ABCFT - Week in Review - June 12, 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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ABCFT ANNUAL PRESIDENT’S SURVEY
At the end each school year ABCFT does a President’s Survey for teachers and nurses so that members can call to attention situations of concern, achievements and successes, and feedback for ABCFT on how we can better serve the needs of the members. This year the site based PAL Surveys went out too late and at many schools the site based survey process was…...messy.
The Presidents Survey is valuable for me because it serves as a guide for where the ABCFT priorities should be for the following year or how we can improve our communication to members. Your feedback is critical for the ABCFT YOUnion’s success. For those teachers and nurses that are looking for a place to let the union know what issues you’ve experienced this year that you would like us to address this year. For those of you that want to guide me on how to better serve you needs, this is the survey. As I have said every year, I don’t share the details of this survey with anybody but I do read every word. Thank you in advance for taking the time to fill out this important survey.
Sorry members only
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President ABCFT
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CURRICULUM UPDATE
August 22 Professional Learning Day:
Register today for the optional PL day- Teaching and Learning Institute- for all teachers including Adult School and CTE, nurses and children’s center permit teachers to earn additional compensation and training to support your area of work. Registration is required and open now until June 13th. More information to follow regarding the session topics.
Elementary Curriculum Update:
Summer Opportunities
All TK-6th grade teachers will have an opportunity to apply for summer hours to work on Math and ELA pacing and assessments, pulling writing anchor papers, and NGS example lessons. The Report Card Committee will also convene to work on the Report Card Maker GradeBook. Academic Services is looking for teachers to work on these important summer tasks. Last day to apply is June 13th.
Secondary Curriculum Update:
Teacher Leader Summer Curriculum Work:
On or about June 1st, all 7-12 teachers received an email with a flyer attached asking for teachers to apply to work on pacing guides, Math/ELA benchmarks/assessments, Science Pathway Development(high school), Edmentum and other work. This is an opportunity for your site to have input on the curriculum & assessments that are being implemented in our classrooms. Please encourage at least one member of each department at your school to apply.
AFT STUDENT DEBT SURVEY
College graduates entering the teaching profession face many challenges, not the least of which is financial.
The national average public school starting teacher salary for 2016-17 was $38,617, according to the National Education Association. That falls far below the overall average starting salary of $50,359 for a bachelor's degree graduate across all fields.
About 70% of college graduates have student loan debt. The average amount owed was $30,100 per borrower, according to the Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the nonprofit research organization The Institute for College Access & Success.
So how much of a typical starting teacher’s monthly budget would have to go to paying off student loans?This survey, created by the AFT Research and Strategic Initiatives (RSI) department, will help AFT expand its programs to help more members struggling with student debt.
The national average public school starting teacher salary for 2016-17 was $38,617, according to the National Education Association. That falls far below the overall average starting salary of $50,359 for a bachelor's degree graduate across all fields.
About 70% of college graduates have student loan debt. The average amount owed was $30,100 per borrower, according to the Project on Student Debt, an initiative of the nonprofit research organization The Institute for College Access & Success.
So how much of a typical starting teacher’s monthly budget would have to go to paying off student loans?This survey, created by the AFT Research and Strategic Initiatives (RSI) department, will help AFT expand its programs to help more members struggling with student debt.
The survey, should only take a few minutes https://www.surveymonkey.com/
Over this past week I attended/worked with unit members in representations, contract resolutions, email/text/phone call questions, site concerns, and mediations.
Congratulations to everyone for finishing 2017-2018. Teachers and nurses across the district finally take a well deserved break or at least a slow down from their busy day-to-day grind. I hope that you all have a great summer catching up on traveling, TV, movies, sports, theatre, knitting, gaming, wine tasting, concerts, reading and all the other things that non-teachers get to do throughout the year.
A big thank you to all the ABCFT Site Reps, the new ABCFT Site Reps, Committee members, Negotiating Team, and the Executive Board for all your hard work of helping members, solving problems with solutions, and increased communications. Thank you to all the many teachers who emailed, called or stopped by the Union Hall to ask questions, vent, brainstorm solutions, get clarity on contract language, ask about processes. Tanya Golden (membership coordinator) and I feel honored to help you find solutions to the challenges you face.
Thank you to all of the teachers who replied to the President’s Survey. Your input is valuable and I appreciate your honesty. I cannot lead this organization without guiding voices that tell me what you need and how as the president of ABCFT, I can organize, agitate, and and find solutions for the things that are important to teachers and nurses. Thank you for always taking the time to guide me over the past seven years, I truly appreciate it.
I hope you have a great Summer Break and we see you back here when school begins.
