Mission
The California Teachers Association exists to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education; to ensure that the human dignity and civil rights of all children and youth are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society. (CTA webiste)
Goals
TEACHER QUALITY
As the organization representing 325,000 California educators, CTA has a special interest in promoting teacher quality and quality teaching. CTA has concluded that teacher quality is a result of the relationship among several factors, three of which are addressed here: pre-service preparation, professional development, and the occupational environment in which teaching occurs.
Pre-service Test Preparation
California’s current battery of tests should be streamlined and revised to focus on evaluating the skills that candidates need to apply content knowledge to teach students with varying needs.
- Teacher preparation programs should include a supervised teaching component that more appropriately supports teacher collaboration.
- Standards for preparation program approval and continuing accreditation should require closer cooperation between university-based programs and K-12 systems, especially in the transition and placement of new teachers in appropriate teaching assignments.
Professional Development
- Professional development and teacher learning programs should be aligned to state standards and the work teachers do in their classrooms. They must also meet locally determined needs.
- California should invest in a professional practice model that builds school based teacher learning communities and teacher leadership. Teacher leadership includes traditional roles such as mentoring and coaching and should be expanded to increase teacher authority in other areas of professional practice. Funding must be provided for teacher-directed professional development that occurs during the workday and addresses the challenges of practice within the teachers’ classrooms.
- California should fully fund professional development that spans the spectrum of a teacher’s career, beginning with mentoring support for new teachers (Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment) and continuing through a comprehensive Peer Assistance and Review program.
Teaching Conditions
- Teaching effectiveness should be recognized as more than the efforts and attributes of an individual teacher.
- Teachers are only as effective as the systems in which they work. California should invest sufficient resources to provide the teachers the facilities, tools, and resources necessary for effective instruction. (CTA Website 2017)
History
CTA'S 150 YEARS OF SERVICE
The year 2013 marked the beginning of CTA's Sesquicentennial (Ses·qui·cen·ten·ni·al) - the organization's 150th Anniversary! The entire year thus far has been dedicated to celebrating this milestone. We've collected words from past CTA presidents, retired educators and staff in our recorded Oral History project, and created a Commemorative Magazine that takes you down memory lane - and be sure to check out our Interactive Collage below. Earlier in the year, we produced a number of resources so you could share in the celebration: posters, fliers, Facebook cover images & sample posts, special 150th Anniversary logos, as well as television spots and radio & print ads. And though the actual 150 Anniversary month was May, we're celebrating CTA's Sesquicentennial at CTA's final State Council meeting for the fiscal year in October by unveiling our mobile museum!
CTA'S 150 YEARS COME TO LIFE WITH INTERACTIVE COLLAGE
Honoring the Past. Guiding the Future. Celebrating 150 Years: 1863-2013.
WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO ALL THESE YEARS, YOU ASK?
In addition to the historical items displayed on the Interactive Collage to above, check out this long list of CTA highlights over these 150 years, including CTA's donation to help restore California's first two-story schoolhouse, pictured above. Hundreds of thousands of school children gave their pennies, nickels and dimes to the project, raising $40,000 altogether. When CTA’s board of directors learned that the project was still $30,000 short, it didn’t hesitate and took the action to “Finish the job!”
A BIT ABOUT OUR FOUNDER
CTA was founded in 1863 as the California Educational Society by state schools superintendent John Swett with fewer than 100 members, all male. What a difference 150 years makes. With 325,000 members, CTA now is the most inclusive & most powerful voice of educators in the state.
John Swett: “Association in some form is the soul of modern progress… let us organize and work together. Let us make our influence felt in leading public opinion in school affairs.” (CTA website 2017)