Week in Review – October 6, 2017
ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...
ABCFT Activism - MONTHLY REP COUNCIL HELD
This Thursday, the site reps from across the district gathered for the monthly representative meeting to learn about the latest news and information concerning the ABCFT Membership. Each month, ABCFT reps are given talking points that highlight the most crucial informational items that are shared at the meeting. During the meeting, we take additional notes to enhance those talking points and we have started sending those enhanced talking points out to all teachers and nurses in the Week in Review for the following week. We feel it is vital for communication that we give the site reps the opportunity to present those talking points to their colleagues face to face since site reps are often the first line of communication when there are questions or issues on campus. A special thanks to ALL the ABCFT site reps for showing up yesterday in force, YOU ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE.
ABCFT/ABCUSD NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE by Ruben Mancillas
The ABCFT negotiations team is currently in the process of bargaining for compensation, our calendar, as well as master contract language. Priorities that we have identified from your surveys and feedback include salary, stipends, and hourly pay. There are some confidentiality issues to consider. Just as we ask the district not to share the specifics of what we talk about at the table, we too can only offer an outline of what occurs. So we can share that we have made our initial proposal. We are now waiting for their counteroffer. Given the number of issues on the table and that this is a year to discuss contract language the process could be a lengthy one, potentially stretching into the beginning of next year.
Regarding the calendar; while all of the final dates have yet to be negotiated it is our understanding that both sides anticipate a start date next year no earlier than this year's start date of August 22.
The negotiations team will continue to include updates via the week in review and the site representatives will receive a live report during the monthly rep meetings (which every member is welcome to attend). Our goal is to keep everyone in the loop while maintaining the same rules we hold the other side to.
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
Over this past week I attended/worked with unit members in representations, contract resolutions, email/text/phone call questions, site concerns, and mediations . Here are a couple of highlights from my week:
Last Friday, I attended the second annual CFT EC/TK-12 Retreat for local leaders in California. At this meeting we discussed membership communication strategies, activist opportunities, problem solving of shared challenges, and contract language exchanges. This is my second time attending this event and I have found it useful in building a support network of like-minded leaders who I can rely on for helpful suggestions and best practices. EC/TK-12 districts and unions have undergone tremendous innovations and challenges in recent years and it is vitally important that local leaders get additional support from CFT state affiliates in times of change.
On Sunday, I flew to Washington D.C. to participate in the AFT PPC (Program and Policy Committee). I was nominated for the AFT PPC when I became ABCFT President and I have served at the request of AFT President Randi Weingarten for the past six years. The PPC is a sort of think tank for AFT and it is also a place where selected local leaders can share best practices. The ABC Federation of Teachers is a respected well functioning union is held in high regard within the educational community. I have had the pleasure to share our practices and stories with teachers and union leaders from Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Cleveland, St. Louis, Toledo, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Los Angeles just to name a few. As a mid-size local, ABCFT does some extraordinary outreach to members so that teacher voice is heard in most decisions in ABC. I'll have a special report on the PPC next week on what I learned last week and about a court case that will negatively impact unions throughout the country in the coming years. More on these important issues mid-week.
On Thursday,I took care of some specific member issues around salary and compensation and prepared for the ABCFT Rep Council.
On Friday, Tanya and I met with the teachers and staff of the Tracy Infant Center. This center is the first school and care for future of almost one hundred ABC students and crucial as a pipeline of support for families and their children. We discussed the value of their program and some concerning issues that have come to my attention recently. I am actively working on the issues they outlined.
Have a great weekend and we will see you back here next week.
In Unity!
Ray Gaer
ABCFT President
or
(ABC Federation of Teachers)
Or
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
A Report by the Secretary Treasurer - By Jeffery Freitas
The ABC Federation of Teachers, as you know, is part of the California Federation of Teachers (CFT), the American Federation of Teacher (AFT), and the AFL-CIO. Part of my job as the Secretary Treasurer of the CFT is to represent the members at various meetings. As Ray has asked me to write a section of his weekly blog, I thought I would let you know what I have been doing recently to represent you, the members. Actually, not so much as what have I been doing but more what has your union been doing to make us stronger.
Last week, I attended, as did Ray, the EC/TK-12 Retreat with a dozen plus local leaders. This retreat was put together by Rico Tamayo with help from the division council’s executive board. It was a great opportunity for local leaders to learn about creating more effective locals. There were sessions on achieving goals for the various locals, including the breakdown of setting goals, creating strategies, and distinguishing and using appropriate tactics. Another session on comparing contract language in highly targeted issues. And still another on the general needs of a union leader. Plus there was time to network and talk to the other leaders to catch up on the various topics of the day. It was an excellent program that allowed each leader to leave with valuable information.
