ABCFT - Week in Review - April 12, 2019
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(ABC Federation of Teachers)
In Unity
ABC Federation of Teachers
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ABCFT Union Activists Head to Sacramento for a Legislative Day of Action
By Tanya Golden
On Wednesday, ABCFT union activists along with about eighty CFT sisters and brothers for a Legislative Day of Action!
The purpose of the Day of Action was to advocate for a package of charter school reform Assembly Bills 1505, 1506, and 1507 as well as AB 39 which is intended to expand base funding for public schools. You may wonder why is ABCFT advocating for charter school reform when we do not have those schools. Just because ABCUSD does not have a charter school, as educators we are all affected by declining enrollment and how privatization of public schools is taking away monies from our classrooms.
Assembly bill 1505 - Local Accountability in Public Education by O’Donnell and Bonta ensures all matters related to charter schools’ authorization, renewal, and other key decisions be made by the local school communities - those parents, educators and locally-elected school board members who know the needs of their children best. Often times, after the local school and county boards deny a charter school, the State Board overturns the decision and allows the charter school petition against the wishes of the local school community.
Assembly bill 1506 - Charter School Cap by McCarty establishes a cap on charter schools permitted to operate in the state of California. Seeking the number of charter schools not be increased by the actual number that is operating on January 1, 2020. California has the largest number of charter schools in the nation from 100 in 1992 to over 1300 today. There has been very little accountability and transparency of these public funds used by charter school. Many of these charter schools are owned by private corporations with the intent to privatize public education.
Assembly bill 1507 - Charter Authorizing District Boundaries by Smith closes a loophole in current law which allows a charter school to operate outside its authorizing district. For example district A could approve the charter school to operate a school in district B without any consent or input from district B. District A as the authorizing district could be hundreds of miles away from district b thus having little ability to ensure adequate safeguards regarding teaching and learning conditions.
Assembly bill 39 - Increase Base Grant Funding for School by Muratsuchi would establish a new, higher funding targets under the LCFF and bring California up to the national average of adjusted per pupil spending. This would increase the base grant by 60% starting in the 2020-21 fiscal year. The cost is estimated at $35 billion. It is a big ask but many legislatures understand the urgent need to fund our schools which have been underfunded since Prop 13 passed in 1978.
Teams of activists were first sent to the legislatures offices to lobby for the charter school legislative bills and increasing the base to bring California education funding from the 43rd to the national average. When we went to the legislatures offices and let informed them we are educators from CFT they were happy to give us some time from their busy schedule. A press conference about the was held to inform the public regarding these pressing issues and Gina Clayton-Tarvin a teacher from Cerritos Elementary and Ocean View School Board Vice President (as pictured here) spoke to the privatization and underfunding issues facing public schools. Here is a link to the press conference
Our last stop was in the Assembly Education Committee hearing room. The room was packed and the halls were overflowing with pro-charter school members and CFT activists. We were outnumbered in bodies but teachers voices were heard as each one of us went to the microphone and voice our support for each of the bills. Pictured on the left is David Hind, a Cerritos High teacher registering his support to slow down charter school growth.
We thought you’d like to hear from the teachers that experienced the Day of Action:
Patty Alcantar - Vice President Early Childhood, Bragg Elementary: If you want to create change you need to get involved by advocating for public education with our legislators. It’s vital to let your voice be heard no matter how small you might think it is.
Stefani Palutzki - Site Rep, ABCFT Teacher Leader, Artesia High: I learned how charter schools can encroach upon a school’s space by creating a co-location at an existing public school. Essentially creating a charter school within a public school. It becomes a land of the haves and have nots. All the while, students do not understand why they cannot have the same resources that the charter school students receive.
Jill Yasutake - Negotiating Team, ABCFT Teacher Leader, Wittmann Elementary: It was an exciting day, seeing and participating in the democratic process to move education bills that support public education. It was an honor to speak about our support of the charter school bills on behalf of our fellow teachers. Educating people about the negative effects of charter schools was inspiring.
Rachael Smith - 4th grade teacher at Carver Elementary: It was invigorating as an educator to see the issues and challenges we face in the classroom being heard on a large scale. It makes me hopeful that our needs of the public school system can be addressed, heard and then acted upon by our legislators.
