ABCFT Executive Board members at the election celebration for Olga Rios who is the new ABC School Board Trustee for Area 6 (Lakewood). Congrats to Olga for her election! For more election coverage look below for more details or go to ABCTeachernews
Week in Review – November, 9 2017
ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...
FEDERAL TAX REFORM - GET THE DETAILS AND BE HEARD
As a CFT Vice President, I will be in Washington DC next week to lobby our California Representatives on this federal tax reform bill. By clicking on the link below this posting you will be directed to your local representative, get the details on tax reform, and let your voices be heard.
Ray Gaer
ABCFT Activist - ABCTeachernews <--- link here
ABCFT Teacher Leaders Program:
The TL’s continue to meet monthly to learn the factors that influence education. Our current topic is understanding education policy and how it can have intended and unintended consequences in the classroom. Our engaging discussion about policy included academic freedom. On the ABCUSD website, we found the Board Policy about academic freedom which you can find here:
BP 4118.2A
ABC UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Board Policy (BP)
CERTIFICATED PERSONNEL
ACADEMIC FREEDOM Academic freedom includes both freedom and responsibility in teaching and freedom in learning. Both the student and the teacher have certain rights and privileges in the common search for truth and the sharing of truth when found. Both are entitled to an educational climate in which a free movement of ideas can exist, within the limits of responsibility and law, the assigned subject area, the bounds of decency and the mental maturity of pupils.
and
AR 4118.2A
ABC UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Administrative Regulation (AR)
ABC UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT Administrative Regulation (AR)
CERTIFICATED PERSONNEL
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
ACADEMIC FREEDOM
Teachers must be free to think and to express ideas, free to select and employ materials and methods of instruction, free from undue pressures of authority, and free to act within the teacher's professional group. Such freedom should be used judiciously and prudently to the end that it promotes the free exercise of intelligence and pupil learning. Academic freedom is not an absolute and does not provide license for the teacher. It must be exercised within the law and the basic ethical responsibilities of the teaching profession. Those responsibilities include: 1. An understanding of our democratic tradition and its methods. 2. A concern for the welfare, growth, maturity and development of children. 3. The method of scholarship. 4. Application of good taste and judgment in selecting and employing materials and methods of instruction.
Academic freedom is also addressed in our union contract here:
Article V: Academic Freedom Rights of Citizenship
- The district and the Union mutually confirm their commitment to and compliance with District policy relating to professional rights and academic freedom. All unit members are entitled to augment or enhance their instructional methodologies in accordance with state approved standards and the District’s strategic plan.
CURRICULUM LINK OF THE WEEK
This week we have a great resource for anyone using one to one devices. This website called Flipgrid is a video discussion platform that creates opportunities for student engagement and formative assessment. Video for student engagement and formative assessment
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.
ABC School Board Honors Olympia Chen 
At last night’s school board meeting, Outgoing ABC School Board Trustee Olympia Chen was recognized and honored for her 20 years as an ABC School Board Trustee and five times School Board President. Ms. Chen has made an indelible mark on thousands of students, parents, teachers, and community members within the ABC community. Here at ABC, we have all been positively impacted by her integrity, analytical abilities, collaborative skills, wisdom, and sincere willingness to serve her community. School Board Trustees serve many functions and one of them is to be a representatives of the district and Ms. Chen has done so with grace and tenacity, a combination of traits not often found but necessary as a local politician. It was under the tenure of Olympia Chen that the current Labor Management Partnership was founded and supported. The ABC Teachers and Nurses want to wish Olympia the best as she spends time with her children and her new granddaughter. Cheers to her service!
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:
On Monday VP of Membership, Michael Hartshorn and myself visited the staff of Furgeson during their lunches to catch up on what is happening at their school and what topics are on their mind. Throughout the grades, we heard the reoccurring theme of extreme student behaviors having a detrimental impact on the amount of instructional time for their classes. Teachers stated that they are addressing a disproportionate amount of their time addressing a few students behaviors at the cost of decreasing the amount of interaction they would have for the rest of their students. Furthermore, teacher feel unprepared to handle extreme behaviors (for example, throwing whiteboards, biting, kicking, walking around or out the doors, screaming). What we heard from the Ferguson staff mirrored what we are hearing at many schools.
Here is the classroom of Vicky Quintero who is an upper grade teacher at Furgeson.
I asked to take this picture because I wanted to illustrate the phenomenal teaching that is going on the classrooms in ABC. It doesn’t matter what school I’m visiting, the classroom presentation and the student work walls are impressive and a testament to the learning going on in your classrooms.
ABCFT is advocating for more supports and training in the area of antisocial behaviors and corrective strategies. Thank you Furgeson staff for the visit. A special shout out to Vicky Quintero and Rosa Nicasio for her help that day.
On Tuesday we had the school board election and on Wednesday I attended the school board meeting. In between those events I worked with individuals from different school on personnel issues. On Thursday, Tanya Golden and myself met with Valencia Mayfield and Beth Bray to discuss the GATE Certification Training and possible solutions on how to address the concerns of teachers currently in the first three cohorts. We will have information out shortly. Late Thursday we are having our monthly site rep meeting. Look for the talking points from this site rep meeting to be included in the next Week in Review for November 17.
