Week in Review – November, 3 2017
ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...
Burbank Bulldogs Celebrates Red Ribbon Week - Pow! Bam! Boom!
Superheros and villains were the highlight of Burbank Elementary’s annual Character Parade. Teachers and staff performed an anti-drug skit in front of the students and parents. The teachers, I mean, superheroes, fought off the drug toting villains in an exciting and lively skit. The anti-drug performance was an entertaining way for students to learn about the Red Ribbon Week message.
CURRICULUM LINK OF THE WEEK
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.
This week we have a great resource for anyone teaching science. This website has informative games for students to reinforce what you’ve covered in class. We found the games engaging and something to keep students interested in where you’re going in your curriculum.
LEGISLATIVE UPDATE by Jill Yasutake - Wittmann Elementary Teacher, ABCUSD Legislative Committee, Negotiation Team, and ABCFT Teacher Leader
- During the monthly committee meeting, the admissions policy was aligned with California School Boards Association (CSBA) recommendations for admission into our schools. The new language regarding homeless, foster, military, and juvenile court school students was added. The district cannot deny enrollment, ask for social security numbers, or discriminate against families who do not have health care coverage.
- Due to the national email incidents, public records requests for emails have increased. Our last update on district records was done in 1989. Our emails are public records and can be requested.The district will need to update current policies and procedures to address the requests for public records and add the technology component. Teachers need know that our emails are considered public records. When you use your personal device to check emails, text other about school business, and use your personal device for email, this can be subject to begin a “public record.” Furthermore, ANYTIME you use the District Wi-Fi it to answer email or text they also become part of the “public record.” Protect yourself and monitor your email activity when using any function of the ABC Google Ecosystem. Note that all emails are deleted after three years unless you personally save them.
NEGOTIATION UPDATE
This week the ABCFT Negotiating Team met with ABCUSD to discuss a compensation package for the 2017-18 school year. We are still in the preliminary process and hope to have a compensation package for ratification early 2018. Historically, ABCFT/ABCUSD have agree to compensation packages in Feb/March but we hope to have this wrapped up sooner this year.
Correction: In a previous Week in Review for October 14th we wrote “Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) accounts for 8% of the ABCFT revenue.” This should of said “Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) accounts for 8% of the ABC School District revenue.”
Health Benefits Follow up Question
A member asked: According to that chart, other districts such as Inglewood and Santa Monica contribute more to receive similar or less health benefits than we do, yes?
ABCFT Response Thank you for the email question. The amount of money listed annually is the big take away from this chart. ABC is at the top end of this chart because we have a fully paid floating cap with our paid family Kaiser coverage. Only a small portion of those districts listed have a non-fee health plan these days and lower end class sizes. Compared to other LA County districts, ABC has both a good health plan, lower class sizes and we have the fourth highest salary in LA County. The hard part for a district and a union is to balance all three factors. For example, this year El Rancho in Pico Rivera just gave up their floating cap (teachers will now have to pay for health) and increased their class sizes. Many union members we not happy with this settlement but it passed with a 65% approval. ABCFT believes that once employees give away concessions on health benefits they never get them back, so for ABCFT this topic is a sacred cow to be guarded.
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:
This week I played catch up on local situations around the district that were going on during the two day conference we hosted last week. On Monday, I was in negotiations with ABCUSD till noon and then I worked with the ABCFT Negotiating Team till about three going over proposals, language, and debriefing from the morning session of negotiations. On Tuesday, I met with a number of CTE teachers from Artesia High School to discuss developments that have happened over the last month and to check the status of their classes. In all honesty these CTE teachers have way too many students in their classrooms and I can see signs that these experts in their fields will leave ABC if the current classroom situations continue. ABCFT is working in negotiations to secure better working conditions for these teachers but in the meantime their curriculums are suffering. Wednesday I was sick
On Thursday and Friday I worked on several personnel cases and scheduled representations.
One representation of a teacher this week illustrated to me the value of communication and of getting people together to discuss solutions. With the permission of the teacher I called a meeting with the administrators to clear up some miscommunications that I found happening. This meeting took about an hour. The result of the meeting was that there were clearer expectations from the administrators but also more importantly the teacher was given the dignity to show how they are professionally being proactive to meet those expectations. Prior to the meeting the conversations were mostly done through email and communicating with technology and sometimes the essence of the message can be lost or changed. This meeting took away the guessing, the hurt feelings, and the wondering of what was really being said.
My point is that face to face meetings or even a telephone call can sometimes be the easy solution to miscommunication. Miscommunication is not a new problem in the workplace, but it is important that we think about how a message is perceived because perception is EVERYTHING. To conclude about this particular meeting, the teacher left feeling better supported and heard and the administrators walked away knowing that the teacher they hired for the job was in fact being an outstanding professional who is dedicated to the students in the classroom, striving to excel. Everyone walked away satisfied with their dignity intact.
