Busy October

Well October is going to be a busy one for me. Most of the time away from work will be sent with CSEA. I have Super Session the first weekend. I have two Webmaster Academies and the last week of October I will be on-call for Jury Duty.

Busy month. Hopefully more details later.

CSEA Conference Blogger

I have been chosen as a blogger for CSEA's Annual Conference this year. I will be representing Area G.You have to be a member of CSEA in orcer to view th e blogs I think. Check them out... http://www.csea.com/blogs. Conference will be in Las Vegas this year at the Las Vegas Hilton.

It is July... Must be Budget time...

Every year we have this budget crisis in California. Five years ago there was an idea to make the Budget and the process more accountable. It was the Budget Accountability Act. The would have Act held legislators accountable for passing a budget on time and provides penalties to prevent a budget deadlock. Among the provisions of the Act were:

• If the budget is not passed by the June 15 deadline, then the Governor and members of the legislature permanently forfeit their salaries until the budget is signed.
• The legislature is required to stay in session until the budget is adopted.
• The two-thirds vote is replaced by a 55 percent vote requirement, making the process less vulnerable to the stalemate that plagues the current system.
• Sets up a "rainy day" fund that could only be used when revenues fall below current service levels.
• Requires the Secretary of State to publish how the state actually spends its funds, as well as publishing information on how legislators vote on the budget.

Unfortunately this did not pass... most of the arguments had to do with the fact that this may make passing new taxes easier also. The funny thing is the other propositions passed that year DID raise taxes...

California is only one of THREE states in the United State to require a two-thirds majority vote.

This year... we are faced with a large budget deficit. The two-thirds requirement will make it an interesting compromise this year.

Rob Feckner, CSEA's Association President, posted an editorial on California Progress Report blog. Cool stuff.

Classified School Employee Week, May 21-27

The rest of the world is finally learning what CSEA members have known for decades: classified employees are critical to the success of education. Building on the message “Essential Work, Extraordinary Workers,” CSEA's 2005 television ads were produced to introduce classified employees to the general public.

On an individual level, most people understand that the work we do is important. Parents know us as the bus driver and the school secretary. Community college students know us as the financial aid assistant and the security officer. But as a group, classified employees are relatively unknown.

As we reach out to the community for support on everything from district policy decisions to state ballot initiatives, we believe it is important for the community to understand that CSEA has spent eight decades taking care of our public schools and students. Our work is more than a job. Our message is more than a theme. We do essential work. We are extraordinary employees. We are CSEA.