Sacramento, CA…California voters once again reiterated their overwhelming support for investing in public education and a better future for our students in Tuesday’s election. Educators are thankful for the passage of Propositions 55 and 58 that will protect schools from billions in funding cuts and give students much more language learning opportunities.

“California’s voters are truly committed to providing our students with a quality public education and their overwhelming support of Prop. 55 shows they never want to go back to the days of devastating cuts that drastically impacted our schools and communities,” said CTA President Eric C. Heins. “On behalf of our state’s 9 million students and 325,000 CTA members, we thank all Californians who voted to keep public education moving in the right direction. Educators want to work with parents and communities to build on the improvements we’ve made, and to ensure all students are ready for 21st century jobs in the global economy.”

Teachers also praised the election of California Attorney General Kamala Harris to the U.S. Senate to represent the Golden State. Harris demonstrated that education is one of her top priorities with her focus, in part, on the need to foster more respect and involvement for teachers, rather than imposing mandates without their input, and to invest more in our public schools.

In addition, the other CTA-backed proposition, 52, easily passed and will maintain billions in federal funding for health care for low-income children so they come to school ready to learn. The approval of Props. 55 and 58 came after a groundswell of get-out-the-vote activities by members of CTA in the final weeks and days that made a big difference, said Heins “Educators gave it their all for students in this election. And I want to thank them for their tremendous work and tireless effort.”

With all California precincts tallied, the final unofficial results showed Prop. 55 with a 62 percent yes vote, Prop. 58 with 72 percent, and Prop. 52 winning with 70 percent. Proposition 55 is the California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act. It will prevent up to $4 billion in cuts to public education funding each year by keeping the current tax rates on the wealthiest two percent of Californians that help fund public schools but were set to expire next year, while imposing no new taxes on anyone. Proposition 58 is the Language Education, Acquisition and Readiness Now (LEARN) initiative to expand opportunities for California’s students to become proficient in English while having the chance to learn in other languages.

“As educators we know quality public schools and colleges build a better California for all of us, and that’s why we are committed to working with parents and local communities to help every child get the quality, public education they deserve. We are leading efforts to improve the teaching profession and we’ll continue to advocate for social justice, equity and equal rights for all,” concluded Heins.