As always, 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
The pros and cons of charter schools
In an opinion piece, Josh Pechthalt, the president of the California Federation of Teachers, says charter schools are now a fixture in our school system and it is only reasonable to demand that if public dollars are spent on them, communities deserve a transparent and fair system that is accountable to taxpayers and parents. Meanwhile, Dr. Laura McGowan-Robinson, the chief operating officer at the California Charter Schools Association, says charter schools are public schools designed to stimulate innovative competition to the benefit of students and ultimately California’s future, and have an important role to play in the public education system.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT President Randi Weingarten on Sexual Harassment in the
Labor Movement
WASHINGTON—Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on sexual harassment and the AFL-CIO following today’s Bloomberg story:
“You can’t talk the talk of civil rights and economic dignity without walking the walk. Unions, more than most, must understand that lesson, and we must do everything we can to ensure our workplaces are free from sexual harassment.
“That means, just as we criticized Trump and Weinstein and Ailes, we must have zero tolerance for sexual harassment in our own house. Creating clear and effective policy remedying sexual harassment is an important first step for the AFL-CIO, but it’s not sufficient. The AFL-CIO should lead, not follow, when it comes to workplace safety, which means not just reacting but creating an anti-harassment culture. Working women and their families must be able to have confidence and trust in their unions.”
AFT President Randi Weingarten on Election Results Across the Country
WASHINGTON—Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on election results from across the country:
“Last night’s election results were a clear and overwhelming rebuke of the fear mongering and race-baiting that embodies Trumpism. It was also clear that voters understood that running as a populist is not the same as acting as one or governing for the people. This election was a real ‘which-side-are-you-on?’ moment in which the candidates who demonstrated that they truly care for and will fight for people, and that they stand for public education, affordable healthcare and good jobs, overwhelmingly beat those who, like Trump, seek to campaign as a populist but serve the elites. And last night’s results were made possible by the hard work, on the ground, of union members, volunteers and candidates who talked and connected with voters, understood and listened to their legitimate anger and frustration with what is going on in our country today, and offered a path forward based on the aspirations we all share for a better life.
“Yesterday’s results were a clear repudiation of the efforts by Trump and the GOP to strip healthcare away from people, go after people’s rights, and push Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ agenda to defund and privatize public schools. And the message to Congress should be clear—don’t try to ram through a tax plan that gives massive tax breaks to the rich and corporations at the expense of the middle class.
“We celebrate every one of our members and every other volunteer who made phone calls, knocked on doors, drove people to the polls, and got out the vote to create a wave of wins across the nation. Elections matter—and we need to continue this wave and this enthusiasm through 2018 to elect even more governors, state legislators, U.S. representatives and U.S. senators who will stand with working folks and not those trying to get even richer off the backs of working families and the middle class.”
Highlights from Election 2017:
· In Virginia, AFT-endorsed candidates won all statewide elections, and Democrats gained at least 16 House of Delegates seats. The stakes of this election were enormous for working folks and for our kids—and for public education, decency and an economy that works for all.
· In New Jersey, AFT-endorsed candidate Phil Murphy won the governor’s race by 13 points, and state Sen. Steve Sweeney was overwhelmingly re-elected. These victories offer new hope and new opportunity for the people of New Jersey who for years have had a blustering bully for a governor, who disrespected educators, nurses and working people.
· In New York, a referendum calling for a state constitutional convention was defeated with more than 80 percent of the vote. It was the work of union members and allies across the state that helped educate the public and ensure victory on Election Day, despite support for the referendum early in the campaign. And in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio was re-elected, becoming the first Democratic mayor to be re-elected there since Ed Koch was re-elected in 1985.
· In Douglas County, Colo., AFT members and voters defeated Koch brother-supported, anti-public education candidates to ensure a pro-public education school board.
· In Houston, AFT members and voters elected additional pro-public education school board members, who will work with educators and families to help them continue to heal and rebuild after Hurricane Harvey, create community schools, ensure local control and fight for additional funding.
· In Maine, voters approved Medicaid expansion.
· In Washington state, Democrats regained control of the state Senate.
· School bond initiatives won across the country, including in Cincinnati, Austin and across Minnesota.
· The Republican supermajority in the Georgia Senate was broken.
· AFT-endorsed mayors won in Lawrence, Mass.; Detroit; St. Paul, Minn.; and across the country.
· AFT members were elected in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania and Virginia.
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Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
NATIONAL NEWS
DeVos may leave post early
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been unable to fill senior level positions at the Education Department and has suffered budget failures, leading some to suggest she could exit the job early. Mrs DeVos' first budget proposal, which reallocated some public funding to private school choice initiatives, failed to inspire the Republican-controlled Congress, and though she succeeded in getting a tax credit for tuition to private elementary and secondary schools in the first iteration of Republicans' tax bill, it faces opposition from conservative groups that say the credit doesn't help low-income families. Thomas Toch, the director of independent education think tank FutureEd, said that "in Washington education circles, the conversation is already about the post-DeVos landscape."
