Week in Review – November, 17 2017
ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...
FEDERAL TAX REFORM - GET THE DETAILS AND BE HEARD by Ray Gaer
Thanks to the American Federation of Teachers, I had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. to lobby republican lawmakers who were instrumental in the tax bill developed by the House of Representatives. On behalf of educators I discussed SALT deductions that will have Californian's paying double taxes on their State Taxes for the first time. Furthermore, in the House plan teachers won't be able to write off any expenses that they incur for their classrooms. Show me one educator that doesn't spend their own money on their students not to mention that most elementary classroom teachers spent an unselfish amount of their own money on their students. Moreover, student loan interest deductions are also being eliminated and the tax rate for corporations will decrease to 25% and businesses will be able to deduct state and local taxes. Sadly, as you know on Thursday the House passed their tax bill and we await to see what the Senate plan will look like and how it will impact middle class America.
On Tuesday I was able to meet with the following California Representative offices of: Rep. Devin Nunez from the Fresno/Tulare Counties, Rep. Ed Royce from Northern Orange County, and Rep Duncan Hunter from San Diego.
You can find the latest information on the bill and how it will impact you here: Updated article on Tax Bill
Here is an article that illustrates how the current tax reform bill will impact Californians. There are also some detailed bar graph charts illustrating the effects here: https://itep.org/housetaxplanca/
You can find the latest information on the bill and how it will impact you here: Updated article on Tax Bill
Here is an article that illustrates how the current tax reform bill will impact Californians. There are also some detailed bar graph charts illustrating the effects here: https://itep.org/housetaxplanca/
ABCFT NOVEMBER SITE REPRESENTATIVE MEETING RECAP
CURRICULUM LINK OF THE WEEK
This week we have a great resource for anyone who is a teacher. This website called Share My Lesson and it is hosted by the American Federation of Teachers. This is one of the resources that your dues money pays for and it is commonly used by many teachers throughout the county. You can find lesson plans that will fit almost any category and theme. Why reinvent the wheel when you can find it for free. Check it out here at Share My Lesson
Sharing resources and ideas are what keeps our classrooms innovative, interesting, and organized. Each week, ABCFT will highlight an education resource that we heard was great for teachers. If you have a website, book, or training that you found helpful in your classroom let us know at abcft@abcusd.us so we can share it with everyone.
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:
Monday was a travel day to Washington D.C. and all day Tuesday I spent at the nationals capital in appointments and news conference rallies advocating on behalf of ABCFT and all California Teachers. I'm always humbled to have the opportunity to speak with lawmakers and to have meaningful conversations about the ground truth on how policy impacts teachers classrooms and the students and families they serve.
After hearing the news that the Tax Bill passed the house I thought that my time may have been wasted, but then looking back on my talks with these representatives I found a silver lining. Some of these representatives sit on the Education Committee and during my conversations I was able to stress the increased extreme behaviors that students are exhibiting in districts across the country. I explained that students and parents need additional social emotional supports and interventions at the earliest stages of development. Furthermore, I conveyed that classroom teachers need support and training on how to work with these types of students and their parents. Furthermore, it's vital that teachers get the support on how to manage the stress induced by these students and the troubling situations that occur. Teachers across ABC and across the nation are taking stress leave in larger numbers due to the emotional and sometimes physical threats they are enduring on a daily basis. Here are the signs of stress that are commonly found.
On Wednesday I had my weekly meeting with Supt. Dr. Mary Sieu to discuss district wide issues and trends. Later that day I met with CTE (Career Tech Education) teachers for our monthly discussion concerning working and the development of contract language protections that will be included in this Master Contract negotiations.
On Thursday morning the ABCFT Retiree Chapter had their monthly meeting in preparation for their seasonal big bash coming in the next couple weeks. The ABCFT-R chapter has monthly meetings and some annual events that allow retired ABC teachers and nurses the opportunity to maintain connections with the people they worked with from across the district when they were ABC employees. I'll tell you one thing, they all look younger than when they worked which says something about how hard they worked in their classrooms during their day.
For lunch and after school on Thursday I met with teachers of Artesia High School my previous home before becoming president. At Artesia I was able to have meaningful discussions with about twenty teachers about salaries, health benefits, class sizes, and negotiations. One of the most important questions I got was a question from a teacher who wondered if other sites were also concerned about our salaries. My answer is no, there is discussion about salaries across the district. The concern about salaries and how they compare to other districts is the number one focus of the negotiating team. Your top salary is what your retirement will be based on so it is the most important element in any compensation package that is negotiated.
Today, I'm catching up on emails, representations, and I will be meeting with Gahr teachers for lunch and after school to discuss salary and negotiations.
Have a great well deserved Thanksgiving Break!
In Unity!
Ray Gaer
ABCFT President
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(ABC Federation of Teachers)
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AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT on Senate GOP Tax Proposal
WASHINGTON— Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on what we know so far about the Senate GOP’s tax proposal:
“Remember when President Ford told New York to ‘drop dead’? Well Mitch McConnell and the Senate Republican leadership just told the middle class in New York, New Jersey, California, Virginia and other states to do the same.
“The Senate GOP tax bill keeps the same basic strategy of the House bill—giving big tax breaks to the rich and corporations, which the middle class is left paying for. A few pieces here and there in the Senate bill are better than in the House version, but why would the Senate GOP leadership pick and choose between what help hard working families get in order to fund the same giveaways to the rich?
