ABCFT - Week in Review -February 8, 2019
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(ABC Federation of Teachers)
In Unity
ABC Federation of Teachers
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Pick Up Your 2% Check
Reminder: ABCFT teachers, nurses and medical professionals will all receive their 2% off schedule extra check at the sites on Friday, February 8th. The checks are paper checks and will not be direct deposited. This is 2% of your entire salary as an additional check as negotiated in our 2017-2019 Salary Agreement. NOTE: This check is based on 2% of your base salary from last year’s 2017-18 salary schedule. If you are a first year teacher you also receive a check based on what you would of been paid last year. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused if this was not clear.
NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE
Ruben Mancillas, Chief Negotiator for ABCFT
Governor Newsom unveiled his first proposed budget on January 10. He inherited a strong economy and made proposals based on the assumption that the economic expansion would continue.. This budget makes significant investments in early childhood, releases bond money for school facilities, pays toward CalSTRS unfunded liabilities and creates a "cradle to career" data system.
In the current year (2018-10), the State fully funded LCFF, and going forward education funding under Proposition 98 will likely be under a "COLA only" basis. The COLA, or Cost Of Living Adjustment, for this budget is 3.46%.
This era of COLA only funding is problematic for a number of reasons. Given that fixed costs such as step and column increases, health benefits costs, pension contributions, as well as issues such as declining enrollment continue to take up a shrinking base of ongoing funds the search for additional funding at the state level will continue to be a priority. This tension was at the core of many of the issues in the recent UTLA strike. Prop. 98 was designed as a floor but, unfortunately, has functioned as a ceiling in terms of education funding. California will need to be a leader in the debate over what "fully funding" education really looks like and innovative in terms of potential solutions to these challenges.
First for the first time in five years, school districts will not be receiving any one-time discretionary funds.
Per-Pupil (ADA) funding = Prop 98 per pupil spending is $12,003. This is up from $11,568. However, California still ranks below the national average in per pupil spending.
For the ABC 2019-20 budget the increase in LCFF funding via COLA is $6,256,000.
One of the most positive proposals in Governor Newsom's budget is his payments to the CalSTRS and CalPERS pension plans. $3 billion in one-time non Prop. 98 funds will be used to buy down CalSTRS employer contribution rates in 2019-20 and beyond and to reduce employers long-term unfunded liability. A $700 million investment would be used to decrease the employ contribution from 18.13% to 17.1% in 2019-20 and in 2020-21 from 19.1% to 18.1% The remaining 2.3 billion is estimated to lower the out years by approximately one-half of one percent.
What does all that mean for us? It's a significant and long lobbied for change. Currently, the district contributes 16.28% to our CalSTRS and this was originally scheduled to increase to 18.13% and then 19.10% These contribution came out of our "base" or ongoing funds that are available to be negotiated. In effect, when the STRS contributions from the district go up we have less money available to negotiate for potential increases to our compensation so that relief of even a percentage point or two should free up ongoing dollars to bargain for at the table.
In addition, by funding the ongoing CalSTRS the Governor is not only slightly lowering the employer rates in the future but making our pension fund stronger overall. This is important for practical reasons as well as political ones. Those who advocate against the solvency of public pensions or who would call for radical legislation to decrease our defined benefit plans will have less of an argument if the system is more adequately funded.
One caveat is that our new Governor, working with a new legislature, does not have the same degree of predictability that previous budgets under Governor Brown tended to exhibit. Governor Brown's January budgets were often quite close to the eventual May Revise numbers and then the eventual passed budget. There is more of an unknown dynamic given our new Governor and the potential for competing priorities and the eventual negotiation that will occur in Sacramento. The May Revision will give us more accurate numbers following the collection of the state's tax revenue, thus some funding decisions will be delayed until May.
In Unity,
Ruben Mancillas
ABCFT Chief Negotiator
MEET A MEMBER
The ABCFT YOUnion is made up of 1,100 great teachers and medical professionals and each one of us has a story to tell. Each week we will highlight a member of ABCFT.
