ABCFT - Week in Review - May 4, 2018
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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.
(ABC Federation of Teachers)
In Unity
ABC Federation of Teachers
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MASTER CONTRACT RATIFICATION
The ABCFT Executive Board has approved the negotiated master contract changes to be taken to the ABCFT Site Representatives to seek their approval for a contract ratification vote. At the next Site Rep meeting next Thursday, Site Reps will get an overview and will ask clarifying questions about the changes in the Master Contract. If the Site Reps approve the contract for ratification, there will have an electronic ratification vote on the new Master Contract for 2017-2020.
ABCFT REPRESENTATIVE LEADERSHIP OPPORTUNITY
This month ABCFT School Site Representatives are holding elections for the 2018-201 ABCFT Site Reps. This is a good time to get involved if you are interested in knowing more about how the union functions and you would like to learn more about how the district functions as a whole. Being a site representative is an excellent entry level leadership position for those that are interested in expanding their resume and their leadership skills.
What does being a ABCFT Site Representative entail? What are the obligations?
1. If you are elected there is training in September for all new site reps that will help site reps navigate the politics and procedures of being an effective school site representative. In this training, we provide all the resources you will need to get you started and will expose you to the support system that will help you be successful. We also have focus group meetings in our monthly meetings that are also helpful for site reps to learn from each other.
2. ABCFT has the requirement that there is at least one site representative per site at each monthly meeting. Meetings are the first Thursday of the month from 3:30-5:00 pm each month of the school year. We have an additional meeting in August prior to school with school site administrators. We also have all site representatives attend our annual all day PAL Retreat with their supervisors in October.
3. There are no summer obligations except for the meeting a couple days prior to the first day back for teachers.
Thanks for your interest in taking a leadership position in ABC. ABCFT also has a highly acclaimed TEACHER LEADERS PROGRAM which is another way to increase your leadership and teaching skills. Details about the upcoming TL program are listed below. Please email us at abcft@abcusd.us if you have further questions.
MEMBERS GET ACTIVE - repeat message for May
ABCFT TEACHER LEADERS PROGRAM: Tanya Golden TL Facilitator Profile here
ABCFT is pleased to announce we are accepting applications for the 2018-19 Teacher Leaders Program. If you are an ABCFT member and you’re interested in learning, collaborating, and discussing topics such as education, unionism, and polish your leadership skills then we want you! See below for details on how to get involved. For questions about the ABCFT Teacher Leaders Program contact Tanya.Golden@abcusd.us.
Here are the details about the ABCFT Teacher Leaders Program:
To learn more about ABCFT’s Teacher Leaders Program see the Teacher Leaders Profiles here to hear about the TLP directly from our Teacher Leaders.
ABCFT Teacher Leaders Applications are due by Tuesday, June 13, 2018.
AFT interviews Teacher Leader, Rachel Jimenez - Special Education Teacher
As AFT is preparing for the outcome of the Janus case they are visiting classrooms across the nation to film the amazing work that happens in public schools and how unions benefit students, teachers, and communities. Due to this, I had the privilege of AFT sending out their videographer, Brett Sherman, to come visit my classroom at Carmenita Middle School. It was exciting to have him witness the outstanding work my students do. Brett stayed on campus with my class for the first half of the day. During this time, he was able to see the excitement my students had about our classroom garden in which the students are able to relate real life experiences with the science content they are learning. This demonstrates that a strong union who supports me allows me to be a better teacher to my students.
I was also interviewed regarding the Janus case. One of the questions Brett asked during this interview was what impact will the Janus case have on ABC’s union. I explained that I trust ABC’s union will continue to remain strong. ABC union members will not let the corporate billionaires, that are behind the Janus case, take away our right to come together to advocate for our students, working conditions, and livelihood.
KNOW YOUR CONTRACT - Temporary Teachers and
Involuntary Transfers (repeated message from April )
Temporary Teachers:
Last week ABCFT received a few questions about the status of Temporary teachers and their contracts. This year we have a little over 60+ teachers on temporary teachers in ABC. During good economic times and steady/growing student enrollment ABC averages about 50 temporary contracts. With declining enrollment hitting ABC and the mediacore monies coming from the State there are more temporary teachers. During the recession we averaged about 75 temporary assignments so the the district had flexibility for positions which kept layoffs from hitting any permanent teachers.
Due to Education Code, on March 15th, the 60+ teachers that we have in ABC are annually given a notice that their temporary contract will end with ABC. This process is distressing for temporary teachers but it is part of the layoff protections put in the California Education Code. Typically in ABC, ninety percent of these temporary teachers will be asked to return the following year to either an additional year on a temporary contract or in many cases a permanent position that has been vacated by a retirement or change of placement.
