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| EDP Teachers showing their holiday spirit at their staff meeting! |
ABCFT Week in Review – December 15, 2017
ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...
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FEDERAL TAX REFORM - GET THE DETAILS (link updated regularly)
To get the details on how the current tax reforms will impact your household, you can go to the web link below for updated information as negotiations for tax reform develop over the next month. Stay informed about how changes will impact all Americans.
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CURRICULUM LINK OF THE WEEK - Grammarly.com
Have you always worried that your grammar skills might of missed something in your writing? This week we have a great resource for anyone who writes email, papers, reports, research. Go to the website called https://www.grammarly.com/ and try out a trial run. Grammarly is intuitive, easy to navigate and will help you correct that passive voice into active voice once and for all.
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. If you send an idea or link and we use it in the Review, we will send you a Starbucks gift card for the helpful hint.
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ABCFT NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE -
The ABCFT negotiations team met with the District negotiating team two days this week. We hope to have the compensation package complete early next year after the Winter Break. Our next dates for meeting are the week of January 22nd. If you read Dr. Sieu's weekly message you know that she is working closely with the new board members to get them up to speed on negotiations and all the other components of the District's operations. The next board meeting is on January 16th and it is when this new board will have its first look at the ABCFT compensation proposal and will create the District counterproposal. In the meantime, ABCFT and ABCUSD are going negotiating parts of the Master Contract to address needed changes.
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer
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 is what I do every week but.....
This weekly blog is not perfect and I'm still learning as we go here, but that is no excuse. I started this blog to get more up to date information and issues out to members in a timely manner and as we continue to add components I feel we are starting to bridge the gap of understanding between members on just what the Union reps, executive board and president do to protect and advocate for teachers. However, in my reporting sometimes things just come out wrong as I react emotionally late on a Friday . I'm not talking about my misspelling of Carmenita nor when I occasionally forget to check my grammar. I'm talking about a message that hurts the feelings and trust of a school staff unintentionally.
On November 9th, I reported about a very informative and special talk I had with staff members of Furgeson Elementary and in this particular segment I focused on the behavior of students. In my report it sounds like I'm saying that these things are only happening at Furgeson and that just isn't true. There are individual challenging students throughout the district that staffs are dealing with with the current supports. For example, Furgeson Elementary is a third year PBIS school with incredible staff supports and an intervention team that works countless hours to resources to parents, students, and teachers. Furgeson has the statistics to show that they are making a difference in how students behave and treat others. I know that the excellent work at Furgeson is being replicated at all the school sites across the district as all schools complete the Tier 1 trainings for PBIS. Throughout the district, teachers are doing incredible interventions and principals are doing everything in their power to support their staffs.
My careless delivery of a message about concerns for extreme individuals got the attention of Furgeson's Principal Alex Gutierrez. He was composed when we spoke , but I could feel and see the disappointment and anguish I had caused the Furgeson staff by making it sound like Furgeson was having difficulty with students and that they weren't being supported. That is just False and that was not my intended message. This is especially true because Furgeson is highly successful and groundbreaking in its implementation of PBIS. This is a great staff who bared their collective soul to me and I misrepresented that tragically and for any hurt or breach of trust I've committed I am truly sorry.
At the time, was trying to shed light on the fact that teachers are doing great things to support student behaviors in a positive way at all schools, but there are individual extreme cases at every school in the District. No school is exempt. By talking about a shared concern or situation among teachers across the district I was hoping to create dialogue between teachers and administrators to look for solutions in these individual cases. How do we support each other during a crisis situation and what protections do we have in these extreme student cases? What are a teacher's protections and what can be done to help a student get proper placement or support services to help them be successful?
To some degree, together we have been successful. The ABC School District is taking a hard look at how we deal with those student situations that are extreme and distressful for teachers in their classrooms. The Superintendent's Administrative Cabinet is talking about solutions because teachers have opened up and shared their stories, their frustrations, and their desire to help all students. I believe that because of teacher voice we will see more supports and resources to help all teachers and students.