Meet Ruben Mancillas a Special Education teacher at Tracy High School for 20 years. For many years, Ruben has been a union activist serving on the ABCFT Executive Board and CFT committees. In the last two years, we have been fortunate to have Ruben as the ABCFT Chief Negotiator.
If you could give ”first year teacher you” advice what would it be?
Make taking good care of yourself, in every sense, an active priority. Relax when you can, stay active and involved in things that really matter to you, and keep things in perspective.
Why did you get involved in the Union?
My activist mom, Pat Mancillas, who is still going strong as a member of the retirees chapter. My Dad for teaching me about Harry Bridges and the ILWU. And my wanting to be like Billy Jack!
Describe a day in the life of being a Rep at your site.
I'm fortunate that my site has developed a culture where the site rep is a valued part of the decision making team. I think it's important to remember that "the union" isn't an abstraction or a "they" somewhere else; it's simply all of us professionals working together side by side in solidarity everyday. Spoken like a true Union Activist!
What is your favorite movie/show, song, or book?
Movie =Apocalypse Now. Song=impossible to choose just one. How about one each from Iggy Pop, New Order, X, Bowie, Cheap Trick, and T-Rex?!? Book =London Fields by Martin Amis.
Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter...MySpace?
What are those? Can you play fantasy basketball on those sites?
What do you do for fun?
Have a good time, all the time. And attempt to raise three teens!
Do you have a bucket list?
No bucket list. Writing a finite list feels like it might come with implied limits or an end date. I never want to be done!
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
Wait, I don't have a superpower already?
Thank you Ruben for sharing your story with the ABCFT community.
If you’d like to be featured in the Meet a Member Click this link here.
FEBRUARY ABCFT ACADEMIC SERVICES UPDATE
Each month Connie Nam and Rich Saldana work with Beth Bray and Carol Castro to provide teacher input about professional development, curriculum changes and testing changes. ABCFT believes that the biggest working condition impacting teachers are the key curriculum and the professional development being churned out of academic services. Many times the district is implementing changes that are coming from the State of California but rarely do unions get involved in those changes. ABCFT believes that teacher voice helps to provide the district office with classroom advice and input that helps to deliver better comprehensive changes. Each month at the ABCFT Representative Council Rich and Connie give reports and take questions on all things related to academic services. Here is the report for the month of February.
HEALTH BENEFITS UPDATE (repeat) 
There was no health benefits committee meeting for the month of January. The next meeting will be on February 12th so we will have a new report the first week of March after the ABCFT representative council meeting of March 7th.
Each week I work with unit members in representations, contract resolutions, email/text/phone call questions, site concerns, site visits, presentations, state/national representations and mediations. Here are some of the highlights of interest.
What a great week of site visits with members and the added bonus that we finally get our 2% off schedule checks from last years two year salary deal. I’m going to keep this short due to lack of desk time which is a good thing.
This week Membership Coordinator Tanya Golden and I spent the day talking with members at Artesia High School. Visiting schools and talking with members is always fun, but this visit was a special treat for me since Artesia is my old stomping grounds and it was great to see some of my veteran colleagues again like Dave, Denise, Fay, Kim, Larry, Rich, Carlos, Ceclia and many others. It was great to see and hear all the wonderful things that are happening at the school. Thank you to Will Napier and Stefani Palutzke who joined us as we met with staff members throughout the day. Having site reps join us during these visits was invaluable and we hope to replicate practice this at other school sites.
This Friday (today) I also spent the day at Ross Middle School and was able to talk with many teachers throughout the day. During the 1993 eight day strike that happened in ABC it was both Ross and Artesia that had some the most active members during that momentous event in ABC’s history. There were members throughout the district that took part in the ABC strike but the legacy of teachers having more voice and the strength of the ABCFT Union can be directly linked to these schools and many others. Thank you to all the Ross teachers, Artesia teachers and office staffs for making our time productive. We appreciate all the insights and thoughts you shared with us during our visit. Your input is valued.
