President's Message
"Better Working Conditions Equal Better Learning Conditions"

Dear Colleague:

Welcome to the Teachers Association of Long Beach (TALB, an affiliate of the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the National Education Association (NEA), your professional organization and union. Your membership in TALB is an important step in your support of quality public education.

TALB is the exclusive bargaining agent (union) for all Child Development Center, Head Start, K-12 teachers, nurses, librarians, program facilitators and resource specialists. TALB seeks to improve salaries, benefits, and working conditions. We believe that better working conditions for teachers result in better learning conditions for students. Your organization is also involved with community organizations, lobbying legislators, political campaigns, providing scholarships, training teachers, and providing economic services.

TALB/CTA/NEA is confronted with major educational issues. Your union is deeply involved in and will continue to work for the protection of teacher rights, including due process, instructional and professional issues, reducing class size, empowering teachers through Shared Decision Making, bargaining a fair and equitable contract, recruiting and retaining the very best teachers and procuring sufficient funds for public education.

Teachers must be deeply committed and involved outside the classroom if education is to achieve its proper level of importance in our society. I hope you will take an active role in your union. The United Education Profession is a powerful entity because of the efforts of teachers like you. It is the most effective way to improve our profession.

I wish you a very successful school year.

Respectfully,

Michael Day
TALB President