Posts by Cynthia Kaufman
CalSTRS Tunes Out Teachers to Engage with Exxon
The California State Teachers’ Retirement System (or, CalSTRS) prides itself on its shareholder engagement with fossil fuel companies. However, by spending their resources, time, and energy on connecting with oil giants like Exxon, CalSTRS has failed to engage with the shareholders who matter most: their own.
Read moreSanta Monica High Students Get Divestment Resolution Passed
On November 16, 2020, students from Team Marine, a service club at Santa Monica High School, succeeded in getting a resolution passed by the Santa Monica-Malibu Classroom Teachers Association (SMMCTA) to ask CalSTRS to divest from the billions it has invested in fossil fuels.
Read morePension Fund Accountability
It is time for the California government to hold CalPERS and CalSTRS to account for the ways they are contributing to the climate crisis and abdicating their fiduciary responsibility. CalPERS and CalSTRS are public entities and yet they are not acting in the public interest.
Read morePreparing to Protect the Election Results
Just as it is a good idea to have an evacuation plan if you live in a fire-prone area, it is important that those of us who want to protect against the triumph of actual fascism in this country need to have an emergency plan to to protect democracy if Trump refuses to concede.
Read moreCTA Resolution Toolkit
CalSTRS needs to divest from fossil fuels to protect the future of our students and the security of our pensions. To convince CalSTRS to make this shift, Fossil Free California is asking local CTA chapters around the state to pass resolutions calling for divestment. As we receive these resolutions, we will share them with CalSTRS—and…
Read moreMobilizing Climate Action in the Face of “Planet of the Humans”
We are in a climate emergency. That means we all need to do everything we can to get the world to stop burning fossil fuels and chopping down trees. And we need to do it as quickly as possible. Getting to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 will take everything we have. That’s why…
Read moreLessons from Covid-19
As we prepare to bring our economies back from their pause, it is time to work hard for a just and green recovery. We have the resources, the scientific and technical knowledge, and the proven policies for all of us to live well. As I have been thinking about the worldwide response to COVID-19, like…
Read moreTell CalSTRS: Stop Funding Destruction
When you become a teacher, you sign up to not only care for children, but to educate the future leaders of society. To find out that the people I have spent most of my life with are funding to pour toxins into my future…contradicts exactly what a teacher is. It’s a message telling me and…
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