Catherine Pascual - ABCFT Teacher Leader, Artesia High: Recognizing how charter schools can negatively impact districts is important for educators to know regardless if there are charter schools in your district or not. We all have to support our brothers and sisters in districts where charter schools take monies away from public education. There is a lot of pro charter school propaganda spreading misinformation and it’s our responsibility as public school teacher to share factual information.
David Hind - Site Rep, Cerritos High: It was inspiring to hear citizens voices actually have an affect on the legislative process. We have access to our elected officials so we need to make the most of our opportunities and advocate for public schools. The charter school bills we supported are interconnected to AB 39 which is attempting to raise our current funding by 60%. If we were adequately funded we could offer some of the same programs that charter schools can. When it comes to the charter school threat, we need to be pragmatic and not be a strong no for charter school or we play into their false narrative.
We are excited to report that all of the bills we advocated for made it out of the Education Committee and will continue through the legislative process. The fight is far from over and we need your help! Sign the CFT letter to fix our broken charter school laws. The letters generated through this link will go directly to legislators in Sacramento.
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 Jennifer Marcus a teacher for 18 years. Currently, she teaches 6th grade at Aloha Elementary and is an ABCFT Teacher Leader.
If you could give ”first year teacher you” advice what would it be?
You don't need to be a 10 in all areas all the time.
How did you get involved with the union?
I am looking forward to having time to work on my action research project.
Describe a day in the life of being a Rep at your site.
Although I am not the site rep, Tricia is great rep and always makes herself available.
What is your favorite movie/show, song, or book?
In order: Motorcycle Diaries, Wicked, anything by Morrissey or Depeche Mode, Kite Runner
Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter...MySpace?
Twitter @jenruiz76
What do you do for fun?
Attend concerts, plays, museums, and visit with friends.
Do you have a bucket list?
Vatican, Turkey, and Israel
If you could have a superpower what would it be?
Flying
Thank you Jennifer, for sharing your story with the ABCFT community.
Mental Health In Education
ABCFT has been talking to representatives from Kaiser Permanente about the need for mental health supports for students and teachers in education and how that need is increasing exponentially. Here is an excerpt from a flyer we were sent about mental health. Mark your calendars for Tuesday, June 4th were ABCFT will sponsor a 1.5-hour presentation about “Toxic Stress and Creating Resiliency.” We hope that this presentation will spark further discussion on this topic. In addition, ABCFT will host at least four after school presentations next year addressing wellness, resiliency, healthy living, and finding balance in our lives. We hope that you will consider attending these sessions throughout the 2019-2020 school year.
From the Kaiser Flyer:
Trauma, once considered rare, is now recognized as a pervasive societal problem that can have profound effects on a person’s well-being. Trauma refers to any experience in which an individual is exposed to or confronted by a negative event that threatens his or her sense of safety — or witnesses these events inflicted on a family member, friend, or peer. An estimated 70 percent of U.S. adults have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives.1
The experience of trauma cuts across people of all socioeconomic statuses, ages, races, and backgrounds. However, individuals and communities that experience discrimination in any form are disproportionately affected by trauma. Trauma can also occur through adverse childhood experiences (or ACEs), such as abuse and household dysfunction. ACEs can impact adult outcomes of disease, quality of life, care utilization, and mortality. In 2016, nearly half of U.S. children – 34 million – had at least one ACE and more than 20 percent experienced two or more.
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School of Choice Update by Ray Gaer
I am the ABCFT representative on this committee along with representatives from AFSCME, CSEA, Administrators, along with community members that have been appointed by the ABC Board Trustees.
The next School of Choice Committee meeting is on April 11th. The previous three updates can be found here when you click this link. You can expect to see a new report the following week. If you have any questions please write to me at abcft@abcusd.us.
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APRIL 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's 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 April.
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer
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.
This week was a blur. I know that Spring Break is a week away but it feels like a finish line. It will feel like the final episodes of survivor where even if you are part of the jury you still can hold your head high that you survived the game. Now we might not be winning a million dollars at the end of this school year but we will all be able to say we were survivors of the school year. Throughout the year we have ups and down but there is a thrill of working together, moving our schools forward and giving our students what they need to be successful. Teachers are the bravest people I know because they come back every year to take on new challenges that test their spirits. Wow.