But before the retreat, I went to a lunch meeting with the board of Inside California Education in Sacramento. Have you ever heard of Huell Howser? If you have, then you would understand the type of show Inside California Education is, because many have compared this show about public education in California to Huell Howser’s Discovering Gold. They have finished and aired all of season 1. You can watch all of the episodes, see the stories they have produced, and check out other resources at www.insidecaled.org. Some of the shows’ topics include Transition Kindergarten, Day in the Life of a School Librarian, and On the Right Note (a school band program). They are now working on Season 2. These are aired on all of the PBS stations in California focusing on the amazing work that our public education is providing for the youth. CFT’s connection to the program is that we are supportive sponsor. If you have any ideas that you would like to suggest, let me know and I will pass them on. They are always hunting for great topics. Also, let me know what you think of the shows, they are interested in feedback as well.
Then I was off to DC, but this time for the AFT meetings. I often attend the AFT Executive Board meetings with Joshua who is an AFT Vice President. What was striking this time, especially in light of the recent political crisis, natural disasters, and the mix of those two, was a heartfelt presentation of the work of the AFT to help our members and communities affected by these crisis. AFT represents members in Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Florida, and Texas, among many of the places that were hit by the recent hurricanes. AFT jumped into action to help our sisters and brothers in these devastated places. Here are few of the actions reported at the executive council: AFT has a texting program that was used to reach out to people immediately after the storms have moved on in Florida; AFT helped coordinate relief and crisis centers in Houston; and AFT worked with other unions to figure out how to get nurses and doctors, transportation experts, mental health professionals, and general help to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The stories at the executive council were heart wrenching but they told the real tragedies and heroic actions that occurred. And those that had personal connections thanked AFT for their caring and effort. Support is still needed and you can help by contributing here www.aft.org/disaster-relief-fund.
These are but a few of the meetings and events that I have attended over the last couple of weeks. As this is the first time that I have written in this blog, I wanted to give you a sense of not just what I am doing, but more importantly what your union is doing. Keep up the great work at ABC. And, if you are attending the ABC West Coast Labor/Management Conference, I will see you there.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT Nurses and Health Professionals Travel to Puerto Rico
to Volunteer for Care and Relief Efforts
Latest in AFT’s Efforts to Support Relief Efforts in Puerto Rico
WASHINGTON—More than 24 American Federation of Teachers nurses, health professionals and public employees from across the country boarded a plane to Puerto Rico today to provide direct care and assist with relief efforts. They are part of a volunteer delegation of more than 300 union electricians, equipment engineers and other workers on a flight donated by United Airlines.
The AFT represents 40,000 educators in Puerto Rico, members of the Asociación de Maestros de Puerto Rico (AMPR), and has been engaged in providing aid and support since the hurricane hit, including providing direct financial assistance to members and AMPR, providing and coordinating the distribution of supplies, and getting schools opened as community centers.
“These nurses and health professionals represent who we are as a union—caring and springing into action to help people when needed,” said AFT President Randi Weingarten. “To the people of Puerto Rico, tu lucha es mi lucha; your fight is our fight. We will be with you every step of the way to ensure our members and the people of Puerto Rico are cared for, the island is rebuilt, and public schools are reopened.”
Llamara Padro-Milano is a 40-year veteran nurse and one of the AFT members headed to Puerto Rico today. She works at the State University of New York’s Upstate University Hospital at the Community Campus in Syracuse.
“I did not hesitate to volunteer for this humanitarian mission,” said Padro-Milano. “I was born in Puerto Rico, my family is there, and they suffered through the worst of it. Thank God they are OK. This is my opportunity to give back to the people and the island I love with the hands and heart of a nurse.”
The AFT delegation includes nurses and health professionals from Arizona, New Jersey, New York, Oregon and Vermont and will be providing direct care at hospitals and clinics for two weeks.