Why is ABCFT doing these site visit meetings?
When we visit school sites we are focusing on one on one conversations that allow members to ask questions, make comments, suggestions, complaints, or offer solutions that they may have not wanted to make in a group setting like a union meeting or staff meeting. ABCFT’s YOUnion membership engagement campaign is about creating and maintaining relationships the membership. Over my eight years as president and my years teaching in the classroom I have learned about people lives and how special each individual teacher, nurse or speech pathologist is to our organization. It is the relationships within a YOUnion that make us strong.
What do you do at these site meetings?
A couple of years ago we ABCFT site reps and the ABCFT executive board made some changes in personnel in the union office. Since that time we have been able to bring the members the Week in Review every week and we have been able to visit school sites for longer periods of time . I’m still trying to figure out how we can increase our facetime with elementary teachers. Some ideas are that we visit school sites before school starts and after school on a more regular basis. Is this something elementary teacher would like because I really want to have the same opportunities of meeting you face to face. Let me know what you think.
After meeting with teachers at the school site Tanya and I create a google page that discreetly shares the concerns and thoughts of the teachers we spoke with so that the site representatives can work on addressing some of the issues that were raised. In this shared document we also highlight which concerns/thoughts that we will be addressing with academic services or in negotiations. Overall, this input strategy is part of ABCFT’s negotiating strategy because it gives key members the opportunity to learn what issues need to be addressed during contract negotiations.
This was a good week but a busy week. I didn’t get to touch on some of the crucial discussions that happened at the school board meeting this week but I will have a board meeting report in next week’s Review. Thank you for all you do in your classrooms.
Have a good three day weekend!
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
CFT provides members important information about professional issues and workplace rights through numerous newsletters and publications. You can find a summary of each publication below and download the current issue of each newsletter. Click on the links to read some stories online, to get more information or contact the editor, and to access the archives.
As the CFT's flagship publication, California Teacher contains news and information that affects all members. It also contains news specific to each division of the CFT. California Teacher is published four times during the academic year. All members receive California Teacher.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Statement from AFT President Randi Weingarten on Trump’s State of the Union Address and the Democratic Response
WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement on President Trump’s State of the Union address and the Democratic response delivered by Stacey Abrams:
“The contrast between President Trump’s speech and Stacey Abrams’ response was palpable and powerful. Abrams talked about what ordinary Americans need to seize their futures, while the president said not one word about either the shutdown or public education. Abrams offered hope and aspiration in response to the president’s predictable course.”
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
Oakland teachers authorize strike action
The Oakland Education Association, which represents about 3,000 teachers, said yesterday that its membership has voted to authorize a strike, should the union and Oakland USD prove unable to reach an agreement. Union leader Keith Brown said that 95% of votes cast were in favor of action. Since 2017, the teachers union has been without a contract. Educators are asking for a 12% raise over three years, smaller class sizes and other school resources, while the district is offering a 5% pay hike. Currently both sides are in the middle of a fact-finding gathering with a report scheduled to be put together for both sides on February 15th. There are no plans for the district and the union to meet before that report is released.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
State of the Union speech didn’t mention school security
President Donald Trump's second State of the Union address featured calls for Congress to enact new school choice legislation and fund paid family leave for new parents. "To help support working parents, the time has come to pass school choice for America's children. I am also proud to be the first president to include in my budget a plan for nationwide paid family leave so that every new parent has the chance to bond with their newborn child," he said. The president did not however mention school safety, which has increasingly dominated education policy in recent years, even resulting in the creation of Trump's own school safety commission, or the so-called Dreamers, who face an uncertain future since the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program was rescinded back in 2012. Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., chairman of the House education committee, criticized the speech for ignoring the needs of students. Even the First Lady faced criticism for her efforts to highlight bullying issues - while studies show that school bullying has increased since President Trump entered office, especially against kids of color, Melania Trump was chided for inviting 11-year-old Joshua Trump, who has faced abuse over his surname, as an example.
