Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

This week teachers in California are celebrated for their dedication to our students and their families. Every day teachers go above and beyond to meet the growing needs of our students, and work tirelessly to ensure they have the education they deserve.

Beyond the much-appreciated cards and gifts this week, there are two critical ways to appreciate teachers.

Join a CFT phonebank for the June primary election

Ready to do your part to elect pro-public education candidates to office in California?

Sign up below for one of our upcoming statewide Zoom phonbanks to help elect Tom Steyer for Governor and Al Muratsuchi for Superintendent of Public Instruction. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

CFT Endorses Al Muratsuchi for Superintendent of Public Instruction

CFT – A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals announced today that their members voted to endorse Al Muratsuchi for Superintendent of Public Instruction.

As Assembly Education Committee Chair, a community college educator, and a union member, Muratsuchi has a long record of working alongside educators, classified professionals, and organized labor to strengthen public education — from early childhood and K-12 schools to California’s community colleges.

CFT United: Strengthening Our Movement Through Solidarity
SPRING 2026

A note from the editor

Across California, educators and classified professionals are already in motion—and building power in real time.

This issue of CFT United brings those stories together: from the surge of May Day organizing, to hard-won contract gains, to getting books into students’ hands and defending our schools. None of this is isolated. It’s connected, deliberate, and growing. The task in front of us is not to wait for momentum—it’s to deepen it, and make it impossible to ignore. And CFT is doing that every day.

Classified Appreciation Week 2026
May 17-May 23

The “Classified Professionals – We Do It All” week of action is a high-visibility, union-led celebration designed to move classified staff from the background to the forefront of the educational conversation.

By combining traditional appreciation with strategic solidarity actions—ranging from a unified Monday Solidarity Walk-In to a local-wide Friday Union Shirt Day—this week creates a powerful narrative of essentiality and strength.

Governor’s proposal for 2026-27 budget reflects ongoing uncertainty, borrows from Prop. 98 to address state deficit

Governor Newsom’s final state budget proposal addresses an anticipated deficit, but is based on revenue estimates that are higher than anticipated and does not assume a recession or market downturn in the 2026-27 fiscal year. The proposals for education include modest increases and largely avoids cuts but also includes a controversial proposal to withhold $5.6 billion from Prop. 98. CFT is aligned with other education labor and advocacy groups in opposition of this proposal.

AB 1028: A Landmark Win for Faculty Equity
Community College Council

A key component of the CFT One Faculty campaign, which aims to create an equitable system that benefits all faculty, is making sure part-timers have some job security and due process.

That’s why it was a huge accomplishment when Governor Newsom signed AB 1028 in October, after a CFT campaign asking members to let the governor know why they supported it.