ABCFT Teacher Leaders in Sacramento - For more information, see ABCFT Members Get Active update below
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Week in Review – February 2, 2018
ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...
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In case you’ve missed previous Weeks in Review, you can find all of them here: ABCTeachernews To find previous editions, just click on “Blog Archive” which is the menu on the right and click on the specific week.
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Negotiation Update - by Ray Gaer
Okay, here we are in the month of February and still no settlement so I’m sure many of you are wondering how negotiations are going between ABCFT and ABCUSD. Here is what I can report about negotiations to keep you current without disrupting the process.
Negotiations have taken longer than normal this year however, the ABCFT Negotiating Team is happy with the progress made concerning Calendar, Master Contract and the 2017-18 Compensation package. Without giving too many details that haven’t been finalized here are the places we have made progress: a two year calendar, Master Contract clean up language, increases in stipends and hourly pay. ABCFT originally had a one year proposal but ABCFT and ABCUSD have agreed to look at the possibility of a two year compensation agreement.
Our next meetings are set for February 13th and 20th. We hope that we will be able to wrap up negotiations for this year soon. Keep an eye out for updates throughout the month and we will do our best to keep you informed about the progress of negotiations as we proceed.
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ABCFT MEMBERS GET ACTIVE
Connie Nam - ABCFT Teacher Leader
On January 30, eleven ABCFT Teacher Leaders attended California Federation of Teachers annual Lobby Day at our Capitol in Sacramento. Directly participating in the democratic process in speaking with and lobbying our local Assembly Members Ian Calderon, Anthony Rendon, Cristina Garcia, and Senator Tony Mendoza’s representative was an amazing experience. We had been given information outlining the current bills that our union sponsored to study and prepare, and we were also encouraged to share issues that we were passionate about as well. My day was intense with meetings, but what I learned was truly amazing, and I came away feeling more empowered about my place in our democracy than ever before.
I learned that our union truly fights for all of us. We support better transparency to avoid fraud and conflict of interest in charter schools as demand that they be held to the same level of accountability and transparency as expected from public schools.
We oppose the creation of an online college that would only duplicate the online classes offered by every community college. A system unlikely to benefit those individuals most prone to fail in a system that lacks student teacher interaction and hands on training courses to truly further career opportunities.
We want brand new teachers who are required to participate in induction programs to be granted tax deductions for the cost of the program since a significant number of districts do not pay for these programs.
We oppose funding that promotes merit based pay as a part of the funding formula for schools, especially when the parameters of success are not reasonable or exclusive of all the varying circumstances that we find in education.
We support due process with pay for classified employees accused of misdeeds until an investigation has ended and a finding has been made.
We spoke of the need to fund class size reductions since so many primary classes in many districts have gone back to 30 or more students.
We lobbied for a funding packing that would give us the COLA, cost of living, pay increases that are not consumed by STRS employer contributions.
We questioned the blind leap that many districts have taken into purchases of chromebooks and other devices without any research to support such expenditures all the while demanding research for everything else.
And at the end of the day, we found our legislators to be attentive and truly concerned with the issues that were presented. Many were former teachers with first hand knowledge of the challenges faced by educators. We could see they were intelligent and passionate individuals who also grappled with the issues facing our children and our state as a whole.
I know that all the teachers there were grateful for the opportunity to be so actively involved in the good work of our union, and we could see that this work of shaping legislation is truly vital to us all.
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CURRICULUM LINK OF THE WEEK
One of ABC’s Resource Specialist teacher’s wrote in and shared one of her favorite resources (your Starbucks card is on the way!)
She writes:
“I really enjoy using effective and fun APPS in class. I have a few favorites that the students like: 1. Sight Words - where students can record high frequency words and practice writing them. 2. BrainPOP Jr. (for younger students) and BrainPOP - where students have a story read to them and then are asked to answer comprehension questions. 3. Math Fact - an app that is like "flashcards" for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. 4. Alphabet - a very cute program that is interactive as students learn their ABCs.
I've used these APPS with small groups and with individual students. They are great and worth trying!”
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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PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer 
Blam! Already into February and it feels like Spring is already here. I hope some of you were able to get up early this week to see the historic red moon...it was pretty cool. This week was a schedule full of meetings and face to face contacts with a large number of members and community members.
