Friday, April 20, 2018

ABCFT - Week in Review - April 20, 2018

ABCFT - Week in Review - April 20, 2018

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.

(ABC Federation of Teachers)

In Unity
ABC Federation of Teachers

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 KNOW YOUR CONTRACT - Involuntary Transfers (Ray Gaer)
Each year we get hundreds of questions about the language in the ABCFT/ABCUSD Master Contract. This Summer a team of Teacher Leaders and ABCFT leaders will work on creating an easy to access Frequently Asked Questions document to help answer many of common questions members may have about the contract or other district concerns. We would like to highlight a small section of the contract on a regular basis here in the Week in Review to help the process of informing members about the language and protections in the contract.
This week, we would like to highlight the language on Involuntary Transfers which can be found in Article XIII Transfer on pages 35-40 of our current Master Contract. Involuntary transfers can be triggered when there is a reduction of staff due to the enrollment and the staff is overstaffed according to Article I: Class Size. The first and often overlook step in this process is that the administrator/supervisor is required to ask for volunteers who would transfer out of the school. If there are no volunteers than the administration/supervisor would work with Human Resources to figure out who would be involuntarily transferred using the  following criteria:

  1. The certification qualifications of the unit member.
  2. The seniority status of the unit member with the District.  The unit member with the least seniority will be transferred unless there is good reason for bypassing such unit member.  Such reasons include the maintenance of a well‑balanced staff in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, subject qualifications, and in extraordinary circumstances, age.

Often there is the misconception that seniority is the only qualification used when figuring out who is picked. In this age of program specialist and niche programs seniority is sometimes overridden by the importance of a specific program or curricular speciality. For example, a person with a bilingual credential who is part of a dual immersion program with less seniority.  Since the dual immersion/bilingual program is crucial for the schools programs the lower seniority person would be bypassed.What is critical and who is replaceable is closely monitored.

In the end, involuntary transfers are handled with Human Resources in a case by case basis and each choice is highly scrutinized by both ABCFT and ABCUSD. It should noted that the above language is different than the language used for RSP/SDC and itinerant teachers. Please contact is at ABCFT@abcusd.us if you have any contract questions or if  you have any contract questions that you think we should highlight in these weekly articles.


NEGOTIATION UPDATE -  (repeated message from 4/13/2018)
The negotiations team has concluded the negotiating  process for the 2017-2020 Master Contract. ABCFT is awaiting the final edits from the District.  Similar to our salary tentative agreement, the executive board will need to approve it before it can be brought to the Rep Council (on May 10th) for a vote enabling it to be sent out for our members to ratify. More details will be forthcoming as this process proceeds.



YOUnion Social
Join us Friday, April 27th from 3:00-5:00pm for our monthly no-host YOUnion social at Frida Mexican Cuisine 11169 E. 183rd St in Cerritos.


Curriculum Link of the Week - (repeated message 4/13/3018)


This week we thought we could show you a way to add some adventure and leveling up into your classroom with Classcraft. This website provides the tools to gamify your classroom. Students get individual avatars, go on quests, face challenges for points and levels. Classcraft transforms school by taking the video game mechanics that provide rich and interesting play experiences and applying them to the classroom setting.
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.




  PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer video profile here
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 ABCFT has been supporting teachers who have had concerns and questions about a range of issues. One of the most important of late comes from teachers who are in schools who are shrinking their staffs due to lower enrollment. We hope that the weekly Know Your Contract articles will be helpful in highlighting some of the more frequent questions members have about portions of the contract.


This week, I met with Dr. Valencia Mayfield the Assistant Supt. of Academic Services to discuss the fate of a historically significant committee called PROPS which is short for Proactive Problem Solvers.  The PROPS committee was one of the first ABCFT/ABCUSD labor management structures created together to collaborate on issues that were impacting special education teachers and often becoming grievances. To stop the flow of grievances, ABCFT  picked representatives from many special education areas to sit monthly with District level special education administrators to discuss solutions and supports for teachers. Dr. Mayfield was one of the major architects of PROPs and it is a structure that has been replicated in many successful labor management districts.


It has been fifteen years since the creation of the PROPs committee and ABCFT and ABCUSD would like to renew our efforts in PROPs. I am working with Dr. Mayfield on a plan on how to best support the current PROPs Committee and we are working on getting an expanded roster of representatives from all parts of the special education program. We are currently looking for a middle school and high school representative so if you are interested just write us to let us know.