The question asked was, “When will temporary teachers know if they will be asked to return?”
The District is in the middle of sorting out the school of choice and district of choice assignments to schools. This is typically done during the first two weeks of May. With those numbers the final staffing numbers are set for the following year (adjusted during the summer months). Many temporary teachers can find out if they will be asked back by the end of May after the schools of choice tallys are complete. There are of course exceptions to this timeline. Your principals/supervisors should be able to answer many of the questions about status for next year but if you have specific questions please contact ABCFT so we can assist you.
Involuntary Transfers:
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:
- The certification qualifications of the unit member.
- 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 highly trained TIP coordinator for a school who doesn’t have seniority may in fact bump when there is nobody who is willing to be the TIP coordinator for the school. Since the TIP Coordinator is crucial for curricular delivery this might be a case where 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.
4 Not-So-Obvious Reasons Why Grievances Are Valuable in the Union Workplace (previous post)
Virtually every union contract contains a grievance/arbitration procedure, which is the way the union and the employer tackle disagreements about workplace rights covered by the contract. Filing a grievance is the equivalent of starting a lawsuit: you put in writing what you believe another party has done that is contrary to the law, and what action will be necessary to correct the situation. If after going through a series of procedural steps the dispute is not resolved, ten the last step of the grievance process – arbitration – is the equivalent of appearing before a judge to argue the case out and obtain a final resolution, one way or the other.
NEGOTIATION UPDATE - (repeated message from 4/13/2018)
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 there was an ABCUSD School Board meeting and we will have the video and highlights in next week's Review. The most important action item to be approved was centered around the Districts hiring of a demographer. This is notable because a demographer will study population trends and will forecast the changes in student populations for the next seven years.
The fact that ABC leadership was not looking at demographics prior to the last unsuccessful bond was one of the premier criticism of those who were in opposition of the bond. Therefore, the hiring of a demographer is important for two reasons. First, it shows that the District is listening to the community and their concerns about demographic changes. Second, this hiring is a clear signal to the community that the talk of a new bond is imminent. This is a significant step and when coupled with a bond research team we can start to see the District moving for a new discussion on a possible bond either in 2018 or 2020. I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the board does but ABCFT will keep you posted on developments.
This week I’ve spent the majority of the week in Washington DC as part of the policy committee for the American Federation of Teachers. At this meeting we discussed advocating for students and teachers, a teacher's perspective on Statewide strikes, gun safety, the Janus Supreme Court Case, new teacher supports and engagement, international educational policies and politics, and reports on Puerto Rico education system. In the coming weeks I’ll try to highlight some of the information I received during this AFT trip. Just to note, that CFT travel and AFT travel to conferences are paid by CFT and AFT and are not charged directly to the local. 
We hope you have a good weekend. See you here again next week!
In Unity!
Ray Gaer
ABCFT President
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
American Federation of Teachers on Arizona Budget Proposal for Teachers
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PHOENIX—The Arizona American Federation of Teachers and its parent union, the American Federation of Teachers, responded to Gov. Doug Ducey’s budget proposal that would take $100 million from a package originally earmarked for school funding and allow superintendents to decide whether to use it to pay for wage hikes for support workers or for school maintenance, classroom resources and other school needs. Ducey has already offered a proposal for a 20 percent pay raise for teachers by 2020.
Arizona AFT President Ralph Quintana:
“Gov. Ducey’s budget proposal comes up short and doesn’t meet the needs of our schools and students. Ducey continues to resist providing what educators and the public are clamoring for to make our schools whole. Passing money from one hand to the other creates winners and losers. Virtually everyone is a loser in this shell game. The budget package does not include a way to finance fixing crumbling schools, purchasing textbooks and curriculums, lowering class sizes and hiring more teachers to alleviate the teacher shortage. This package is a disgrace.”
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten:
“Public education is about helping every child succeed, and Arizona educators—Republican and Democrat alike—have become a human shield to protect students and themselves. Unfortunately, this budget proposal pits essential needs against each other—higher salaries versus more supplies, smaller class sizes and fixing crumbling buildings. Clearly the governor only wants to solve the political crisis but not the real crisis, refusing to bring educators and legislators to the table to find long-term, sustainable funding. Instead, the sad reality is a legacy of massive budget cuts that hurt students and schools.
“Don’t get us wrong; we appreciate the pay raise. But Arizona has the means not to force districts into these Hobson’s choices. New revenue is needed for both wage hikes and classroom needs, to restore the obscene budget cuts that are devastating kids’ futures. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is not the answer. Educators will continue to rise up, speak out and stand up for their students.”