I'm no professional writer, but I do have a responsibility to take ownership of my messages. If I screw up, let me know because that's what makes me a better president and advocate for you the teacher in the classroom with the students. Keep me relative and keep me real by reaching out to me during good times and bad.
I won't be perfect but I try my best to be perfect in how I represent your stories, concerns, and beliefs of the ABC Federation of Teachers.
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
Raoul Teilhet Scholarship for CFT Members
The Federation is pleased to announce that we are celebrating 20 proud years of our Raoul Teilhet Scholarship Program. This program has produced an enduring benefit of membership and remains a fitting tribute to former CFT President Raoul Teilhet.
The union is now accepting applications for the 2018 Scholarship Program. Since the program was established in 1997, the CFT has helped hundreds of students achieve their higher education goals by awarding them Raoul Teilhet Scholarships.
High school seniors and continuing college students who are children or dependents of CFT members in good standing are eligible to apply. Scholarships in the amounts of $3000 or $1000 are awarded for any one year of higher education.
Applications can be downloaded from our website, and members may call any of our offices to request that an application be mailed to them. Please take a few minutes to read the application so that you know the type of information applicants are asked to provide. Members will be asking the local union president to sign the Member Verification Form to confirm that the parent or guardian of the applicant is a union member. (See page 7 in the applications.)
There are two applications and two deadlines
Share these flyers with your members
Despite regular notices in California Teacher, we urge you to publish scholarship information in your newsletters and on your websites so that those who are interested can take advantage of this opportunity and excellent member benefit.
• Flyer about the CFT Raoul Teilhet Scholarship Program
• Flyer summarizing all union scholarships available to you and your members’ dependents.
In Unity,
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AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
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AFT’s Weingarten on FCC’s Ending of Net Neutrality
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WASHINGTON— Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on the Federal Communications Commission’s decision to end net neutrality:
“Today is a shameful day because the FCC’s decision will widen inequality, lessen opportunity and hurt kids. The FCC voted for profit over the public good.
“Think about the nurses who won’t be able to download medical images to treat patients, the university faculty and graduate employees denied access to non-commercial research, the teachers without access to free lesson sites like Share My Lesson that help kids, and the public employees destined to queue behind private businesses.
“Absolutely no one—besides massive corporations and their lobbyists—asked for this change. The FCC’s Republican appointees have ignored their job to put the public interest first. Equal access to the internet is a right, not a privilege extended only to the rich while the rest of America battles in the slow lane, a principle that three of five FCC members ignored.”
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AFT Leaders on Doug Jones’ Win in Alabama
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Joint statement by Jefferson County AFT President Marrianne Hayward, Alabama State University Faculty-Staff Alliance Co-president Derryn Moten, Birmingham AFT President Richard Franklin and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten on Doug Jones’ election to the U.S. Senate:
“Decency and respect triumphed last night in Alabama. Doug Jones campaigned on a commitment to improve people’s lives, undergirded by the values of equality and opportunity. He exposed the false promises, empty rhetoric and moral corruption of his opponent. Alabamians responded across party lines, turning out in record numbers to stand up for their state and their communities. This result is a repudiation of hatred and divisiveness and a victory for democracy and civility. Doug Jones will be a valuable addition to the Senate, and the AFT will have his back as he advocates in Washington for the righteous principles and policies he’s fought for all his life.”
AFT President Randi Weingarten on the Fifth Anniversary
of the Sandy Hook Shooting
WASHINGTON— Statement of AFT President Randi Weingarten on the fifth anniversary of the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.:
“Today we remember the educators and young children who were violently gunned down in their classrooms five years ago in Newtown. We remember Charlotte, Anne Marie, Josephine, Dawn, Daniel, Caroline, Avielle, Ana, Rachel, Madeleine, Jessica, Catherine, Victoria, Noah, Benjamin, James, Emilie, Mary, Lauren, Allison, Chase, Dylan, Jesse, Olivia, Jack and Grace. We remember the courageous actions by educators and school staff to save their students by hiding them in closets and bathrooms, helping them flee out of windows and shielding them with their own bodies. We remember the school custodian who ran ahead of the gunman locking classroom doors to keep him out and keep people safe. We remember the pain and the mourning. We remember how the community of Newtown united to heal and support one another, and the work of our local unions to make sure teachers, school staff and children had the supports they needed to treat their trauma, feel safe and secure, and allow them to get back to teaching and learning. And we also remember the inaction by lawmakers to prevent people from having easy access to deadly assault weapons.”