Hopefully, you found an article in this week’s Review that caught your eye and satisfied that inner drive to learn. As teachers, we do the same thing in our classrooms each day as we try to provide a light for our students so that they too can learn about themselves. Being a lifelong learner is the key to everything because as you learn you grow as a human being. Often times in our classroom we are not only teaching academics but more importantly you could say that educators are helping students to understand what it means to be human.
Thank you teachers/nurses/SLP for treating kids with dignity. Thank you teachers/nurses/SLP for being a guiding light. Thank you, all, for being there for students during their victories and for helping them during life's challenges. Thank you for being human and giving students HOPE.
So, like I said you may not will a million dollars at the end of the school year but you can walk away knowing that you gave your students Hope. That is the greatest gift any human can give to another.
We have four more days and then we all get a short timeout before the final bell rings. Hang in there.
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Hundreds gather at Capitol to protest crackdown on charter schools
Charter school advocates packed a Capitol hearing Wednesday to protest a package of bills supported by teachers’ unions that would limit the opening of new charter campuses. Three Assembly bills aim to build on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s recent legislation forcing charter schools to hold open meetings and adhere to state open records laws, by handing greater control of such schools to local districts, and placing a statewide cap on their numbers. Pro-charter advocates at the hearing criticized the bills as efforts to close the schools, and stymie innovation in education.
The latest CFT articles and news stories can be found here on the PreK12 news feed on the CFT.org website.
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
AFT President Randi Weingarten on the Senate Introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2019
WASHINGTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement today in support of the introduction of the Medicare for All Act of 2019:
“Healthcare in the United States should be a right, not a privilege. But for far too many families, the ability to go to the doctor when they’re sick, afford their prescriptions, and access critical care is further and further out of reach. While previous presidents and Congress have understood and taken steps toward this goal, that changed in the 1990s as a result of an unholy alliance between drug companies and insurance companies. This attack on healthcare was then fueled by right-wing market extremists who did everything in their power to destroy Obamacare.
“Today, the Trump administration and the Republicans in Congress continue to sabotage Americans’ access to affordable healthcare: They’re trying to gut protections for the millions of Americans with pre-existing conditions, restricting access to crucial preventive care, undermining reproductive health services, and providing tax breaks to corporations that buy up community hospitals and then harm the people who work there and the patients they serve.
“From many different vantage points—as a daughter of an aging parent, a local union president, the chair of New York City’s Municipal Labor Committee, a negotiator of dozens of union healthcare contracts, and the president of the nation’s second-largest union of healthcare professionals—I have seen how a lack of coverage can lead to anxiety, lack of care, financial catastrophe, bankruptcy and death. And I believe we have a moral obligation as a country to do something.
“It’s time Americans have a long-term sustainable solution. Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare for All Act is one such solution. I thank him for proposing one option among several potential paths to achieve this goal.”
AFT President Randi Weingarten on the Introduction of the Tax Fairness for Workers Act
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
LA County offers $17.4m in mental health funding
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved $17.4m in funding for mental health resources at Los Angeles USD and Los Angeles County Office of Education campuses. Approximately $9.7m will go to LAUSD. Supervisor Sheila Kuehl said it was “kind of unprecedented” for the county to contribute to LAUSD schools, but called the move to support students’ needs “putting our money where our mouth is.” Superintendent Austin Beutner said the funding “will allow us to move from intervention to prevention.” He spoke of a recent visit to a 1,000-student middle school; 125 of the kids there suffered from suicidal ideation and 25 were hospitalized.