As always, have a great weekend and we will see you back here next week.
In Unity!
Ray Gaer
ABCFT President
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(ABC Federation of Teachers)
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CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Take the CFT straw poll on the California governor’s race
Our state affiliate, the California Federation of Teachers, is currently conducting a straw poll on the California governor’s race. In this brief survey, you have the opportunity to weigh in on your favorite candidate and the issues that are important to you in the upcoming election. Results will be taken into consideration in the CFT’s endorsement process.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT on GOP Tax Proposal
WASHINGTON— Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on the GOP tax proposal:
“We have long said that Donald Trump campaigned as a populist but would govern as an elitist, and the GOP-Trump tax giveaway bill released today epitomizes this view.
“Families need a tax code that is fair and doesn’t rig the economy further in favor of corporations and the rich. But Republicans have come up with a bill that does the exact opposite, handing out massive tax breaks and cutting services to help their wealthy friends—like the Koch and DeVos families—and making the middle class pay for it.
“Just do the math. They are paying for tax giveaways for big corporations by destroying the state and local deductions that middle-class families rely on to fund their local public schools, hospitals, and police and fire departments.
“And while Trump and the Republicans are massively cutting the corporate tax rate and maintaining corporate loopholes, they are raising taxes on the hardworking families in the lowest tax bracket.
“They are giving huge estate tax breaks to the Trump kids while taking away working families’ ability to deduct the costs of higher education, union dues and even the money educators spend on their classrooms.
“Because of this massive transfer of wealth to the already wealthy, many of the early reviewers are nixing this bill, including the National Association of Home Builders, the National Federation of Independent Business, and some Republican members of Congress.
“Trump said he would shake things up, but who would have thought he would hurt virtually every one of the millions who trusted him to help them? We will do everything we can to fight this bill. This is a ‘which-side-are-you-on?’ moment, and we are on the side of those who work hard to make a better life for themselves and their families. This bill fails that test.”
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Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
NATIONAL NEWS
Tax plan shakes up higher-education credits
The GOP tax bill unveiled yesterday includes a number of proposals which will have an impact on higher-education including plans to phase out the Coverdell Education Savings Accounts and merging three existing college tax credits into a single tax credit. The House tax plan would prohibit new contributions to Coverdell plans and will yield savings of $600m in the next ten years. The Republican plan would support moves by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to provide more federal funding to private schools while providing increased focus towards vocational training and apprenticeships.
Education Department withdraws Obama-era guidance documents
The Education Department is withdrawing nearly 600 policy guidance documents it says are outdated - including 72 in special education previously announced and others in offices dealing with K-12 and higher education - as part of an effort to reduce existing or planned regulations, many of them from the Obama administration. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has revoked policies and rules in higher education implemented by President Obama to protect student borrowers trying to pay for college, and has also withdrawn guidance directing schools to allow transgender children to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Sen. Patty Murray, the leading Democrat on the Senate Education Committee, said: “There can be no further question: Secretary DeVos is dead set on rolling back all the progress we’ve made for our children of color and students with disabilities.”
Trump nominates Education Department CFO
President Donald Trump has nominated the director of risk management for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), Douglas Webster, to be the Education Department’s new chief financial officer. Webster will oversee an office that advises Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on grants, procurement and financial management, if his appointment is confirmed by the Senate. This is the eighth nomination Trump has made at the Education Department, which has a total of 15 key posts to fill, according to the Partnership for Public Service.
STATE NEWS
Bullying of Muslim students on the rise
The bullying of Muslim students in California schools is on the rise according to a report from the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). Of the more than California 1,000 students between the ages of 11 and 18 surveyed for the study, more than half of them said they have experienced some form of bullying in school for their faith. “In response to every single question that we asked students, there was an increase in the amount of discrimination and hatred that they have felt in school by other peers, but also in some cases, by teachers and administrators,” said CAIR civil rights attorney Brittney Rezaei.
Teachers’ pension fund to consider divesting from gun retailers
The California State Teachers' Retirement System is to consider canceling its investments in national retail companies selling guns and ammunition banned in the state, after treasurer John Chiang argued for action following last month's Las Vegas mass shooting. "Neither taxpayer funds, nor the pension contributions of any of the teachers we represent, including the three California teachers slain in Las Vegas, should be invested in the purveyors of banned military-style assault weapons," Chiang said during an investment committee meeting.
DISTRICTS
Teachers renegotiate pay over forced larger class sizes
Berkeley High School (BHS) class sizes have exceeded the numbers set in teacher contracts this fall, leading to negotiations about pay between the Berkeley Federation of Teachers and Berkeley USD. “In the recent past we have found that even when we are able to secure teachers for additional classes in the first few weeks of school, the disruption to student schedules is very upsetting to students and families,” principal Erin Schweng said. Teacher contracts specify that BUSD will fund average class sizes of 28 students for every teacher at BHS. The current average class size is at least 28.45 students per teacher.
