CSEA siblings,

Every classified employee knows that the decisions shaping our work rarely start at our school sites. They start in Sacramento, in Washington and at local school board meetings, and they are made by the people we elect. Who holds those seats decides whether our schools are funded, whether our jobs are protected and whether our voices are heard at all.

That’s why CSEA treats every election as a fight for our schools and our jobs, and why this one is so important.

You can already see what is possible when we elect leaders who stand with public education and working people. This year, three CSEA-sponsored bills were signed into law. SB 1083 strengthens student safety while guaranteeing due process for classified employees. SB 1038 requires districts to notify your union when CalPERS audits them, so reporting errors are caught before they cost you your pension. AB 2148 makes clear that a school employee in California must be a real person, not an artificial intelligence program. And beginning January 1, 2027, school employees, including part-time workers, will be eligible for up to 14 weeks of paid pregnancy leave, one of our highest priorities and now funded in the state budget.

None of that happened by chance. These wins are the direct return on the time and money you have invested through volunteering in election efforts and donating to the Victory Club. Your contributions of time and money help elect lawmakers who return our calls, meet with us during lobby days and carry our bills. When those allies hold office, our agenda moves forward. When they don’t, we spend our energy playing defense.

On November 3rd, the stakes are just as high aren’t only about candidates. Prop 3 would keep existing tax rates on the state’s highest earners and continue sending that money to our schools and community colleges. If it fails, public education could lose between $5 billion and $15 billion a year once those rates expire. That is money for the programs, services and wages that keep our schools running. CSEA members collected more than 30,000 signatures to put Prop 3 on the ballot, and now we need to finish the job. We are also urging a NO vote on Prop 39, which would expose your personal information and make voting harder, and on Prop 43, which would let a minority of voters block local funding for schools and community services.

I want to thank every member who has given time to this effort. You have made calls at phone banks, walked precincts, written postcards and talked with co-workers in break rooms and parking lots. Many of you have also volunteered for local campaigns, helping elect school board members and community leaders who will make decisions about your contract and your neighborhood. That work often happens after a full shift, and it is the reason we win. I am proud to stand with you.

Now I am asking you to take the last step: vote.

Your personalized voter guide is waiting on your My CSEA page at csea.com/voterguide. It shows CSEA’s recommendations for the candidates and measures on your ballot, including the local races in your area.

Once you have filled out your mail ballot, skip the mail. Instead, drop it at an official ballot drop box in your county to ensure it goes directly into the hands of your local election office. Drop boxes are open now and accept ballots until 8 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3. To find the one closest to you, visit caearlyvoting.sos.ca.gov or contact your county elections office. You can then track your ballot at WheresMyBallot.sos.ca.gov to confirm it was received and counted.

As we celebrate our centennial, let’s honor the classified employees who built this union by showing up for the next generation. Your vote is how we protect everything we have won.