Charter legislation inches forward
Three bills that would impose significant restrictions on charter schools in California took a small step forward when they were approved by the Assembly Education Committee in the state Capitol. AB 1505, 1506, and 1507, remove the ability of the State Board of Education to approve a charter application when it has been denied by a school district or county office of education, cap the number of charters in operation as of January 1st 2020, and prohibit charter schools from opening additional schools outside the district where they received their original charter. The bills were approved after five hours of debate and public testimony; they still have to clear both chambers before landing on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Attorneys general: Trump administration withholding critical student loan data
Twenty-one state attorneys general have signed a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos asking her to end a recent decision to withhold student loan information from their offices and other law enforcement agencies. At issue is the raft of data on student loan accounts held by the private companies the Education Department pays to service its $1.4tn portfolio of education debt; the firms used to provide state and federal authorities records on repayment plans, correspondence with borrowers, internal memos and other information to aid investigations. A year ago, the Trump administration issued guidance telling state regulators to back off those student loan servicing companies, arguing that only the federal government has the authority to oversee its contractors. “Student loan information is vital to our efforts to protect consumers from illegal, unfair, abusive or deceptive practices by actors in the higher education industry,” the attorneys wrote in a letter to Mrs DeVos last week. “The Department’s abandonment of its policy of disclosing records … represents a significant step away from the interests of consumers and toward the interests of corporate actors.”
Education Department slow to offer debt relief to defrauded students
The Education Department failed to approve, or deny, a single application for federal student loan relief under the so-called borrower defense program in the second half of last year, even after a federal judge ruled that the Trump administration’s “foot-dragging” was illegal. The Obama administration rewrote the borrower defense rule in 2016, to make it easier for students to secure loan relief after their colleges are found to have misled them with inflated claims of false promises of jobs. Liz Hill, a spokeswoman for the Education Department, attributed the delay – which has seen the number of pending claims rise to more than 150,000 – to the number lawsuits filed by advocates pressing for a more generous response to loan-relief applicants. “Pending litigation has slowed down the department’s processing to provide relief to additional borrowers,” Ms. Hill said. “We will fully implement the 2016 borrower defense regulations and ensure those who qualify for discharge receive it.”
More Charter school propaganda. Puppet DeVos
‘Education Freedom Scholarships’ under the spotlight
The Washington Post looks at Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ Education Freedom Scholarships, a major part of her plans to expand school choice. “Privately funded scholarships improve the educational experiences of students across the country, without taking a single dollar away from public schools and the students who attend them,” the Education Department has said. Participating states would have to identify “scholarship-granting organizations.” These are typically non profit organizations that offer scholarships to low-income or special-needs students; donors to such groups are eligible for a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit.
----- STATE NEWS -----
LAUSD Super: no plans for major restructuring
Los Angeles USD Superintendent Austin Beutner yesterday spoke about his efforts to reshape the nation’s second-largest school district, reassuring his critics that what had been intended as a major restructuring has been reduced in scope. The plan is to follow a model already in practice in the northwest San Fernando Valley, where schools are grouped into units based on geography and feeder patterns. Each school group would have a handful of new employees to coordinate academic and maintenance work, a “cost neutral” solution that would also see headcounts reduced in the district’s central office. Mr Beutner also said progress is being made on other fronts, including a new online portal that allows parents to evaluate schools, and on a June parcel tax, which would help to close the district’s budget deficit.
California sues over school lunch standards
California is one of several states suing the Trump administration over its new standards on school lunches, which reverse previous stipulations including the amount of whole grain that needs to be in a lunch, and permitted sodium levels. The United States Department of Agriculture had argued that the decision is consistent with its commitment “to alleviate difficult regulatory requirements, simplify operational procedures, and provide school food authorities ample flexibility to address local preferences." However Kirsten Roloson, Riverside USD’s interim director of nutrition services, said the standards have actually not been difficult to implement. For example, she says because they make most meals from scratch, they've found relatively simple ways to keep sodium levels down: "We found if we added more spices and more herbs, it gave it that flavor without the sodium.
Lawmakers propose taxing wealthiest corporations to pay for public schools
Democratic lawmakers, led by State Sen. Nancy Skinner of Berkeley, are hoping to address income inequality and fund education by increasing the tax rate by 2% on the top 0.2% of corporations that do business in California. Corporations in California are sitting on an additional $13bn-$17bn in tax revenue in recent years due to the 2017 Trump tax cut, which slashed corporate tax rates by 40%, according to a statement issued today by Sen. Skinner’s staff. “Corporate profits are at an all-time high, yet the portion of tax revenue California receives from corporations is close to its lowest point in 40 years,” Sen. Skinner said. “SB 37 just asks corporations to pay their share, so we can cut income inequality and help fund our kids, our teachers, and our schools.”