Hate at school on the rise
Teaching Tolerance, a project run by the nonprofit Southern Poverty Law Center dedicated to reducing prejudice and supporting equitable school experiences for all children in the United States, has found that there were 90-plus ‘poisonous’ incidents reported on K-12 campuses in October. The hate was targeted mainly at black people (64 incidents) through racial slurs and references to slavery, although about 20 of the assaults were anti-Semitic, usually delivered via a swastika scratched in a bathroom or painted on a school wall, but sometimes with Nazi salutes. Maureen Costello, director of Teaching Tolerance, said: “Let’s be clear: They are poisonous expressions of hate. At school, these acts should move school leaders to act decisively to restore the school community.”
Teachers’ out-of-pocket expenses affected by Republican tax bill
The “educator expense deduction”, which allows teachers and administrators to deduct $250 for out-of-pocket expenses used in classrooms and schools, is among the items that House Republican leaders have proposed to eliminate in order to simplify the nation’s tax system. “The elimination of the tax [deduction] for teachers who spend money out of their own pockets for supplies is a big blow,” said Steven Poole, the executive director of United Educators Association of Texas, an independent association representing more than 23,000 public school employees in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. “Teachers reach deep in their pockets every year for classroom supplies and this went a long way to offset their costs. It’s unfortunate but now teachers will be left on their own.”
Colleges protest against Republican endowment tax changes
Top U.S. colleges have voiced concern over a House Republican provision in the tax-overhaul bill that would impose a 1.4% excise tax on investment income at private schools with endowments worth at least $250,000 per full-time student. About 60 to 70 private schools could be affected including big names such as Princeton, Harvard and Stanford universities. “We’re deeply concerned about it and think it could be very damaging to the excellence of higher education in America,” Princeton president Christopher L. Eisgruber said. He said Princeton’s $22bn endowment is a crucial source of funding for financial aid and other operating expenses. “There’s a basic principle at stake here. You should not tax charity to raise revenue.”
DeVos assesses post-hurricane recovery efforts
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is visiting Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands this week to assess recovery and rebuilding efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, and will talk with local officials about their plans to reopen schools or find other ways to resume learning for students. Earlier this week, Julia Keleher, the island's education secretary, thanked Mrs DeVos for allocating $2m in funding to improve Puerto Rican schools. The American Federation of Teachers has been involved in recovery efforts in both Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, sending nurses and other health professionals to help, along with more than 100,000 water purifiers and loads of school supplies.
STATE NEWS
SF schools close to bottom for low income Black and Latino students
A new report from nonprofit Innovate Public Schools shows that San Francisco performs worse for low-income African American students in English than 96% of school districts in California. Low-income Black and Latino families are more likely to find better school options for their children in Los Angeles, Fresno, Long Beach and Sacramento than in San Francisco, the report states.
DISTRICTS
Suspension rates fall in California schools
State officials have said California school district suspension rates have decreased dramatically, highlighting efforts by educators to improve attendance by using more engaging instruction and effective discipline. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has unveiled figures that show the number of students suspended in California public schools has declined for the fifth year in a row. “Information is power,” Torlakson said. “Since we started collecting and publicizing this data, educators, parents and community members have worked hard to find ways to keep students in school while maintaining a safe environment.” The California Department of Education has initiated forums and workshops to make educators aware of successful alternatives to suspensions and expulsions, including “restorative justice” programs that help students understand the nature and consequences of their actions.
EMPLOYMENT
District and teacher union contract talks continue
Fresno USD and the Fresno Teachers Association will enter the second and final phase of fact-finding procedures this week as both sides work to avoid a strike. A three-person panel will evaluate the current contract on offer and give its recommendations, after which the district will give its last best and final offer.
EARLY EDUCATION
250 preschoolers expelled or suspended every day
According to findings from the nonprofit Center for American Progress, on every school day in 2016, some 250 preschool children across the country were suspended or expelled for bad behavior, and black children were more than twice as likely to be affected than other children. Rasheed Malik, a policy analyst for the Center for American Progress, said: “These disciplinary rates are particularly shocking, since suspending and expelling young children has not been shown to produce positive behavioral results. Quite the opposite, such practices can often intensify the challenges faced by these children and their parents, and have even been discussed as the first stage in a preschool-to-prison pipeline.’’
HIGHER EDUCATION
Cal State graduation rates up
Administrators have said about 7,000 more students graduated from Cal State this year than last year, and the more than 98,700 students earning undergraduate degrees was the highest figure ever in a single academic year. Cal State is aiming to lift its four-year graduation rate to 40% by 2025.
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Use of some pesticides near schools restricted
California’s Department of Pesticide Regulation has banned farmers from using certain pesticides near schools and day care centers. "These rules will help to further protect the health of children, teachers and school staff from unintended pesticide exposure," Brian Leahy, the department's director, said.
OTHER
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