NATIONAL NEWS
Education Department cancelling debt relief for defrauded students
According to the Office of Inspector General, an independent body within the US Education Department, the department has stopped cancelling student debts for people defrauded by failed for-profit schools. The agency under Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has received 25,991 debt cancellation claims, denying two and approving none. During President Barack Obama’s final months in office, the Education Department received 46,274 claims, approving 27,986 and denying none. Senator Patty Murray, the senior Democrat on the Education Committee, said: "Hundreds of thousands of students were defrauded and cheated by predatory colleges that broke the law, but today's report confirms Secretary DeVos tried to shirk her responsibility to these students and shut down the borrower-defense program, leaving them with nowhere to turn."
Low expectations for disabled students must end, DeVos says
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has said too many students with disabilities are caught in a cycle of low academic expectations and that the status quo of schools doing the minimum legally required to educate them must end. “Too often, the families of disabled children have felt that their children are not being adequately challenged academically or given the support needed to grow and thrive,” DeVos said. “To these parents, it often seems as if the school district is content with simply passing their child along, rather than focusing on helping him or her progress and grow academically.”
Education bill targeting Obama-era regulations
Republicans in Congress have begun work on an extensive rewrite of the law that governs the nation’s system of higher education, in an attempt to dismantle Obama administration regulations designed to protect students from for-profit colleges and to repay the loans of those who earned degrees from scam universities. The bill “addresses many of the ill-conceived mandates handed down by the Obama administration in favor of policies that will allow higher education to meet the current needs of students,” said Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina. Republicans argue that the changes are long-overdue reforms to a system that doesn't adequately serve the needs of students, employers or the economy, but many Democrats called the bill a “war on students” saying that Republicans refused for months to engage in talks about reauthorizing the bill, which they call a giveaway to the for-profit industry.
Republicans drop tax bill student loan provisions
Tax bill provisions that were criticized by students and educators as making college less affordable have been dropped by Republican lawmakers. An updated version of their tax reform bill leaves in place the deduction for interest on student loans and also leaves out taxing graduate-school tuition waivers. Terry Hartle, from the American Council on Education, welcomed the news, saying: "If true, this is welcome for the millions of students who use these benefits every year to help them finance a college education. And since a highly educated workforce is in America's interest, it's good news for the country as well."
STATE NEWS
Quarter of districts fall short on new dashboard
California’s new school report cards, the first grading public schools in four years, show that around a quarter of the state’s school districts fall short in serving students in at least one strand of the criteria assessed. The colour-coded, five-tier rating system replaces the Academic Performance Index. Some commentators say the new structure makes comparison of the state’s schools far harder than the previous set-up. Scott Roark, spokesman for the California Department of Education (CDE), insisted that the new dashboard is aimed to “identify groups of students that are struggling,” and is not “a tool for ranking districts, or comparing them.” Eight districts, the Daily News highlights, including Sacramento City USD, Twin Rivers in Sacramento County, Oakland USD and Salinas Union HSD, have four student groups designated for assistance, while the Herald notes that the CDE recognised Monterey County as needing extra help at Salinas City Elementary, Salinas Union High,Greenfield Union Elementary, King City Elementary and South Monterey County Joint Union High, as examples among the 228 state districts identified for “differentiated assistance”.
Wildfires: Some schools closed until after New Year
Many school districts in Santa Barbara County have decided to cancel classes this week following the wildfires sweeping Southern California, and several of those districts - including Carpinteria,Montecito, Cold Spring, Santa Barbara, Hope Elementary and Goleta - will be closed until after the New Year. Lompoc USD said all schools and facilities, including after-school programs, will be closed Monday with classes expected to resume on Tuesday, while UC Santa Barbara Chancellor Henry T. Yang has announced that the university has postponed final exams until next year. Elsewhere, the San Diego County Office of Education has released a list of school districts that have confirmed closures for Monday, including Bonsall USD, Fallbrook Union ESD and Mountain Empire USD.
