Divest CalSTRs
What is Divest CalSTRs?
CalSTRS is the California State Teachers Retirement System. It's an elected board of 12 teachers/school administrators that decide where to invest the pension funds of all CA public school teachers. Today, over 6 billion dollars of teacher money is invested in fossil fuels (coal, gasoline, natural gas.) Only 3 members of the CalSTRS board support divesting this money.
The Divest CalSTRS campaign demands that teachers invest their pension funds in their students, not in the destruction and racism of the fossil fuel industry. We are dismantling environmental racism and climate destruction through defining the fossil fuel industry. We hope to start a chain reaction, where no one’s money goes towards these injustices.
YVA Members & Allies in CA’s Capitol
We are dismantling environmental racism and climate destruction through defining the fossil fuel industry.
Senate Bill 252
The campaign’s main vehicle is Senate Bill 252 which would ban investment in fossil fuel companies by California public workers’ and teachers’ pension funds (CalSTRs & CalPERs). We have organized at local and state levels to push for divestment from fossil fuels by putting pressure on powerful statewide unions and mobilizing youth to uplift and advocate for change within their communities. YVA members have been relentless in pressuring CA’s representatives to support SB252 through meetings, phone calls, art, and actions. Members have also spent countless hours working with each other to understand the bill and working with teachers to build a larger support base of educators willing to throw their weight behind SB252. Our successful work was evident when SB252 passed the Senate after members and coalition partners had spent long hours working to ensure it would.
“SB 252 passing the Senate yesterday is monumental. It’s proof that it is possible for reform to occur despite the manipulations of the fossil fuel industry, despite those who push for the opposite and prioritize profits over lives.”
— Anaya Sayal, Campaign Coordinator
Join Our Team!
Join Our Team!
Divest CalSTRs works to make sure California teacher money does not get invested in fossil fuels. The team meets every Tuesday at 7:00 PM on zoom! Our calls our youth only, and we invite all youth in the state of California to join us! Email zara.solene.ahsan@gmail.com