“Look, California school employees are really the unsung heroes of our education system, doing the critical work to make our schools run every single day,” Newsom said. “Your incredible services throughout this last year, throughout the pandemic, have not gone unnoticed. So, thank you, each and every one of you. Sincerely thank you for all your sacrifice, your faith and devotion to the cause that unites us here today. Thank you and congratulations on 95 remarkable years.” Not only are CSEA members essential to the school districts they serve, but to their own union sisters and brothers. This was evident as members supported their own with overwhelming donations to the Dorothy Bjork Assistance Fund. During the annual “Pass the Bucket” segment of the event, attendees were “Zooming in” for two hours straight to share their personal or chapter donations. The total pledged was an astounding $66,792.18. Adding the silent auction and the Disneyland raffle (which raised $27,000 alone!), members raised well over six figures to help their sisters and brothers in need!

Conference is about honoring members, including new inductees for Honor Roll and Life Membership - CSEA’s highest honors. Valdepeña and Carla Held were given the Life Membership award for this year. For a full list of award winners, click here. Delegates approved resolutions creating a new district for the Retiree Unit and allowing chapters to hold safe and convenient virtual meetings. See the results of the resolutions here. At the event, delegates also overwhelmingly approved the General Fund and Restricted Fund Budgets for the 2021-2022 fiscal year. Before doing so, CSEA Budget Chair Saodat Aziskhanova read the pre-submitted questions, as provided in the Special Rules of Order, and Executive Director Keith Pace provided answers.

Before Valdepeña closed the 95th Annual Conference, a video was shown to mark CSEA’s achievements over the past challenging year. “Throughout it all, through a year and a half of fear and hope, of triumph and loss, our members have remained rocksteady. We have served on the frontlines since day one, keeping our students learning and feeding our communities while defending our own safety and livelihoods,” Allan Clark (Past President from 2013-2021) said in the video. “We stepped up because we never back down from challenge. That is what we do. That is what we have always done.”