Dispute goes to fact-finding
Capistrano USD and the Capistrano Unified Education Association (CUEA) have still not reached a contract agreement after more than a year of negotiations, according to CUSD and CUEA officials. The process will now continue to fact-finding, where a three-person panel will review the arguments and proposals and ultimately issue non-binding recommendations. If the fact-finding process does not result in an agreement, CUSD would be able to impose its last, best and final offer, and CUEA teachers would maintain the right to strike.
Strike action looming
Teachers are threatening strike action in a dispute between Sacramento City USD and the Sacramento City Teachers Association. Union spokeswoman Nikki Milevsky said. “It really depends on how quickly the district figures out that they need to prioritize our classrooms.” The district has put an emergency replacement teacher application on its website, offering $500 a day if there is a strike.
Teachers set for strike action
The Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) has said teachers will go on strike if a deal isn’t reached with Sacramento City USD by November 8. Teachers district-wide are asking for higher wages, smaller classrooms, more art and music classes and more diversity in teacher recruitment. A spokesman for the district said: “We are disappointed that the union called a strike which is only going to hurt our kids. They should have waited for the resolution process to be completed before calling a strike.” The district also said more than 1,000 substitute teachers from around the region have already applied to fill in when the strike begins.
All districts schools to be air conditioned by 2019
San Diego USD, which recently had three half-days at some campuses because of the hot weather, says it plans to have air conditioning in all its schools by the fall of 2019. The district already had plans to air condition all classrooms along with other modernization projects over the next several years, but Lee Dulgeroff, chief of facilities, planning and construction, said complaints about the heat sped up the projects. Dulerroff said installation is underway at 35 schools, and the district will have spent $380m to complete the job in 2019. National Weather Service data shows that the average temperature from June to October in San Diego has risen 5 degrees since records began being kept in 1874.
CHARTER
LAUSD called on to reject charter applications
District officials have asked Los Angeles USD’s school board to reject an unprecedented 14 charter school applications during its meeting next week. Among the schools recommended for denial are eight existing charters from Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, the largest charter school network in L.A., that were seeking renewals. District staff have also asked the board to reject petitions by the STEM Prep and Equitas charter networks to open new schools and have also asked the board to deny a renewal for the North Valley Military Institute.
Charter school proposal rejected
Chino Valley USD’s school board has rejected plans for a new Oxford Preparatory Academy charter school which was proposed after the charter school chain’s flagship Chino school shut down in July. The district criticized the proposal for having an “unrealistic financial and operational plan” and a lack of support by anyone other than former Oxford parents.
Charter school network under fire from LAUSD
Partnerships to Uplift Communities, a local charter-school network, has been criticized by Los Angeles USD for not uncovering and reporting conflict-of-interest allegations against school board member Ref Rodriguez three years ago. The district has sent the organization a Notice to Cure, demanding that it explains why it took so long to come up with and report its allegations that Rodriguez, its co-founder, authorized and signed $265,000 in checks to a nonprofit under his control. The district also questions the time lag in reporting a separate possible conflict related to checks for about $20,000 that were allegedly signed by Rodriguez to Better 4 You Fundraising, a private company that organized fundraisers for schools.
FINANCE
District bracing for cuts
According Calaveras USD estimates, the district’s deficit has risen by $1.8m to close to $2.7m for the 2019-20 budget and it will have to implement cuts. Superintendent Mark Campbell said that he expects the cuts to cause a ripple effect throughout the community as programs and expenditures “are whittled to the bone.”
District preparing for budget cuts
Sonoma Valley USD was notified by the Sonoma County Office of Education (SCOE) last month that its practice of deficit spending must stop. Superintendent Charles Young says the district is taking the SCOE concerns seriously and is confident it will be able to trim nearly $2m from its budget in the coming year.
HEALTH & WELLBEING
Stress taking its toll on teachers
According to a survey by the American Federation of Teachers and the BTA, a national grass-roots organization focused on social justice, a long list of concerns - including school budget cuts, bullying, political discourse and the status of immigrant students - is taking a toll on teachers, with more educators now saying their mental health is suffering than just two years earlier. The survey of nearly 5,000 educators found that 86% did not feel respected by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, who has made expanding private- and charter-school choice a centerpiece of her time in office.
Vaping teens more likely to be smokers
Researchers at the University of Waterloo, Canada, have found that teenagers who use e-cigarettes are nearly twice as likely to go on to become regular tobacco smokers. They polled 44,163 pupils aged 14 to 18 in 89 schools in 2013/14 and again a year later and found that those who had used an e-cigarette in the 30 days before their first interview were more likely than non-e-cigarette users to have smoked at least one tobacco cigarette a year later, and also more likely to become daily tobacco smokers.
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