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California Teachers Association
| California Teachers Association | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Location: | Burlingame, California |
| Type: | 501(c)(5) |
| Top official: | David Goldberg, President |
| Founder(s): | John Swett |
| Year founded: | 1863 |
| Website: | Official website |
The California Teachers Association (CTA) is a labor union and 501(c)(5) nonprofit organization and the California affiliate of the National Education Association. The organization was founded in 1863. According to its website, the California Teachers Association has "a long and vibrant legacy of fighting for equity, lifting up the voices of those often unheard, winning resources for schools and students, and advocating for the craft of education."[1]
The California Teachers Association has a political action committee called the California Teachers Association Issues PAC, which makes contributions to ballot measure campaigns.
Background
California Superintendent of Public Instruction John Swett (R) founded the California Teachers Association in 1863 as the California Educational Society. During his term as superintendent, Swett supported measures that held teachers to professional standards and that allowed any child in the state to attend public school free of charge.[2][3] As of September 2025, the group described its mission as "to protect and promote the well-being of its members; to improve the conditions of teaching and learning; to advance the cause of free, universal, and quality public education for all students; to ensure that the human dignity and civil rights of all children, youth and adults are protected; and to secure a more just, equitable, and democratic society."[1]
Leadership
As of September 2025, the following individuals held positions of leadership at the California Teachers Association:[4]
- David Goldberg, president
- Leslie Littman, vice president
- Erika Jones, secretary-treasurer
- Jeff Good, executive director
Work and activities
Ballot measure activity
Overview of ballot measure support and opposition
You can send information about this influencer’s involvement with ballot measures to editor@ballotpedia.org.
The following table details the California Teachers Association's ballot measure stances since 2000 that are available on Ballotpedia.
California Proposition 15, Tax on Commercial and Industrial Properties for Education and Local Government Funding Initiative (2020)
In 2019, the California Teachers Association (CTA) endorsed the Tax on Commercial and Industrial Properties for Education and Local Government Funding Initiative and contributed to the campaign behind the measure.[28] The ballot initiative was designed to require commercial and industrial properties, except those zoned as commercial agriculture, to be taxed based on their market value, rather than their purchase price. The ballot initiative was also written to allocate the tax revenue to local governments and schools.
Eric C. Heins, then-president of the CTA, said, "This initiative is about ensuring everyone pays their fair share and ending a decades-old loophole that has kept our students, schools and communities chronically underfunded. Corporations have not only gotten an outrageous break at the expense of students and individual taxpayers, but many big companies have gamed the system to prevent fair reassessment when they transfer ownership of their properties."[29]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this organization made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope.
Affiliations
As of September 2025, the California Teachers Association was an affiliate of the National Education Association.[1] The California Teachers Association Issues PAC is a political action committee affiliated with the CTA.[30]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the California Teachers Association's revenues and expenses from 2005 to 2023. The information comes from ProPublica.
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | $177.5 million | $202.3 million |
| 2006 | $181.6 million | $170.5 million |
| 2007 | $192.3 million | $170.4 million |
| 2008 | $201.3 million | $170.8 million |
| 2009 | $176.9 million | $186.0 million |
| 2010 | $188.2 million | $176.9 million |
| 2011 | $185.2 million | $183.8 million |
| 2012 | $185.8 million | $167.1 million |
| 2013 | $183.2 million | $179.8 million |
| 2014 | $187.2 million | $162.2 million |
| 2015 | $186.1 million | $174.7 million |
| 2016 | $190.0 million | $185.6 million |
| 2017 | $199.8 million | $174.2 million |
| 2018 | $209.0 million | $174.7 million |
| 2019 | $211.6 million | $179.5 million |
| 2020 | $212.3 million | $180.3 million |
| 2021 | $222.0 million | $182.8 million |
| 2022 | $224.2 million | $177.6 million |
| 2023 | $220.7 million | $195.9 million |
Noteworthy events
Friedrichs v. CTA
On January 11, 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral arguments in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, a case that addressed the constitutionality of requiring public employees to pay agency shop fees to public-sector unions. A group of California teachers, who were nonunion members, petitioned the court to rule on whether being required to pay a fee to a union is a violation of their First Amendment rights.
