To All CTA Local Affiliate Presidents
Be Careful Which Members You Support!
An urgent notice about CTA’s legal profile
Note: BEVERLY TUCKER, Chief Counsel of CTA, is also Associate Executive Director
of CTA. It is necessary for Ms. Tucker to be involved in day-to-day details of how
CTA is run, because these small details can have a large impact on CTA’s legal profile.
Dear Local Affiliate Presidents:
During the past five years, CTA’s legal exposure has skyrocketed.
Why? Because of mistakes made by Local Affiliate Presidents like you.
It is not necessary to discuss such matters in detail, but please be
advised: when teachers in your local district commit crimes or other
wrongdoing against other teachers, do not help cover up those actions.
It is precisely this type of judgment call by local affiliates that has
forced CTA to pour huge amounts of teacher dues into legal defense and
to run the risk of public exposure. So far no major media outlet has
covered the recent wrongdoing by local CTA presidents, but CTA would
prefer to limit the chances of negative media coverage as much as
possible.
Special workshops will be held in Chula Vista, California in the future,
but the basic premise is simple: do not violate the law or the contract
to gain votes or friends, no matter how much pressure is placed on you.
It's better to lose an election than to commit a crime. If your friends
or allies violate the law, let them suffer the consequences. Some
members lose sight of the bigger picture when they are jockeying for
power within a school or school district. Do not use your power as Local
Affiliate President to aid or abet anyone who is out of control. All local
affiliates should implement this policy immediately. Repeat: Do not
violate the collective bargaining agreement, or the law, to please your
friends or political allies or to undermine your opponents. It is not
worth it in the long run.
CTA needs unity among our members. We are all put in a difficult
position when the legal department has to go out on a limb, defending
local Presidents from lawsuits by their members. CTA's policy is always
to support the local affiliate President, no matter what, but these
lawsuits wear away not only our treasury, but our standing in our schools
and communities, and our unity. Our legal department has been able to
maintain discipline among members of local Boards of Directors and
Representative Councils, but this has required visits by our lawyers,
who, frankly, do not enjoy the assignment of attacking CTA rank and
file members.
Please, do not allow yourselves to play politics with your collective
bargaining agreements. They should be enforced equally for all members.
Good luck!
Be Careful Which Members You Support!
An urgent notice about CTA’s legal profile
Note: BEVERLY TUCKER, Chief Counsel of CTA, is also Associate Executive Director
of CTA. It is necessary for Ms. Tucker to be involved in day-to-day details of how
CTA is run, because these small details can have a large impact on CTA’s legal profile.
Dear Local Affiliate Presidents:
During the past five years, CTA’s legal exposure has skyrocketed.
Why? Because of mistakes made by Local Affiliate Presidents like you.
It is not necessary to discuss such matters in detail, but please be
advised: when teachers in your local district commit crimes or other
wrongdoing against other teachers, do not help cover up those actions.
It is precisely this type of judgment call by local affiliates that has
forced CTA to pour huge amounts of teacher dues into legal defense and
to run the risk of public exposure. So far no major media outlet has
covered the recent wrongdoing by local CTA presidents, but CTA would
prefer to limit the chances of negative media coverage as much as
possible.
Special workshops will be held in Chula Vista, California in the future,
but the basic premise is simple: do not violate the law or the contract
to gain votes or friends, no matter how much pressure is placed on you.
It's better to lose an election than to commit a crime. If your friends
or allies violate the law, let them suffer the consequences. Some
members lose sight of the bigger picture when they are jockeying for
power within a school or school district. Do not use your power as Local
Affiliate President to aid or abet anyone who is out of control. All local
affiliates should implement this policy immediately. Repeat: Do not
violate the collective bargaining agreement, or the law, to please your
friends or political allies or to undermine your opponents. It is not
worth it in the long run.
CTA needs unity among our members. We are all put in a difficult
position when the legal department has to go out on a limb, defending
local Presidents from lawsuits by their members. CTA's policy is always
to support the local affiliate President, no matter what, but these
lawsuits wear away not only our treasury, but our standing in our schools
and communities, and our unity. Our legal department has been able to
maintain discipline among members of local Boards of Directors and
Representative Councils, but this has required visits by our lawyers,
who, frankly, do not enjoy the assignment of attacking CTA rank and
file members.
Please, do not allow yourselves to play politics with your collective
bargaining agreements. They should be enforced equally for all members.
Good luck!
| California Teachers Association |
| CTA |
californiateachers.org
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| GUAJOME PARK ACADEMY |
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| California Teachers Association |
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| San Diego Unified School District |
| Atty. Daniel Shinoff |
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| Chula Vista |
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