CTEN Press Release

As an addition to the previous post, here is CTEN's initial press release:











FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT: Larry Sand
PHONE: 888-290-8471
EMAIL: lsand@ctenhome.org

California Teachers Launch Website to Counter Information Monopoly

(Los Angeles – October 2, 2006) Reliable information is coming to California educators, thanks to a group of fellow teachers who are determined to balance the heavily biased information they receive from their unions and school districts. Today, the California Teachers Empowerment Network launches a first-of-a-kind website for California Teachers, www.ctenhome.org, providing detailed information about educational issues and reform, options pertaining to union membership and professional liability insurance, the effect of unionism on teacher pay and strategies to affect union policy.

“Teachers are unfortunately not getting the whole picture, primarily because it comes from a single viewpoint: their union or district,” said Larry Sand, a California teacher and president of CTEN. “For example, unions take a large sum of money from their members in the form of dues, but never fully disclose where this money is spent. In fact, a significant portion of union dues goes to political causes having little or nothing to do with education. Our website intends to help empower teachers by giving them information that is difficult to come by elsewhere.”

CTEN does not advocate teachers joining or leaving the union. Instead, the website was created to inform teachers about the choices that they have, including alternative sources of legal protection and professional liability insurance, and ways to use the union’s own mechanisms to influence union policy and hold their leadership accountable for how dues are spent.

“As teachers ourselves, we know that it is very difficult to navigate the complex maze of data, especially when we are given incomplete and biased information,” said Mr. Sand.

Founded by working California teachers, the California Teachers Empowerment Network is a non-profit, non-partisan organization. In addition to providing teachers with reliable and balanced information about their profession, CTEN also seeks to provide peer support for teachers of like mind who may adopt dissenting views or make decisions that could invite criticism and strained relationships in the workplace.