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 Tuesday night I represented ABCFT at the ABC Education Foundations annual celebration when they hand out over over thirty five thousand dollars in grants to teachers throughout the ABC School District. On top of all the other program supports provided by the Ed Foundation they also pass out more than four hundred backpacks with supplies for ABC students at the beginning of school. ABCFT is proud to be bronze level sponsor of this education foundation’s efforts especially since almost all the money donated from throughout the community is given back to the community in the form of grants for teachers who work to provide supports and unique experiences for their students.
For most of the first part of the week my time was focused on individual sites or personnel assistance. One Wednesday, the ABC School Board had a special board meeting to discuss in depth the facilities master plan that was submitted in January by an ad hoc district facilities committee. After a short presentation (Copy of the Powerpoint here_) Board members were able to ask specific questions about the facilities report which itemised a little over 200 million dollars in facility needs for ABC school sites and programs. At the end of the night consensus was reached by the ABC School Board Trustees to follow the five recommendation that were a part of the facilities master plan. it looks as though the ABC School Board is interested in exploring another bond either in 2018 or 2020 depending on the results of the studies outlined by the Facilities Master Plan recommendations. I’m sure there will be more to report in the coming months as the plot thickens on how ABC will fix its facilities issues to have adequate learning environments for students and teachers.
On Thursday, ABCFT sponsored a focus group of Special Education teachers from the middle schools gathered for a two hour meeting at the Union Hall to discuss best practices, common concerns, ideas for improvements and the opportunity to network with district peers. ABC’s District Selpa Director Dr. William Gee was also in attendance at the request of ABCFT. Providing the opportunity for teachers to share their thoughts, solutions, and concerns was helpful for all that attended the meeting. ABCFT looks forward to working with the district to address how to streamline current practices and to help provide supports that will help all students. Next week, ABCFT will sponsor another focus group meeting with the SPED Department Chairs from the high schools to gather similar information about ABC’s special education teachers at the secondary level.
Every week it seems like we have more and more to share but it’s hard to know if we are overloading our audience so we try to streamline our content as much as possible. Please feel free to send us an email if you have any suggestions on how we can continue to improve our content.
As always, have a great weekend and we will see you back here next week.
In Unity!
Ray Gaer
ABCFT President
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
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Jen and William Ortlinghaus stand before the wreckage of their home in the wake of the devastating North Bay fires. Both are members of the Petaluma Federation of Teachers.
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Wildfires take member homes
Union provides immediate aid and comfort
After the North Bay fires destroyed more than 5,000 homes and killed dozens of people, William Ortlinghaus, who teaches physical education at Kenilworth Junior High and his wife Jen, a teacher at Valley Vista Elementary, were happy to go back to work after school had been cancelled for a week.
“It was the only normal thing we had left,” Jen said, “And my fourth graders were curious to see if we were still alive and our dogs were OK.”
Both Jen and William, members of Petaluma Federation of Teachers, were home on Sunday, October 8, the night the fires started. A power surge woke up William, and they smelled smoke. When William looked out the window, he saw the garbage bins flying down the street because of the strong wind. Their flagpole looked like it would break, so they went outside and saw the street full of cars. Then William got an alert on his phone saying their area, the badly hit Coffey Park tract, was being evacuated so they started packing.
“We thought we were just going on an overnight. I got my purse and toiletries and the pajamas I was wearing, and we put the dogs in the car. We only had five or ten minutes to get out.”
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AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT Leaders on the Resignation of the Director of US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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WASHINGTON—A statement from AFT President Randi Weingarten on the resignation of the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Brenda Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald’s resignation comes on the heels of recent questions surrounding her financial conflicts of interest:
“The CDC director has a moral obligation to protect the American people from threats to their health, safety and security. Sadly, Fitzgerald has failed to deliver on that commitment. With Fitzgerald’s continued conflicts and stock purchases involving the tobacco, insurance and pharmaceutical industries, she has put her wealth over the interests of the people she was supposed to protect.
“This behavior is unacceptable and untenable; you cannot be the director of the CDC and buy stock in companies that have a track record of putting Americans at risk. President Trump promised to drain the swamp, but today’s resignation is another example of his doing anything but.”
A statement from Wisconsin Federation of Nurses and Health Professionals President and AFT Vice President Candice Owley:
“As healthcare professionals, we must either help, or do no harm to, the patient. Sadly, our CDC director doesn’t abide by this same principle. Her financial conflict of interests put the work of the CDC and our entire healthcare system at risk—in the midst of the worst flu outbreak in recent history and a growing opioid epidemic.
