I wanted to share two pieces of information of particular interest to Californians reading this blog:

The California Teachers Association has just announced that it is filing a school-funding initiative with the state so it can begin collecting signatures to get it on the ballot in 2009. Here’s a fact sheet on it. It calls for a one cent sales tax to benefit public K-12 schools and community colleges.  It would generate between $5 and $6 billion a year.

I’ve generally been impressed by the union’s political judgment, though I’d certainly be interested in seeing what kind of preliminary polling data they have on its chances of passing in this economic climate.  Announcing it now makes sense — at least as a negotiating tactic in the midst of our state’s budget chaos —  with a $30 billion budget deficit (yes, that’s a ‘b” as in billion) and devastating cuts being threatened to education.

I also wanted to share a resource that educators might want to use to follow what’s happening with our budget.   Rough and Tumble is a free daily digest of political “happenings” around the state, and generally also includes a section on education-related issues. I read it each day during my community organizing career.

I think that generally using the resources I’ve listed in The Best Ways To Keep-Up With Current Education Issues is more than adequate to keep up-to-date on things. However, I’d say that until the budget insanity is resolved, it might be worth taking a look at Rough & Tumble periodically, too.