New Campaign Tools to Keep the Pressure on CalSTRS

Keep the Pressure on CalSTRS: Teachers’ pension fund to meet with war profiteer General Dynamics.

On March 12th, retired public school teachers Jef Schultz and Susan Witka, CODEPINK co-founder Jodie Evans, and CODEPINK organizer Nancy Mancias met with CalSTRS External Affairs Director Diane Stanton and other CalSTRS staff members. We shared your serious concerns about the pension fund making millions by investing in war profiteer General Dynamics, a company responsible for killing innocent civilians around the world — including women and children. Read Jef’s moving speech to CalSTRS.

With your support, we have been able to move CalSTRS to investigate these investments. This is a huge victory! In April, CalSTRS is now scheduled to meet with General Dynamics and we want to make sure your concerns are represented at that meeting. We have a variety of new tools so you can be more effective when reaching out to them. You can send CalSTRS an email and you can also choose to send a letter to the editor.

Earlier in the year, we petitioned CalSTRS to make them aware that General Dynamics is partly responsible for the innocent lives lost in Yemen and that the company’s arms sales only contribute to the ongoing conflict and humanitarian crisis in the region. We successfully delivered over 800 petition signatures; however, our work is not done. We are in for a long fight, so we need you to join us in keeping the pressure on CalSTRS to divest from war profiteer General Dynamics.

For books, not bombs,
Ann, Ariel, Carley, Caroline, Jodie, Kelly, Kirsten, Lily, Maya, Mark, Medea, Nancy, Paki, Ryan, Sarah, Tighe, Ursula and Zena with Susan Witka, Jef Schultz, and CalSTRS members