Beyond our delegation of nurses and health professionals, the AFT has been working to provide relief and support to our members and the people of Puerto Rico since the hurricane hit, including:
· Texting and calling members to ensure their safety, identify the support they need and provide support to help them;
· Providing direct financial assistance to members and our affiliate through the AFT Disaster Relief Fund;
· Working closely with first responders sent to Puerto Rico by New York City and New York state. As part of that partnership, we have set up the union’s headquarters in San Juan as a relief distribution center and are coordinating on logistics for getting the supplies being sent by AFT affiliates consolidated at the union offices so they can be distributed to the public. The AFT is working with our affiliate to set up additional distribution centers across the island to help distribute aid to the public and provide logistical support for teachers as they return to their school buildings;
· Working out an agreement between the AFT, AMPR and the Department of Education to allow teachers to do their work supporting the AFT’s / AMPR’s relief efforts at schools and distribution and relief centers;
· Working with AMPR and Puerto Rico’s superintendent of education to help reopen schools, which are centers of stability and safety in communities throughout the island. Twenty-two schools will now open as community centers to help nurture people and get supplies out; and
· Gathering, funding, and preparing health and safety materials to ship to Puerto Rico to ensure that students and staff are safe when they enter school buildings.
Today’s flight departed Newark Liberty International Airport at 11 a.m. Eastern time and arrived at San Juan Luis Munoz Marin International Airport at approximately 2:45 p.m. Eastern time. The flight also transported more than 30,000 pounds of emergency relief supplies.
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
NATIONAL NEWS
U.S. schools preparing for students from storm-hit Puerto Rico
Some of the largest school districts in Florida are preparing for the possibility of an influx of students from Puerto Rico nearly a week after a hurricane hit the island. "We are saddened to hear of the impact Hurricane Maria had on Puerto Rico and the difficulties many families are experiencing," said Lorena Hitchcock, the spokeswoman for Orange County public schools - the district that covers Orlando. The district plans to waive documents necessary for enrollment to ensure students have an easier transaction, and to make it easier for families to receive such additional services as counseling and food, students will be registered and coded into the district's system automatically.
Opinion: The ‘accountability movement’ is a charade
The Washington Post’s education correspondent Valerie Strauss says the school “accountability movement” has relied in large part on standardized test scores to evaluate students, schools, teachers, principals and districts. It started under the No Child Left Behind Act, which went into effect in 2002 under President George W. Bush, and led to classrooms dominated by test prep and a severe narrowing of the curriculum to a primary focus on reading and math. She says there are big questions that remain about the test-based movement, including why it was allowed to happen, and she highlights a book by Daniel Koretz, the Henry Lee Shattuck professor of education at Harvard University, called ‘The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools Better’.
Voters want early childhood education as priority
According to a new poll of California residents, nearly 90% of California voters want the next governor of the state to commit to improving early childhood education by putting more money into programs for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. The poll is a part of an advocacy campaign led by the Silicon Valley Community Foundation’s Center for Early Learning which aims to ensure that early childhood education is a key campaign issue. “The data is clear - early childhood education stands out as a priority among California voters,” Avo Makdessian, vice president and director of the foundation, said. “Voters old and young, rich and poor, Democrat, Republican and independent voters and all agree California’s next governor must address this issue and invest more in early care and education for our young children.”
Trump appoints deputy secretary for education
President Trump has nominated Mitchell Zais as deputy secretary of education, one of only a handful of positions the president has filled in the department to support Secretary Betsy DeVos. Zais is a former state superintendent of South Carolina who opposes the Common Core State Standards and who in 2016 called Jeb Bush “the only candidate” prepared to be president. Zais is also a strong supporter of school choice, pushing a bill in 2012 to expand charter schools and calling it his top legislative priority. He also backed a tax credit scholarship program for students with special needs that launched in 2014 and uses public funds to pay for private and religious school tuition.
STATE NEWS
Brown called on to do more for campus sexual assault victims
Gov. Jerry Brown is being urged to sign into law a bill that would require California schools, from K-12 to college-level, to more rigorously address sexual violence and harassment in schools. Senate Bill 169 authored by state Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, would put into state law Obama-era regulations requiring schools that receive financial assistance, under Title IV anti-discrimination law, to develop stronger procedures for handling sexual harassment and violence complaints. “Women are raped and sexually assaulted far more often than perpetrators are falsely accused,” Jackson said. “Contrary to Secretary DeVos’ claims, the Obama administration guidelines created, for the first time, a fair, equitable and clear process for students and schools to effectively respond to rape and sexual assault while protecting both the accused as well as the victim.”