----- STATE NEWS -----
Gov. Newsom orders charter school impact report
Gov. Gavin Newsom has instructed Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to hold a review into whether charter schools cause financial problems for traditional school systems, with a report due by July 1st. Nearly 1 in 5 public school students in L.A. Unified attends a charter. The nation’s second-largest school system has 225 charters — more than in any other district in the country — enrolling about 112,000 students. The United Teachers Los Angeles union made the growth of charters a major issue leading up to the recent teacher strike; Alex Caputo-Pearl, its president, praised Gov. Newsom “for seemingly recognizing that public school districts across the state, including Los Angeles Unified, are being financially strangled by the unmitigated growth of charter schools.” The head of the state charter association, Myrna Castrejón, said she hoped th at any panel also would examine the positive impact of charters and would be “focused on what’s best for students overall, particularly our most vulnerable,” adding: “Financing and outcomes do go hand in hand, and we look forward to a sober conversation about the interplay of these issues.”
California names its lowest-performing schools
The California Department of Education has, for the first time in six years, released the names of its lowest-performing schools, defined as the 780 that are in the bottom 5% of public K-12 institutions as measured by the California School Dashboard. The names of the schools can be found in spreadsheets included with California Department of Education letters sent last Thursday to district superintendents. A total of 1,640 schools were identified for assistance, representing 16.5% of all California public schools; 300 had a graduation rate under 67%. Of all those named, 11.5% are charter schools. Of the non-charter schools, 81.3% are located within districts and/or county offices of education that are already receiving assistance under California’s state system of support.
California could add ethnic studies high school graduation requirement
California high school students may need to start taking a one semester class in ethnic studies in order to graduate, should Assembly Bill 331 become law. The Instructional Quality Commission would develop the course curriculum with input from ethnic studies professors at universities and colleges, along with representatives from local education agencies and teachers with experience or educational backgrounds in studying and teaching ethnic studies. A similar measure, Assembly Bill 2772, was vetoed last year by Gov. Brown.
Teachers could get $200 tax credit for school supplies
California Assemblyman Steven Choi has introduced a measure, AB 348, that would give California teachers a $200 tax credit on the supplies they buy for their classrooms and teachers. It would cover books, supplies, computer equipment, and supplementary materials, although not items of a religious nature. Asm. Choi said, “A $200 tax credit is a small recognition in California for the thought and care our educators invest in our children’s future and the relief they deserve for investing their hard earned money for kids at school.” In the 2015-16 school year, the National Teacher and Principal Survey found that the average teacher spends $479 on school supplies each year.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Oakland Super outlines financial rescue plan
Oakland USD Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell has detailed a new Community of Schools initiative to help the district through its budget problems. It faces a $30m deficit next year, and a $60m deficit the year after. The plan involves a number of school closures, although names and numbers are yet to be released. Dr. Johnson-Trammell also outlined contingency plans for a teacher strike, which would see schools kept open by “bringing in lots of different individuals; some may be subs, some may be people that are here in central office.”
Results of Oakland teachers strike vote to come today
The Oakland Education Association, the union that represents the district’s teachers, is set to announce the results of a strike authorization vote this afternoon. Contract talks between Oakland USD and the union have been going on for about a year and a half; while the union wants a 12% pay raise over three years, the district is offering a 5% hike. The union said it also will conduct a rally at Frank Ogawa Plaza in front of City Hall at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, with hundreds of educators to call on the City Council to adopt a resolution on its agenda that night supporting teachers and opposing school closures, as the district plans to close or merge up to 24 schools over five years.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Nazi flag taken down from Frontier HS classroom
A Nazi flag hanging in a classroom at Frontier High School has been removed, following a complaint from a parent. Roxie Hartline said that, although she has a lot of respect for history teacher David Gaeta, who is educating his classes on the Holocaust at present, having the flag displayed so prominently in the classroom is a bad idea. Gabriel Gaeta, the teacher’s son, explained: "Each year, he notifies administration and takes the time to thoroughly and diligently explain the flag’s origin and history to students.” There's no political motive, he continued, arguing that its use in the classroom setting is both "legitimate and purposeful.”