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABC Federation of Teachers.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Focus on English-language learner test scores may obscure school progress
Researchers at the New York University Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development have found that schools in the U.S. schools are doing well in meeting the academic needs of multilingual students but the education systems focus on the test scores of English-language learners may be obscuring the progress schools have made. Researchers found multilingual students' scores improved "two to three times more than monolingual students' scores in both subjects in Grades 4 and 8," and there was little evidence the trends were connected to variables like race, region or socioeconomic status. "One future step is looking at 'ever-English learners,' which consist of former and current English learners," lead researcher Michael Kieffer said. "This is a logical next step for policy to use for accountability and tracking policy over time with states."
----- DISTRICTS -----
Gilroy teachers ready to strike
The Gilroy Teachers Association has voted in favor of taking strike action at the start of the 2018-2019 school year, if a new contract agreement cannot be reached over the summer months. Eighty-four per cent agreed to authorize a strike; the “certificated” - or teaching- staff, amongst the lowest paid in Santa Clara County, is looking for a 6% pay raise, and for Gilroy USD to contribute an additional 5% for health benefits. The district’s offer remains a 2% pay increase and no additional contribution to the health care package.
----- INTERNATIONAL -----
Canada raises $3.8bn for girls’ education
The Canadian government announced at the G7 summit in Quebec that it has raised more than $3.8bn in an effort with other countries to send the world's poorest girls to school. The figure includes a $400m investment from Canada as part of the overall three-year commitment, and also includes contributions from G7 partners and the World Bank. The funding will go towards supporting women acquiring job skills, improving teacher training to improve curriculum for girls, expanding the quality of data available on female education and promoting more coordination between humanitarian partners. The money raised exceeds the $1.3bn U.S. over three years that a coalition of 30 non-governmental organizations had called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to raise as part of his chairmanship of the G7 this year. An estimated 75m children, many of them girls, are out of school in 35 conflict-affected countries around th e world, according to the UN children's agency Unicef. In conflict situations, girls are 2.5 times more likely than boys to not be in school.
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
Former USC dean attributes drug use to mental illness
Dr. Carmen Puliafito, the former dean of the University of Southern California medical school is blaming mental illness for his drug use, and associations with young criminals. Dr. Puliafito gave up his dean's post in 2016 and was fired from the USC faculty the next year, admitting to using methamphetamine while in office. At a state medical board hearing that will determine whether he'll lose his medical license, he attributed his behavior to bipolar disorder; he also said that he has been in rehab, and hasn’t used any illicit drugs for a year.
USC faces federal probe
The U.S. Education Department is launching an investigation into the University of Southern California’s handling of sexual harassment allegations against a former gynecologist at the school’s student health clinic. The university allowed George Tyndall to treat students despite receiving complaints about his behavior. Now, the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is looking into the matter. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said: “Every student on every campus should have a safe learning environment, and I expect all education institutions under the department’s jurisdiction to take seriously their responsibilities under Title IX. Attempts to obfuscate or hide Title IX violations from the department will not be tolerated, and I am calling on USC to cooperate fully and completely with this investigation.”
San Diego Promise offers free Community College tuition
A student aid program is now covering the first two years of tuition for all first-time, full-time community college students at San Diego City College, Mesa College and Miramar College. San Diego Promise has grown in its two years of existence from 186 students to an expected 3,500 this fall; to qualify for it, a student must be a recent California high school graduate, a first-time college student, study full time, and maintain a 2.0 grade average. The expanded program will cost an additional $1.86m over the next academic year. Funding will come from Assembly Bill 19 and fundraising by the community college district.
.----- OTHER -----
Parkland students perform at Tony Awards
The drama department of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida - where 17 people died in a massacre on February 14th - made a surprise appearance at the Tony Awards ceremony on Sunday. Standing on the stage of Radio City Music Hall in New York, the students sang ‘Seasons of Love’ from the musical Rent. Their performance came after the head of the department received an award for excellence in theatre education, honouring her efforts to keep students safe as the shooting unfolded. Melody Herzfeld hid 60 students in the Stoneman Douglas drama room for more than two hours as the gunman, an expelled student, opened fire on pupils and staff members. In her acceptance speech, Herzfeld recalled how the lessons intrinsic to drama classes - particularly that of being accepting of others - were “called upon to be set into action” on February 14.
NTA Life Insurance - An ABCFT Sponsor
About three years ago ABCFT stated a working relationship with National Teachers Associates Life Insurance Company. Throughout our partnership, NTA has been supportive of ABCFT activities by sponsorship and prizes for our various events. This organization specializes in providing insurance for educators across the nation. We have been provided both data and member testimonials about how pleased they have been with the NTA products and the opportunity to look at alternatives to the district insurance choice.