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Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
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 -----
Teachers confront Betsy DeVos
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos this week met with the 2018 Teachers of the Year from states around the country and at least one of those teachers told DeVos some of her policies were hurting public education. "We have a problem where public money is siphoned off from the public schools and given to children who are going to charter and private schools," Oklahoma Teacher of the Year Jon Hazell said to DeVos. Hazell said she immediately answered that it was her goal to redefine what education is and that she wants to call all of it public education while she defended her position on school choice, saying that children needed a way to leave a failing school. California was represented by Brian McDaniel, of Painted Hills Middle School, who said described the discussion as akin to a “verbal sparring session.”
----- STATE NEWS -----
CalPERS leaders in “dysfunctional” conflict
CalPERS – California’s public pension fund that handles $350bn in assets for 1.9m California public workers – is facing a “dysfunctional” and “extraordinary” conflict between board member Margaret Brown and President Priya Mathur, with Brown hiring a lawyer to communicate with the board and cancelling a meeting with Mathur, after believing herself to have been “locked out” of her office. Mathur has disciplined Brown for bringing a visitor into CalPERS’ restricted headquarters and as such has limited Brown’s access to confidential information. Other board members are now looking for a group decision to determine how disciplinary measures are decided and develop “systematic tools” for such disputes.
Home-school oversight bill fails in committee
Assembly Bill 2756, a measure introduced by Assemblyman Joe Medina (D-Riverside) that would have increased the oversight of homeschooling, failed to pass out of the Assembly Education Committee last week. The legislation, inspired by a case in Perris, where David and Louise Turpin homeschooled their children while mistreating them, would have required the state superintendent to establish an advisory committee to make recommendations on the appropriateness and feasibility of imposing additional requirements, on home schools. Medina told the committee: “I do not see a problem in the home-school community. I respect parents as educators, being an educator myself. This bill is not an attempt to in any way attack homeschooling. It is not an attempt to solve a problem with homeschooling.” At present, one of the only requirements for home schools in California is that they register with the Office of Education.
----- DISTRICTS -----
LAUSD to vote Beutner in as superintendent
The Los Angeles Board of Education is poised today to select philanthropist and former investment banker Austin Beutner to be the next Los Angeles USD superintendent. Sources close to the matter say that the terms of his contract have already been discussed. The district has been without a permanent superintendent since September, when Dr. Michelle King went on medical leave. In choosing Mr Beutner, the board would be passing over interim Superintendent Vivian Ekchian. Two other finalists, former Baltimore Superintendent Andres Alonso and Indianapolis Superintendent Lewis Ferebee, withdrew from consideration. A group calling itself Concerned Parents of LAUSD has called for district board member Ref Rodriguez to resign before the vote on the grounds that he is unfit to serve. Mr Rodriguez is facing three felony and 25 misdemeanor counts, including perjury, conspiracy and falsifying documents.
LA schools chief: “I’m an unconventional choice”
Austin Beutner, the newly-appointed superintendent of Los Angeles USD,yesterday held his first news conference as district leader, at Belmont High School. In prepared remarks, the former investment banker acknowledged those who were surprised at his appointment: "To state the obvious, I'm an unconventional choice, unconventional by lots of measures,” going on to add: "But the district is at a crossroads. We face some tough issues. But I believe we can move forward together and address these issues to unlock the enormous potential the district holds." Mr Beutner said his career in business has seen him hone core skills that translate to an education environment, including team-building, being open to learning, becoming informed by data and holding himself and others accountable. United Teachers Los Angeles, the union that represents 34,000 LAUSD teachers, said it is concerned Mr Beutner will approach the schools as he would a business and look to reduce costs; although he didn’t rule out budget reductions, describing the district’s finances as “fairly ominous,” in a New York Times interview, he did agree with them that the current funding level of around $15,000 per pupil is too low.
Azusa trustees vote to close three schools as student numbers decline
Azusa USD is considering closing three schools, due to a budget deficit and shrinking student population. A district committee voted 5-2 in favour of the proposition on Friday, with teachers union president Meg Savella and parent Jason De La Torre dissenting. “As a committee, I don’t see why we’re trying to close schools. That’s the board’s job” says De La Torre, adding that the choice of schools seemed “random.” However, fellow committee member Robert Donnelson says the choices were considered carefully and that student numbers are projected to continue falling.