“Over and over again, the Trump administration continues to nominate flawed candidates whose government positions are essential to the health, safety and well-being of our country’s families. We need to elect leaders willing to hold President Trump and his administration accountable, instead of those who roll over and stand idly by as the American people’s lives are put in jeopardy.”
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Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Education Bill’s First Amendment rights a cause for concern?
The New York Times says the higher-education bill making its way through Congress aims to assuage complaints from some schools, colleges and parents who believe that First Amendment rights such as freedom of religion are being ignored. The Republicans behind the bill have taken up the cause, correcting what they see as hostility toward conservative beliefs on American campuses,but the bill’s religious elements, such as allowing colleges to be able to bar openly same-sex relationships without fear of repercussions, reflect the continuing national debate over whether the First Amendment covers actions that might be discriminatory. Michael Woeste, a spokesman for Virginia Foxx, the chairwoman of the House education committee, said: “Colleges and universities, both public and private, have long been considered environments that support robust debate and freedom, and Republican members of Congress are sending a message to the higher education community that these important issues cannot be ignored.” Meanwhile, The Washington Post says President Trump spoke for over one hour and 20 minutes to deliver his first State of the Union address but spoke about education policy very briefly. He mentioned opening “great vocational schools so our future workers can learn a craft and realize their full potential,” but there was nothing about school choice, graduation rates, student loans, standardized test scores or curriculum standards.
Call for more pay for low-wage school support roles
Debbie Truong says concerns about teacher pay are nothing new, but notes an emerging battle over compensation for the employees who play supporting roles in schools such as teaching assistants, bookkeepers and bus drivers. “I don’t think people realize how important our job is and, I hate to sound dramatic, but if a student does have anaphylaxis and does die, where’s the responsibility? It’s with us,” said Karen McCall, a school health clinic specialist, who has worked at Lovettsville Elementary School in Northern Virginia for 14 years. Loudoun County is moving to address lagging pay, with increases proposed for next year, but employees and educators say that’s insufficient. “If these people are important enough to work for our kids, why aren’t they important enough to be paid a living wage?” said David Palanzi, president of the Loudoun Education Association .
Students ignorant about slavery
According to a report released by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC), only 8% of high school seniors can identify slavery as the central cause of the Civil War, while only 22% knew protections for slavery were included in the Constitution and just 39% acknowledged that slavery shaped the fundamental American beliefs about race Maureen Costello, director of the SPLC’s Teaching Tolerance project, said the root of these statistics is in the “misguided”, “incomplete” way slavery is taught in classrooms and written about in textbooks.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California needs more athletic trainers, CIF says
There are more than 800,000 high school athletes in California but the state does not require schools to have certified athletic trainers at practices and games, the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) has said. The CIF has now made it a priority to educate principals, superintendents and athletic directors on the importance of having athletic trainers because the decision to hire is a district decision, “It is alarming because health and safety questions on the sidelines of a football game, or in a gym or a volleyball match are being made by coaches and not a medical professional," CIF director Roger Blake said.
State superintendent announces new school drinking water tests
California’s Superintendent of Public Instruction,, Tom Torlakson has announced that schools built before 2010 must test their drinking water for lead. “Students need fresh water, nutritious meals, and regular physical activity to be ready to learn and succeed in class,” Torlakson said. “Cooperation with local water systems is critical to ensure proper testing.” California generally has newer water infrastructure than other parts of the nation and lead problems are rare, but recent events in schools led to the new requirement, Torlakson said.
Immigration agents need warrants to enter schools
A bill that would prohibit federal immigration agents from entering schools, courthouses and state buildings to arrest or question people without a warrant has been approved by the state senate. Lawmakers have said the heightened concerns over deportation have led many parents to keep their children home from school and to stop seeking basic social services, such as for food or healthcare. Sen. Ricardo Lara, who introduced Senate Bill 183 as part of a broader move by the Democrats to counter calls for increased immigration enforcement and deportations, said: “This is to ensure they have warrants - this bill isn’t requiring anyone to interfere with anyone trying to make an arrest.”