Voters warming to school vouchers which will defund public education
According to a survey by the University of California-Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies, 69% of voters said low-income families do not have much school choice, and so they favor offering tax credits or vouchers to low-income parents for sending their children to private or religious schools. The poll also found that 57% of voters approve of the state de-emphasizing the role of standardized tests in evaluating schools. Recently, a statewide poll by the Public Policy Institute of California found that 60% of California adults and 66% of public school parents favored giving parents tax-funded vouchers to use at any public, private or parochial school. “A private school is out of the question” because it’s unaffordable, said Kerry Rosado, a parent in Franklin-McKinley SD in San Jose. “If you apply to a charter school, there’s no guarantee you get in.”
California now a sanctuary state
The Governor of California, Jerry Brown, has signed legislation to bar state law enforcement officials from enforcing federal immigration law, making the state a sanctuary for illegal immigrants in the country. The measure will bar California police and sheriffs from asking about a detainee’s immigration status and will also block those agencies from complying with detainer requests from federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. "These are uncertain times for undocumented Californians and their families, and this bill strikes a balance that will protect public safety, while bringing a measure of comfort to those families who are now living in fear every day," Brown said in statement.
DISTRICTS
District prepared to pay $2m day for substitute teachers
Fresno USD says it is prepared to pay $2m a day for substitute teachers if the Fresno Teacher's Association makes good on a threat to strike. "It's crucial that the district remain prepared to keep our schools open safe and functional through the duration of any potential work stoppage," said Bob Nelson, the district’s superintendent.
Fresno teachers authorize strike
Fresno USD teachers have voted overwhelmingly to authorize their union to call a strike if protracted contract negotiations fail to come up with an agreement that meets their demands. “I don’t want to strike, but I will if I need to,” said Jon Bath, a teacher at Sunnyside High School and head of the Fresno Teachers Association’s negotiating team. This is the first time that the district’s teachers have voted to strike since 1978.
Uneaten LAUSD food can now be donated
Governor Jerry Brown has signed a new law that will allow Los Angeles USD to donate uneaten food to food banks instead of discarding it. As a result of the bill, “even food and milk that has been served will be put to good use instead of thrown away and wasted,” said LAUSD superintendent Michelle King. “In a district as large as ours, these food donations will provide greater access to nutritious foods while also helping to reduce child hunger.” A 2015 study by the district showed that LAUSD schools were throwing out 600 tons of uneaten food a week, much of it milk. Board members commended the bill, with Scott Schmerelson, representing schools in the West Valley, saying: “L.A. Unified has made a lot of progress limiting food waste. SB 557 will provide even more options for avoiding waste and feeding the hungry.”
BEHAVIOR
Immigration crackdown traumatizing students
Teachers and administrators have said the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is having an effect in California’s classrooms, with schools reporting increased absenteeism and students having difficulty concentrating, even crying in class. “We may see it all as rhetoric and posturing, but I’ve witnessed kids from elementary school to college level stressed out and traumatized,” said Alejandra Acuna, an assistant professor at Cal State Northridge who studies trauma among urban youth. “We’ve got 8-year-olds worried their parents will have to go back to Mexico. I saw one student literally crying in the elevator. If you’re undocumented, it’s not just rhetoric - it’s about survival.”
TECHNOLOGY
Technology not necessarily increasing student achievement
Researchers at the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab, part of the economics department of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has found that handing out laptops to students, providing high-speed internet access or buying most other kinds of hardware doesn’t on its own boost academic outcomes. The research also shows that student achievement doesn’t rise when kids are using computers more, and it sometimes decreases. However, the researchers did find that students who have computers use them more, and become more adept at clicking and typing, but it remains an open question whether tech-savvy students will be better workers in the future.
LEGAL
Supreme Court to hear case that could affect public employees
The Supreme Court is to hear an Illinois lawsuit that challenges the ability of public-sector unions to collect so-called agency fees - the charges that public sector unions in California collect from all employees they represent, regardless of whether workers want to belong to the bargaining group. Eric Heins, president of the California Teachers Association, said the move was “the culmination of decades of attacks on working people by corporate CEOs, the wealthiest 1% and the politicians that do their bidding to rig the economy in their favor, and its outcome could further send our country in the wrong direction.”
OTHER
California educators among Las Vegas victims
Three California school workers were among the people killed in the Las Vegas shooting massacre, school officials have said. Jennifer Parks, a kindergarten teacher in Palmdale was in her third year at Anaverde Hills School in Westside USD, while Sandy Casey taught special-education at Manhattan Beach Middle School for nine years. Susan Smith, a Simi Valley USDschool office manager, was also killed.
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