DISTRICTS
L.A. sticks with early start for school
Los Angeles USD’s school board has voted 4 to 3 in favor of a mid-August school start and a first semester that will end before a three-week winter break. Board members George McKenna and Richard Vladovic argued for a later school start and ending the first semester after the winter break. “People leave the district because we don’t meet their needs,” Vladovic said. “Parents want more time in the summer with their children.” However, board member Nick Melvoin said district staff members had evaluated the pros and cons and many concurred that an early start could give high school students more time to prepare their college applications. Melvoin, Kelly Gonez and board President Monica Garcia of the body’s charter-friendly bloc joined with retired principal Scott Schmerelson to form a majority.
District and teachers reach impasse
The Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers has declared an impasse in contract negotiations with Pajaro Valley USD, making it likely that a state-appointed mediator will be called to help resolve the dispute. According to the district’s assistant superintendent, Chona Killeen, the impasse process begins with a neutral mediator who helps the sides craft an agreement, but it that proves unsuccessful, the parties proceed to fact-finding, in which a panel considers arguments from both sides and makes recommendations.
District’s special education program reviewed
Following a review of Berkeley USD’s special education program, Educational Strategic Planning LLC has released a report with recommendations to improve communication, family school relations, fiscal accountability, the role of the principal and the overall full-inclusion delivery stem. The report cites a lack of procedures and policies for the program, which it says “hinders interdepartmental communication and affects systems that support efficient special education operations.”
District to look at $2m in cuts
A Sonoma Valley USD school board meeting this week will take the first steps in addressing the $2m that needs to be cut from next year’s budget. Some of the measures the district will be looking at include class sizes, administration staffing and retirement incentives.
Oakland approves $9m in cuts
Oakland USD’s school board has approved $9m in midyear budget cuts, with members voting 6-1 in favor of the resolution. The resolution calls for school sites to cut $3.8m with the remaining $5.2m in cuts to be taken from the central office, but district officials said school-based services that come out of the central office budget - including custodians, nurses, counselors - will not be cut. “We tried to make cuts away from the school and students as much as possible,” said superintendent Kyla Johnson-Trammell.
WORKFORCE
Teaching union approves contract
The Sacramento City Teachers Association has ratified a three-year contract after Sacramento City USD agreed to increase pay and work toward improving classroom conditions. However, superintendent David Gordon warned that the new contract would push the district’s reserves so low in two years it must propose new cuts to avoid being placed on the state’s early financial warning list. The three-year contract, which began retroactively in the 2016-17 school year, will cost the district an estimated $25.7m, said spokesman Alex Barrios.
TECHNOLOGY
Online game to help improve English and math - link in the story
The Coastline Community College, nationally recognized as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance by the National Security Agency and the Department of Homeland Security, recently unveiled a new video game designed to help high school students improve their English and math skills. “This new Cyber Attack game is a great tool for our students to further enhance themselves,” said principal David Martinez. “The arcade-like features allows a fun way for our students to master concepts they need to know not only for their college placement exams, but also the SBACs they take.”
LEGAL
Student makes free speech call over religion and science
The Democrat’s Guy McCarthy details the case of Bret Harte High student Grayson Mobley, who has called on the state Board of Education to change a policy that prohibits discussion of religion in science classes. The student’s father claims that a science teacher told his son that “any notion of God or creation needs to be left outside the classroom”, with the student insisting the stance dents his right to free speech. Glenn Branch, deputy director for the National Center for Science Education in Oakland, said district policy is in line with guidance from the California School Boards Associationand the California Department of Education.
INTERNATIONAL
France bans mobiles in schools
Jean-Michel Blanquer, the French education minister, has announced that as of September 2018, the country is to ban pupils using mobile phones in primary and secondary schools. Currently, they are only banned in classrooms but the new policy will see devices also banned during breaks and between lessons. Mr Blanquer said: “These days the children don't play at break time anymore, they are just all in front of their smartphones and from an educational point of view that's a problem.”