----- CLASSROOM ----
Santa Barbara reviews science lab policy after teacher’s acid burns
Santa Barbara USD has said it will review its policy on the use of sulfuric acid in school science labs, after a teacher at La Cumbre Junior High School suffered severe burns from dropping a container of acid on Monday. Kim Ramirez is being treated in hospital, with a GoFundMe page set up to cover medical expenses raising $15,000 in three days. The school’s main building was evacuated whilst hazardous materials were cleaned up before lessons resumed as normal.
Fremont votes against 4th-6th grade sex education
No sex education will be taught in Fremont USD until seventh grade, following Wednesday’s school board vote. Board members voted 3-2 to reject adopting a new ‘Rights, Respect, Responsibility’ sex education curriculum for fourth to sixth graders, which was deemed by some parents as inappropriate. Conversely, the board approved the curriculum (3-2) for seventh to ninth graders.
----- WORKFORCE ----
‘Teachers’ Spring’ gains momentum
Inspired by the #MeToo movement, the recent protests by U.S. teachers, more than three-quarters of whom are women, mark the first statewide walkouts since the 1990s, with some educators likening their movement to the "Arab Spring", the anti-government uprisings that hit Arab countries in 2010. Teachers in Arizona have now said a proposed budget deal between the governor and state lawmakers to raise their pay did not go far enough, but pledged to end a four-day strike and return to work if it passed the legislature. “The war is not over but we’ve won an important battle, to move the legislature this far,” Noah Karvelis, a union organizer and music teacher, said.
Trump presents Teacher of the Year award to educator who teaches immigrant students
President Trump has awarded the National Teacher of the Year award to Mandy Manning of Joel E. Ferris High School in Spokane, Washington, an educator known for teaching immigrant and refugee students. “Her incredible devotion has earned her the adoration - total adoration, actually - and respect of students and colleagues throughout her school district, community and the entire state,” Trump said during the presentation. “Teachers like Mandy play a vital role in the well-being of our children, the strength of our communities and the success of our nation.” In her award application, Manning wrote: “Most of my students come to the U.S. seeking safety, but they don’t always feel safe here - I must help them understand current events, know their rights, and provide a safe and welcoming environment.”
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Most Teachers Report High Levels of Stress, Study Finds
Most teachers experience high levels of burnout and stress—and that may be affecting their students' achievement, a recent study found.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Missouri and published in Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, measured the levels of stress, burnout, and coping abilities of 121 teachers at elementary schools in a Midwestern school district, as well as the effects of teacher stress and coping on student outcomes.
The results are particularly interesting given that teachers in several states have recently walked out of their classes to fight for higher pay and better working conditions—issues that undoubtedly impact stress levels.
Timetable naps for teens, study says
Naps should be timetabled for secondary school children, according to a study by the University of Delaware, which examined the link between a post-lunch sleep and brain function in early adolescents. Youngsters who napped five to seven days in a week had sustained attention, better nonverbal reasoning ability and spatial memory, and the best amount of time to nap for was found to be between 30 and 60 minutes, though researchers said not to nap after 4pm.
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
INTERNET
Teens engaging in “digital self-harm”
Research has revealed that a practice known as “digital self-harm” is far more common than experts had previously thought. A cyberbullying survey of more than 5,500 middle and high school students across the U.S. found that had practiced digital self-harm, which involves creating anonymous accounts on social media and posting derogatory comments about oneself. The lead authors on the study, co-directors of the Cyberbullying Research Center Sameer Hinduja and Justin Patchin, said they were stunned to learn the practice was so prevalent. The survey found that the most commonly-cited reasons for cyberbullying oneself involved low self-esteem and a desire for attention from classmates and friends. The research also revealed that teens who engaged in digital self-harm were 12 times more likely to have experienced cyberbullying from someone else.
YouTube adds safety features to Kids service
Google has updated its YouTube Kids service, adding features that should make it a safer place for children to browse, such as collections of “parent-approved” content from trusted partners, along with “bumpers” on search, giving the ability to turn the facility off so only pre-approved videos are available. It also puts the onus back on the parents encouraging them to “block and flag videos for review that they don't think should be in the YouTube Kids app".
--- SOCIAL & COMMUNITY -----
San Francisco mayor candidates talk education
Several San Francisco mayoral candidates are proposing dramatic education overhauls as part of their plans for the city. London Breed focuses her proposal on extensive changes to San Francisco’s school assignment system, saying she wants “a top factor to be neighbourhood preference,” in order to rebuild community ties. Mark Leno meanwhile supports a Long Beach style elementary-to-college pipeline initiative, which supports early childhood education, college tours and provides a year’s free tuition at City College. Leno seeks to extend the ‘Free City’ tuition-free program for residents at SF City College to San Francisco State University. Leno states: “Making S.F. State free is something we should seriously look at [with] both private and public funding.”
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