On Friday, I attended the quarterly safety committee meeting held at the district office. Topics of note are that the District Office will be piloting the use of having staff-wide identification lanyards for all district office employees and administrators. This pilot should take place over the next couple of months. It was expressed by many of the committee that there is confusion and conflicting safety messages being sent to teachers and principals and that employees need definitive answers to some of their safety concerns. ABCFT was told  a comprehensive safety plan would be ready for the beginning of next school year. We will make sure to update you if there are changes or updates.
Thank you for taking the time to read what is going on in your YOUnion. We hope that you will continue to provide us with guiding feedback on the value of what we present and what topics you would like to see us tackle in the future.
We hope you have a good weekend. See you here next week!
In Unity!
Ray Gaer
ABCFT President
ABCFT - Retirees Chapter
Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I would like to thank you for helping our retiree chapter to have a very successful rummage sale
to raise funds for our annual scholarship.
Your willingness to allow us to come to the rep council meeting to present and ask for your
help, has brought our chapter and the local even closer together. We had oodles of donations. A special thanks to Jodi Improta from Whitney High School for delivering the racks and for all the clothing donations. Also a big thank you to Arlene Riddick for coming on the day of the event to help out with setting up and for all her love and support. I am happy to report we raised $900. The work was hard under the basking sun; however, it was wonderful to see the community come out and support us.
By the way, don’t forget to tell any potential retirees out there about our retiree chapter. We are having a mixer to honor the new retirees or as I call them The Class of 2018 on Thursday,
May 17th at El Torito, Long Beach Towne Center at 3:30 pm. A formal invitation to them is being
mailed this week.
Brothers and Sisters in conclusion Muchas Gracias. You have played an immense role in our
journey.
In Unity,
Silvia T. Rodriguez
President ABCFT-R


CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

Below are a few of the most recent press releases from AFT over the past couple of weeks.


Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
On May 1, join the Los Angeles May Day Coalition for our annual May Day March. On that day, Los Angeles will honor the contributions of immigrants, workers, and those who fight to create a more just society for all. This year, thousands of Angelenos will march together in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Harvey Milk, Dolores Huerta, and Cesar.
On May 12, help the LA Fed, National Association of Letter Carriers, Labor Community Services, and United Way of Greater Los Angeles to stamp out hunger! This volunteer-led food drive is the nation's largest single-day event that spreads out across America to help provide assistance to Americans who are struggling with hunger.
On Saturday, May 12, Angelenos will place bags of non-perishable food on their porches. Those bags will go from porch to post offices to a massive warehouse in Bell, CA. Hundreds of volunteers are needed at local post offices to load the donations onto trucks.
Minors under 18 must be accompanied by an adult.
DETAILS:
What: Stamp out Hunger Food Drive
When: Saturday, May 12, from 3 - 7:30 p.m.
Where: Various locations in LA County
In 2017, volunteers collected 80 million pounds of food, which brought the grand total of donations to more than 1.5 billion pounds of food collected since the drive began in 1992.

----- NATIONAL NEWS -----

Kentucky governor apologizes for teacher comments
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin has apologized for saying that by walking out of class, protesting educators exposed “hundreds of thousands” of children to sexual assault and drug use. “I guarantee you somewhere in Kentucky today, a child was sexually assaulted that was left at home because there was nobody there to watch them,” Bevin said after teachers held protests over a battle to raise education funding in the state. However, Bevin now says his comments were misunderstood by some but were damaging to others. “The words that people say can have unintended consequences,” he said. “I apologize for those who have been hurt by the things that were said … it was not my intent.”

----- STATE NEWS -----

Education matters in gubernatorial choices
A new survey from the Public Policy Institute of California has found that K-12 public education is a major factor among voters considering who to vote for in June’s gubernatorial election primary. Sixty-four per cent called education “very important”, up from 58% four years ago when the same question was posed. In all, 90% said candidates’ positions on education are important to them. When asked, “If the June primary for governor were being held today, and these were the candidates, who would you vote for?” 26% of respondents said they would give their vote to Gavin Newsom, 15% to John Cox, 13% to Antonio Villaraigosa, 10% to Travis Allen, 7% to John Chiang, and 6% to Delaine Eastin.
California governor race becomes “proxy war” between charter schools and teachers
An article in The San Diego Union-Tribune has alleged that the recent heavy spending on governor campaigns via independent expenditure committees has rendered the California gubernatorial race “a proxy war between teachers unions and charter school backers.” $7m was recently donated to theCalifornia Charter Schools Assn backed fund for Antonio Villaraigosa’s campaign by charter school advocate and Netflix CEO Reid Hastings. Villaraigosa supports “improving all schools, traditional and chartered.” Meanwhile, front-runner Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom is endorsed by the California Teachers Assn and supports “high quality, non-profit charter schools,” but disapproved of Gov. Jerry Brown’s leniency towards charter schools and would like to see more “accountability and transparency.” Newsom’s focus is rather o n improving working conditions for “demoralized teachers,” to ensure that California retains “quality” educators.

