen more than $17 billion in cuts to public education in the last two years. The Governor’s May revision proposes to continue cutting education funding at the same levels as proposed in January. Class sizes are increasing, and we are already losing arts, music, gifted programs and extra-curricular activities. Our most vulnerable students are losing academic support programs and intervention services. School libraries are closing or reducing the hours they are available to students. Already among the last in the nation in the number of nurses, librarians and counselors per student, we are losing even more of these critical members of our education communities.

PTA is equally worried about the threats to the health, safety and well-being of California’s children. Eliminating CalWORKS and decimating child care and other programs as proposed in the May revision will have a devastating effect.

The people of California want a budget that reflects their values. 79 percent of California voters are opposed to making further cuts to public schools to reduce the state budget deficit. A majority of Californians believe that there is not enough state funding going to public schools, and 66 percent would be willing to pay higher taxes to maintain current funding for public schools.

Business officials agree that investing in education is critical. Top Silicon Valley business leaders note that improving K-12 education is one of the most important things the state should do to improve the business climate. Good schools are needed to recruit the best employees.

The future prosperity of our state requires a well-educated workforce able to compete in the global economy. Brutal cuts to our schools and critical services to children jeopardize California’s future.

# # #

This evening, the California Budget Project plans to post a quick overview of the May Revision on its website – www.cbp.org.
As details emerge regarding the budget, we will send more information to you. We will also post updated information on our website -www.capta.org.

The conference will take place at the Embassy Suites Hotel (near Old Sacramento). Registration costs for the conference is $135, and hotel rooms are $159 per night. The conference fee covers all conference activities and materials, and dinner on Sunday and lunch at the capitol on Monday. The hotel serves a complimentary full cooked-to-order breakfast daily and a manager’s reception in the evening. Travel and hotel costs are not included. Visit the State PTA website for more information and to register.

Just in time for the new school year, the California State PTA has launched a public service announcement (PSA) campaign to engage families and promote PTA.

These video announcements feature real PTA members speaking straight from the heart about the benefits and rewards of getting involved in their children’s public schools. (They were made possible through the generous support of the Pearson Foundation.)

You can help to spread the PSAs’ message and passion for involvement. Post them on your local PTA website. Encourage schools and school districts to post them. E-mail them to friends, supporters and prospective PTA members – in other words – everyone!

It’s easy: Just click on the image above to watch the initial set of PSAs and to find out more about how to share them. (You can also watch them on the California State PTA website.)

Now more than ever, the children of California need adults to step up and to speak out on their behalf. We hope you’ll agree and lend your voice to the effort.

From all of us at 17th District PTA, have a safe and healthy start to the school year!

SACRAMENTO – California State PTA President Jo Loss issued the following response to news of the pending budget agreement.

“California State PTA and our nearly 1 million members have serious concerns with the long-lasting negative impact this budget will have on children and families in California.

“We recognize the state is facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis, but we are angered that our legislative leaders are choosing to solve the budget primarily with cuts to critical services, rather than identifying sufficient sources of new, ongoing revenue to provide a more balanced approach.

“Legislators and the Governor should not continue to try to balance the budget on the backs of our children and families. Our message remains constant: We must invest in children to ensure our future economic prosperity.

“The proposed budget cuts $6 billion more from K-12 schools and community colleges. This is in addition to more than $11 billion in cuts our schools and students have suffered over the past year. California’s education system ranks nearly last in the nation in terms of per-student funding, with some of the largest class sizes and the highest number of students per counselor, school nurse or other critical support staff members. Our schools are unable to withstand cuts of this magnitude and continue to provide the quality education that our students need and deserve.

“The budget agreement does include a commitment to restore money lost during this budget crisis – and this is a positive step. However, it is the responsibility of our state legislators to fund public education at all timesat a level where all children are able to learn. This budget fails that test. School districts will be forced to make additional cuts to critical programs. Class sizes will significantly increase, reducing the ability of our teachers to meet the individual needs of each student. Academic support classes, reading specialists, counselors, librarians and school nurses will be lost. We will see fewer arts and music classes. Our ability to provide students with up-to-date technological resources and hands-on science programs to prepare them for the global economy will continue to be jeopardized.

“In addition, the $226 million cuts to the Healthy Families Program places the health and well-being of our state’s neediest children and families in further jeopardy. The $528 million cut in the CalWORKs program similarly hurts these families.

“A budget should reflect the values of our citizens. Californians have consistently supported public education and children in prosperous and unstable economic times. So we must ask, Where are California’s priorities when the basic education and health needs of our children are not being adequately met?”

The California State PTA has nearly 1 million members throughout the state working on behalf of public schools, children and families, with the motto, “Every child, one voice.” The PTA is the nation’s oldest, largest and highest profile volunteer organization working to improve the education, health and welfare of all children and youth. The PTA also advocates at national, state and local levels for education and family issues. The PTA is nonprofit, nonsectarian and noncommercial.

For more information about the California State PTA, visit www.capta.org.