“And in what appears to be a petty, cruel and partisan shot at states that have elected Democratic senators, the GOP leadership is hurting middle-class families—taking a hatchet to local services like public schools, police departments and fire departments—by completely eliminating the state and local tax deduction.
“The Senate bill’s total elimination of the state and local tax deduction should be a stark warning to Republican House members that if they vote for the House bill in its current form, they are setting themselves and their constituents up to get rolled by the Senate.”
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
NATIONAL NEWS
House tax bill will see the cost of college increase by $71bn
According to an official analysis by Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, the repeal and revision of higher-education tax benefits in the bill passed this week by the House would cost students and families more than $71bn over the next decade. In a leaked letter, the committee scored the education provisions in the House bill, and those that directly benefit current students, borrowers and employees seeking college credentials amount to tens of billions of dollars in revenue for the government. “The biggest losers will be students repaying their education loans, young adults seeking graduate degrees and adults seeking continuing education to upgrade their skills in a rapidly changing labor market,” said Terry W. Hartle, senior vice president of the American Council on Education. “We’re moving in precisely the opposite direction from where we should be going.”
Number of foreign students coming to U.S. drops
A report from the Institute of International Education shows that the number of new international students entering U.S. colleges and universities fell last year and has continued to decline on many campuses, breaking a recent trend of growth. Some experts cited an uncertain social and political climate in the United States as part of the reason for the decline in enrollment. “It’s a mix of factors,” said Rajika Bhandari, head of research for the institute, which collects data on international students in cooperation with the State Department. “Concerns around the travel ban had a lot to do with concerns around personal safety based on a few incidents involving international students, and a generalized concern about whether they’re safe.”
STATE NEWS
LGBT history books for schools approved
California’s Board of Education has approved instructional materials that will teach students about the history of lesbians, gays, transgenders and bisexuals, making it the first state in the U.S. to include LGBT books in classrooms. "I am proud California continues to lead the nation by teaching history-social science that is inclusive and recognizes the diversity of our great state and nation," said State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson . "They update the teaching and learning of history and social science and convey important new information about the challenges and contributions made by individuals and ethnic groups, members of the LGBT communities, and people with disabilities."
State board approves K-8 instructional materials for history/social science
Tom Torlakson, California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction, has announced that the State Board of Education has voted to approve instructional materials for grades K–8 that teach the state’s history/social-science curriculum framework. Torlakson said the instructional materials will give students a broader understanding of history and the social sciences, provide them with current research, and equip them with the critical thinking and research skills to make up their own minds about controversial issues. "I am proud California continues to lead the nation by teaching history-social science that is inclusive and recognizes the diversity of our great state and nation," he said. "Students will benefit enormously."
California bottom of nationwide ranking of accountability
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a prominent education research and advocacy organization that disapproves of California’s approach to school accountability, has ranked the state’s new color-coded system at the bottom of a new nationwide report released this week. Fordham rated California poorly for not giving more weight to how much students’ test results improve year over year, while it criticized its current methodology to measure schools’ growth in scores. However, California State Board of Education president Michael Kirst said Fordham’s ranking judged the state’s system narrowly and failed to appreciate the totality of California’s efforts to improve outcomes for all students. “The California School Dashboard provides communities with unprecedented access to meaningful information about schools,” he said.
DISTRICTS
District approves more budget cut proposals
Monterey Peninsula USD has approved changing the schedule in its middle and high schools. The district said moving the high schools from an eight to seven-hour period and the middle schools from a six to seven-hour period will allow it to eliminate 20 positions, thereby saving $1.4m. Last month, trustees approved the elimination of 17 positions with a savings of $1.1m.
EMPLOYMENT
District and teachers union agree for mediator
Oceanside USD and the Oceanside Teacher’s Association have agreed to hire a mediator to jump-start stalled pay negotiations. “We’ve been negotiating for over 500 days,” said Cheri Sanders, associate superintendent for human resources. “We discovered that we are still a long ways apart from each other in our counterproposals.” The district serves 18,500 students at 23 schools and employs more than 2,000 teachers and other staff. Increased pension and healthcare contributions have caused spending to rise, officials said, while declines in enrollment have cut the district’s revenue.
Teachers take offence at district survey
Gemma Abels, head of the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, has criticized Morgan Hill USD leaders for devising an online survey that points to teacher salaries and retirement benefits among the main causes for its budgetary shortcomings. “I think the public might want to compare the salaries of the different employee groups in this district - our classified staff, our site management, our certificated teachers, our certificated management and our executive cabinet - before answering this survey,” Abels said.
District going out of state to recruit teachers
With a rising student population, Visalia USD is attempting to fill teaching positions across all its school sites. "Because of the teacher shortage throughout the state and lower class sizes as well as continued growth of the district, we've had to double down on our efforts," said Tamara Ravlin, assistant superintendent of human resources. To help fill the slots with the diversity the district desires, it has opted for in-state and out-of-state recruitment. "We're now going out of state to Utah, Nevada and New Mexico to get teachers to come to Visalia,"Ravlin said
CHARTER
Charter changes will affect special education
After putting pressure on Los Angeles USD, the city’s charter school leaders have won changes to the rules under which they operate. The changes allow a charter to contract with an agency other than LAUSD for special education. Critics fear that charter operators now will have the freedom to search out the cheapest agencies, regardless of standards, while charter leaders insist that the change was needed to stop the district from pressuring them to pay for special education programs that they think are inadequate or overpriced. The change could mean the district loses out if many charter schools now look elsewhere to meet their special education requirements.