Students prepare for National School Walkout
Students in more than 2,500 schools across the U.S. will take part today in the National School Walkout to demand lawmakers take action on gun violence.Lane Murdock, a sophomore from Connecticut launched the initiative after she was disturbed by her own reaction to the February massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida. "When I found out about the shooting, I remember I didn't have a huge reaction. And because of that, I knew I needed to change myself, and we needed to change this country," she said. In support, actor Robert De Niro has written a letter for students to give to their principals, asking to allow them to walkout. "Please excuse ___ from classes on April 20th to participate in the National School Walkout," the first part of the letter says. Meanwhile, five Marjory Stoneman Douglas students, Jaclyn Corin, Emma González, David Hogg, Cameron Kasky and Alex Wind, have been named among Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential People in 2018.
CNN Washington Post USA Today Miami Herald

----- DISTRICTS -----

Laguna Beach agrees to survey over school calendar changes
Laguna Beach USD school board will survey parents, teachers and students over proposed changes to the 2019-20 school calendar, after heated disagreements between parents and administrators over the measures. Parents at last week’s board meeting expressed concern that the decision to start school a week earlier and hold final exams before winter break would heap unnecessary added pressure on to students. The survey comes after specific complaints from parents that LBSUD board were being “sneaky” by not asking for community input into the decision.

LA schools face big retiree healthcare bill
A new report on the health costs for Los Angeles USD retirees will reportedly show that the district has $14.9bn in underfunded healthcare costs for current and former employees. The report, yet to be officially released, shows how post-employment benefits have risen from $13.5bn in 2015. The increase comes from an adjustment in how school districts and other public employers can use artificially high estimates on future investment returns to justify the upcoming expenses. Under new rules, future returns are estimated at a rate of 3.6 percent, instead of the previous rate of 4.7 percent.

LA USD workers vote to authorize strike
The Service Employees International Union Local 99 has announced that thousands of Los Angeles USD school workers have voted to authorize their bargaining committee to call a strike if necessary. The workers, including cafeteria staff, bus drivers, special education assistants and others, have accused LA USD of "knowingly" operating at substandard staffing levels for custodians, resulting in dirty schools and locked bathrooms. Wages have also been a key bargaining issue. The district's chief negotiator, Najeeb Khoury, has said LAUSD's financial constraints have hindered the process.

----- LEGAL -----

Ocean View board member seeks permanent restraining order against blogger
An Ocean View School District board member is seeking a permanent restraining order against a Huntington Beach blogger who argues the trustee is using the courts to stifle criticism. Gina Clayton-Tarvin, 46, was recently granted a temporary restraining order against Charles Keeler Johnson, alleging that he has made threats on social media and at board meetings giving her cause to "fear for my own safety and for that of my immediate family members." Ms Clayton-Tarvin, a teacher, is now looking to make the order permanent.
Former Poway super in court on financial charges
A forensic auditor hired by Poway USD testified Monday regarding the salary and benefits received by a former school official accused of misappropriating public funds. Former Superintendent John Collins, fired in July 2016, is accused of padding his salary, collecting unauthorized vacation payouts and taking off-the-books time off, accruing over $300,000 in unauthorized pay. If convicted, Mr Collins faces seven years in prison.

----- EARLY EDUCATION ----

Senate committee advances TK legislation
Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) saw the Senate Education Committee pass his latest bill last week, legislation that that would allow all four-year-olds in California to enroll in transitional kindergarten by 2022. The senator said the bill would help close achievement gaps and provide more opportunities for early education during critical years for childhood development. The bill is supported by the California PTA, but opposed by KinderCare, a for-profit daycare and early education provider, and the Professional Association for Childhood Education (PACE), a non-profit association of private childcare providers. PACE argues that the bill moves too quickly to expand eligibility without addressing the impact it could have on existing early learning providers

----- INTERNET -----

Sexual minority youth more likely to experience cyberbullying
Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have concluded that cyberbullying, dissatisfaction with family relationships, and unmet medical needs are major contributors to the high rates of depressive symptoms seen among adolescents who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or questioning their sexual orientation. About 32% of 2,785 high school students surveyed in 22 states reported being victims of cyberbullying - double the number of reported victims among heterosexual peers. “The study shows that adolescence is a critical window for interventions to address depressive symptoms experienced by sexual minority youth,” said Jeremy Luk, Ph.D., first author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at NIH’s Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. “Without appropriate screening and intervention, these disparities may likely persist into young adulthood.”
Philadelphia Inquirer
#TrollingIsUgly campaign
The Cybersmile Foundation has launched its #TrollingIsUgly campaign on Instagram with the help of social media influencer Chessie King. The campaign highlights the range of abuse people are subject to by putting themselves online. Dan Raisbeck, co-founder of the Cybersmile Foundation said: “Body image is a huge issue for many people, especially young women. We hope this campaign encourages people to celebrate their individuality and understand that other people’s judgements do not define them.”

.----- OTHER -----

Barbara Bush dies aged 92
Barbara Bush, the wife of one president and mother of another, has died at her home in Houston aged 92. Much-admired across the political spectrum, she founded the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, a charity that encourages reading and writing in low-income households, and since 1989, the foundation has partnered with local organizations and raised more than $110m to create and expand literacy programs across the U.S. Meanwhile, in 1991, she helped pass the National Literacy Act, which focused on teaching millions of American adults to read.







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