Charlotte Garden, an associate professor at Seattle University's law school and a labor-law expert, said, "the case is a big deal. It's not heralding the end of public-sector unionism the way some people have suggested. But it is going to matter a lot in terms of upsetting settled labor contracts."[31]
The court also considered whether it violates the First Amendment rights of the teachers to have to opt out of paying the union for the political activities that they engage in annually, rather than opting in.[32]
On March 29, 2016, the court issued a split decision, affirming the decision of the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court.[33]
See also
External links
- California Teachers Association official website
- California Teachers Association on Facebook
- California Teachers Association on X
- California Teachers Association on Instagram
- California Teachers Association on YouTube
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 California Teachers Association, "About Us," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "CTA Founder - John Swett," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "History," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "Our Officers," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Yes on 1, "Our Coalition," accessed January 6, 2023
- ↑ CTA, "Educators Recommend Candidates and Ballot Initiatives," May 25, 2022
- ↑ CTA, "Educators Recommend Candidates and Ballot Initiatives," May 25, 2022
- ↑ CTA, "Educators Recommend Candidates and Ballot Initiatives," May 25, 2022
- ↑ CTA, "Educators Recommend Candidates and Ballot Initiatives," May 25, 2022
- ↑ CTA, "Educators Recommend Candidates and Ballot Initiatives," May 25, 2022
- ↑ Schools and Communities First, "Endorsers," accessed December 3, 2018
- ↑ Californians for Safe Schools and Healthy Learning, "Supporters," accessed January 22, 2020
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 LA School Report, "Analysis: California Teachers Association to spend up to $10 million supporting two statewide ballot initiatives — and opposing three others," June 26, 2018
- ↑ Yes on 52, "Our Coalition," accessed September 14, 2016
- ↑ Yes on 55, "Endorsements," accessed September 15, 2016
- ↑ Yes on 58, "Endorsements," accessed September 15, 2016
- ↑ Yes on 59, "Endorsements," accessed September 16, 2016
- ↑ Cal-Access, "Coalition for Veterans Housing," accessed June 3, 2014
- ↑ Yes on 42, "Who Supports Prop 42?" accessed May 28, 2014
- ↑ Stop Higher Health Care Costs, "Who We Are, accessed July 3, 2014
- ↑ Californians for Safe Neighborhoods and Schools, "Who Supports Reform," accessed September 8, 2014
- ↑ 22.00 22.01 22.02 22.03 22.04 22.05 22.06 22.07 22.08 22.09 22.10 22.11 22.12 22.13 22.14 22.15 22.16 22.17 22.18 22.19 22.20 22.21 22.22 22.23 22.24 22.25 22.26 22.27 22.28 22.29 22.30 22.31 22.32 22.33 22.34 22.35 22.36 22.37 22.38 22.39 22.40 22.41 22.42 22.43 22.44 22.45 Cal-Access, "CTA Issues PAC," accessed January 15, 2020
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "Weekend long surge: Governor and Educators Statewide Unite in Saying Yes to Prop. 30, No on 32," October 21, 2012
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "No on 22," accessed June 24, 2015
- ↑ No on Prop 23, "Our Coalition," accessed October 12, 2010
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Yes on 24," accessed June 24, 2015
- ↑ California Secretary of State, "Yes on 25," accessed June 24, 2015
- ↑ Politico, "'Split-roll' backers will refile tax initiative in expensive rewrite," August 13, 2019
- ↑ California Teachers Association, "CTA Backs CA Schools and Local Communities Funding Act for November 2020 Ballot," February 20, 2019
- ↑ CalMatters, "California Teachers Association," accessed September 3, 2025
- ↑ Education Week, "High Stakes in Union-Fee Case Before Supreme Court," accessed January 7, 2016
- ↑ American Bar Association, "Brief for Petitioners Rebecca Friedrichs, et al.," accessed September 22, 2015
- ↑ U.S. Supreme Court, "Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association," March 29, 2016
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