----- LEGAL -----
Oakland sued for certifying education tax measure without two-thirds of vote
A group of property owners is suing Oakland over the City Council’s certification of an education tax measure that failed to reach a standard two-thirds threshold at the polls in November. Taxes in California that go toward specific programs have typically required a supermajority to pass, but proponents of the measure say a recent legal opinion supports their argument that a simple majority was sufficient. The measure would see single-family homes taxed at a rate of $198 a year and multiunit residences at $135 per unit; championed by Mayor Libby Schaaf, it is expected to generate $30m in annual revenue for early childhood education and college readiness programs, and last for 30 years.
----- CHILD DEVELOPMENT ----
High-quality preschool improves kids' health
W. Steven Barnett, founder and senior co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research at Rutgers University, outlines how quality preschool programs can actually improve the health of students. Introducing children to heart-healthy foods and balanced diets is a worthy goal in and of itself, he asserts, but since health outcomes strongly correlate to income and education, this boost can also help children become healthier adults.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Many kids using too much toothpaste, study warns
Too many young children are using too much toothpaste and increasing their risk of tooth problems when they get older, according to research by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, whose findings were based on a survey of parents of more than 5,000 kids ages 3 to 15. About 40% of kids ages 3 to 6 used a brush that was full or half-full of toothpaste, the study found, even though experts recommend no more than a pea-sized amount.
Dairy industry pushing fattier milks into schools
Jessica Glenza explores how lobbyists for the milk industry have fought Obama-era reforms which restricted schools to selling only non-fat flavored milks, which they blame for declines in milk drinking. Despite huge opposition from nutritionists, the US Department of Agriculture Secretary, Sonny Perdue, recently finalized a rule allowing fattier chocolate and strawberry flavored milks to be sold to roughly 31m kids in school cafeterias, via the federal government’s subsidized meal program.
-----CHARTER SCHOOLS -----
Gov. Newsom orders charter school impact report
Gov. Gavin Newsom has instructed Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond to hold a review into whether charter schools cause financial problems for traditional school systems, with a report due by July 1st. Nearly 1 in 5 public school students in L.A. Unified attends a charter. The nation’s second-largest school system has 225 charters — more than in any other district in the country — enrolling about 112,000 students. The United Teachers Los Angeles union made the growth of charters a major issue leading up to the recent teacher strike; Alex Caputo-Pearl, its president, praised Gov. Newsom “for seemingly recognizing that public school districts across the state, including Los Angeles Unified, are being financially strangled by the unmitigated growth of charter schools.” The head of the state charter association, Myrna Castrejón, said she hoped that any panel also would examine the positive impact of charters and would be “focused on what’s best for students overall, particularly our most vulnerable,” adding: “Financing and outcomes do go hand in hand, and we look forward to a sober conversation about the interplay of these issues.”
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
Mission to overhaul higher education
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, has pledged to overhaul the federal Higher Education Act by the end of the year. Outlining his plan on Monday, which would mark the second major education overhaul under his chairmanship, following his leading the Every Student Succeeds Act rewrite, Alexander said he's focused on three priorities - simplifying the federal student aid application, simplifying loan repayment options and establishing a new accountability system based on whether students are repaying loans.
----- OTHER -----
Betsy DeVos’s home state worst for education funding
Michigan ranks worst among the 50 states in total education revenue growth between 1995-2015, according to a Michigan State University study entitled “Michigan School Finance at the Crossroads: A Quarter Century of State Control,” which, noting the 1994 passage of a law known as Proposal A, which largely shifted funding from local school districts to the state, warns that almost half of students in Michigan, the home state of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, are now classified as “at-risk.” Total K-12 education funding declined by 30% between 2002 and 2015, with 74% of that drop caused by declining state support for schools, alongside “unusually stingy” special education funding, the report said. The authors remarked: "No other state is close to a decline of this magnitude."
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.
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