CFT On Prop. 30 Victory

CFT president Pechthalt on Prop 30 victory, Prop 32 defeat

November 7, Sacramento—CFT president Joshua Pechthalt issued the following statement this morning:  "Educators are overjoyed that Proposition 30 passed.  In standing up for public education and social services, a majority of Californians declared that we can turn the Golden State around.  The huge blizzard of deceptive and scary political advertising couldn’t obscure the reality that our schools are underfunded. "The people have spoken:  the best way to build a better education system is to properly fund it by asking those who can most afford it, the wealthy, to pay their fair share in taxes.  As a result, educators will be in a better position to help the students of the state achieve their dreams. "The decisive victory of Prop 30 reveals an important shift in California’s orientation.  For more than thirty years it has been common wisdom that “Californians don’t like taxes.”  No more.  Prop 30 shows voters once more understand what Oliver Wendell Holmes said a century ago:  “Taxes are the price we pay for civilized society.”  Prop 30 is a sign we can create a fair tax system to accomplish California’s priorities. "In addition to our victory with Prop 30, the members of the CFT worked hard alongside our sisters and brothers in other unions to reveal the hidden agenda of Prop 32 and to defeat it.  Fair-minded individuals and institutions from all corners of California recognized the threat 32 posed to the ability of workers to participate in the political process.  It’s a shame that for the third time in less than fifteen years a few wealthy conservative ideologues forced all Californians to go through this exercise in preserving workers’ voice.  We hope our victory today will allow our members to concentrate on educating the students of California."