Catherwood LibraryILR School

In an effort to gain a greater decision-making role for their members in the education that they provide, The California Teachers Association (CTA)---California?s largest teachers? union---is supporting legislation currently before the California State Assembly that would give teachers the right to negotiate matters beyond narrow terms and conditions of work issues. Introduced by a former school board member and a former CTA leader who were also both schoolteachers before being elected state assemblypersons, the bill would require school districts to negotiate with teachers over curricula, textbook choice, academic programs and student performance improvement proposals. The legislation has come under heavy fire from superintendents throughout the California public school system as posing a threat to student achievement, but supporters of the bill have dismissed this criticism as nothing more than a reaction to a perceived loss of power.