----- DISTRICTS -----
LAUSD officials resign amid sexual harassment allegations
Two Los Angeles USD officials have reportedly resigned for allegedly tolerating a climate of sexual harassment. Citing unnamed district sources, theLos Angeles Times reports that that George Silva, chief procurement officer, and Quinton Dean, deputy chief procurement officer, were both given the option of resigning or being fired. District officials have yet to confirm the existence of any allegations, but considered the situation serious enough to call in the district's inspector general, the sources said. Silva and Dean started working for LAUSD in 1981 and Silva had headed the procurement division since 2013. Part of his role was to make sure that district employees and outside contractors understood district rules for ethical business conduct.
12-year-old booked for ‘unintentional’ school shooting, police say
After a shooting at Sal Castro Middle School left four students injured, a 12-year-old girl was booked on suspicion of negligent discharge of a firearm. However, police do not believe that the shooting was intentional. "At this time, the information suggests that this was an isolated incident, involving the negligent discharge of a firearm, where innocent children and a staff member were unfortunately injured," the LAPD said. The shooting comes amid a debate in Los Angeles USD about the effectiveness and fairness of random searches for weapons on campuses. The district is the only one of its size that requires every middle and high school campus to conduct daily random searches for weapons using metal-detector wands, but some activists say there is little consistency in the way they are conducted or evidence that they are useful or necessary.
----- CLASSROOM -----
School lockers are on the way out
School lockers have all but been abandoned by students for jam-packed backpacks in U.S schools and the trend has expanded so rapidly and widely that schools are now removing individual student lockers from their hallways, and builders and designers for many new high schools don't even include them in their plans. "It's a pretty big change that has taken place over the last few years," said Sean Connor, a principal with Pfluger Architects, a firm that focuses on school construction. "It used to be the standard to provide individual lockers for every student. Now, the standard is no lockers or, at most, just a few."
----- EMPLOYMENT -----
Teacher placed on administrative following anti-military rant
El Rancho USD has put El Rancho High School history teacher Gregory Salcido on administrative leave as it moves forward with its investigation into a recording of him disparaging the military. A 17-year-old recorded Salcido criticizing him for wearing a sweatshirt that said ‘U.S. Marines Corps’, with Salcido heard saying that only those without options would choose the military as a career, calling them the “lowest of the low.”
----- LEGAL -----
Superintendent’s court hearing postponed
The court hearing for former Poway USD superintendent John Collins has been rescheduled for April 9 th , after he requested a postponement because of medical issues. Mr Collins is accused of taking more than $345,000 in unauthorized pay from the district and faces four felony counts of misusing vacation, sick and leave time and illegally using a district purchasing card between 2012 and 2016.
----- EARLY EDUCATION -----
Early educational support may help college prospects
A study carried out by the Institute of Child Development at the University of Minnesota shows that l ow-income children who receive educational support in school and at home from preschool through third grade may be more likely to get a college degree than their peers who don’t get extra help during their early years. Senior study author Arthur Reynolds said it is known that early childhood education can impact adult outcomes and the current study adds fresh evidence from several decades of follow-up that shows early education programs may directly impact college attendance and completion
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Parents worried over weighted vest use
Berkeley USD’s use of weighted vests on some of its students is a cause for concern for some parents, with one, Carlos Pennington, complaining about the use of one on his 5-year-old daughter in at LeConte Elementary School . “I don’t know how a kid is supposed to go to school, be made the pariah of a classroom because she has on a vest that is for discipline,” Pennington said. “I’ve never heard of anything like that before in my life.” BUSD Vice President Judy Appel said: “We have the vests for special education - we have different tools to help with different students’ conditions to support them.”
----- OTHER -----
Schools turning to solar power
A study from The Solar Foundation, Generation 180 and the Solar Energy Industries Association shows that 5,489 K-12 schools across the United States use solar energy, almost double the figure recorded in 2016. Nearly 4m students in the U.S. attend schools with solar power, an increase of 86% on 2014, according to the report. California leads the nation in the number of solar schools by state, with 1,946. In Ventura County, Oak Park USD , Simi Valley USD , Oxnard School District and Oxnard Union High School District all incorporate solar power at their sites.
School removes actor’s mural following allegations
Following allegations of sexual misconduct raised against the actor, writer and director James Franco, the principal of Palo Alto High School has reportedly decided to erase a campus mural painted by the star. The decision comes on the heels of five women accusing Franco of sexual misconduct and sexually exploitative behavior, allegations which he has denied.
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