Message from the President about Vergara v State of California

This Thursday, Feb. 25th, we will be heading to court in Los Angeles for oral arguments in the Vergara v. State of California lawsuit. Because it has been a little while since I last wrote you about the case, I’ll refresh your memory. In June 2014, Judge Rolf Treu issued a misguided decision indicating that the statutes challenged in the lawsuit are unconstitutional.
That’s why we are appealing the decision in this case that seeks to strike down statutes protecting teachers from arbitrary firings, providing transparency in layoff decisions, and supporting due-process rights, all of which contribute to student success. The decision was “without support in law or fact,” and the original notice of appeal says the presiding judge’s errors were too numerous to list.
This lawsuit has never been about helping students. It’s another attempt by millionaires and corporate special interests to undermine the teaching profession and push their agenda on California’s public schools and students.
In addition to having our legal team in court this Thursday, Civil Rights icon Dolores Huerta, fellow educators and community supporters will be standing alongside us.
But just because you won’t be there in person doesn’t mean you can’t join us virtually.
Using your own social media platforms to share CTA’s message is a great way to reach a large audience. Twitter and Instagram tend to get the largest national reach due to hashtags and most users having public profiles. While sharing content on your own personal Facebook page is great, it only reaches your selected friend group. We recommend “liking” and commenting on CTA’s Facebook posts to help increase the reach of the posts.
Here’s how you can be there…virtually!
Twitter
  1. If you haven’t already, visit http://twitter.com/CATeachersAssoc and “Follow” us.
  2. Retweet and like our tweets. Every time a person retweets a tweet, the tweet gets pushed out to more people, and that expands our reach.
Instagram

  1. If you haven’t already, download the Instagram app for your phone.
  2. Find @CATeachersAssoc and “Follow” us.
  3. View our photos and “like” and comment on them.

Facebook

  1. If you haven’t already, visit http://facebook.com/californiateachersassociation and “Like” our page.
  2. “Like,” share, and comment on our posts. Every time a person “likes,” shares or comments on a Facebook post, the post gets pushed out to more people, and that also expands our reach.
Create your own content:
If you want to create your own tweets and posts supporting CTA, you can use the hashtag #Vergara. We will be monitoring the hashtags and will retweet the posts we see that are using the hashtag. Here are talking points you can use to craft your own posts.
Sample tweets and posts:
#Vergara v. California is the latest in a series of simplistic ‘blame teachers first’ solutions to complex challenges facing #PublicEd.
As educators, we believe every student has the right to a caring, qualified and committed teacher. #Vergara
If #Vergara v. CA is successful, it would make it more difficult to recruit and retain good teachers in California. http://cta.org/Vergara
Who’s really behind #Vergara@students_matter, a group created by wealthy businessman David Welch, supported by corporate ed “reformers.”
The law allows admins to deal with unfortunate circumstance of layoffs due to budget cuts or declining enrollment. #Vergara
These laws ensure teachers are granted due-process rights and are not fired for arbitrary reasons. #Vergara

We are sick and tired of parents being exploited by wealthy corporate interests like those backing @students_matter & the #Vergara lawsuit.

#Vergara lawsuit has nothing to do with what’s best for kids. It was brought by @students_matter, created by millionaire & special interests
We will keep you updated on the day’s events at cta.org/Vergara and on these social media sites.
In solidarity,
Dean Vogel
Eric Heins
CTA President
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