Teach for America members could be barred from high-poverty schools
Education committee members in the state Assembly have voted in favor of a bill that would prevent certain California public schools from hiring or paying for educators provided by third-party organizations, including Teach for America. The legislation, put forward by Democratic Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, would ban around 80 credentialing organizations from placing educators in Title 1 schools, where more than 40% of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. She said such children already face multiple disadvantages because of their ethnicity, ZIP code and socioeconomic status, adding that cycling inexperienced teachers through their classrooms does more harm than good. The bill is the first of its kind nationwide.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Berkeley Housing Advisory Commission approves educator housing recommendation
Berkeley’s Housing Advisory Commission has voted unanimously to approve a recommendation to City Council that would propose a plan to allocate $150,000 to Berkeley USD for the initial stages of predevelopment and planning to create educator housing. BUSD Director Julie Sinai told the Commission that housing in Berkeley is unaffordable for district employees, as entry-level teachers earn $40,000 annually, and the highest-paid educators earn $90,000, while housing is approximately $3,000 a month. The district will work with Berkeley Housing Opportunities for Municipal Employees, or BeHome, to evaluate land and plan, finance, develop and manage new educator housing. The housing project is feasible because it will be financed in part by tax credits, rent and district land, according to BeHome founder David Mayer.
District calls for ‘cease-fire’ after Sacramento teacher strike
More than 2,000 teachers across Sacramento City USD participated in a one-day strike yesterday, alleging unfair labor practices by the district. The union said 98% of its members joined the strike at the district’s 75 school sites. In a statement Thursday morning, the teachers union said it was forced to strike because the district was not honoring provisions in its contract that would reduce class sizes and improve student services. As the strike concluded, school board President Jessie Ryan called for a “cease-fire” – changing course from the district’s original plan to file its own unfair labor practices claim with the state, according to a district statement. “Teachers are the heartbeat of our schools and we need them back in the classroom,” she said. “We hear their message that without a solution more disagreement and unrest is likely. While we hear them, we also need them to hear us so that together we can solve this fiscal crisis and unite to save our schools with smart solutions.”
Sacramento school teachers prepare to strike
Up to 2,300 teachers are poised to walk out of Sacramento City USDclassrooms today for a scheduled strike. The one-day walkout, organized by the Sacramento City Teachers Association, stems from allegations by the teachers union that the district is not honoring its 2017 agreement, including directing savings from a lower quality health plan strictly toward reducing class sizes and funding more health workers and counselors. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg - who helped broker the 2017 deal - and district administrators believe the millions in potential health plan savings should go toward alleviating the $35m deficit before improving student services. Alex Barrios, the district’s communications officer, said: “We are on the brink of insolvency and state takeover. So our priority is to save our schools from a state takeover."
----- FINANCE -----
Business group takes aim at LAUSD parcel tax
Los Angeles USD board members hoping to see a parcel tax initiative win the favor of voters in a special election on June 4th face opposition in the form of an emerging cohort of local business groups. Measure EE, if it passes, is projected to raise $500m in revenue annually for LAUSD by taxing property owners within district boundaries $0.16 per square foot for a period of 12 years. However, LA County umbrella group BizFed has urged voters to reject it, arguing: “District bureaucrats and defenders of the failed status quo want taxpayers to bail out a school district with a history of red ink, appalling education results, declining enrollment, runaway administrative hiring and exploding retirement and health care costs. Reforms must come first.” Yes on EE campaign strategist Yusef Robb called the opposition’s reasoning “misguided,” and a politically charged effort by business leadership to skirt responsibility to pay their fair share. “Their argument is a bunch of political rhetoric that I’ve seen on ballot campaigns for years,” he said.
----- SOCIAL & COMMUNITY -----
Which codes influence kids' chances?
A new study by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health suggests that, if genetic factors influence where families are able to live and children's health and educational success, improving neighborhoods may not be enough to boost kids' chances. Dan Belsky, PhD assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia Mailman, and Candice Odgers, at the University of California, Irvine Department of Psychological Science, linked the genomic, geographic, health, and educational data of thousands of children living in Great Britain, and Belsky said: "Polygenic risk scores are an evolving and still imperfect tool. They can help us test whether genes and neighborhoods are related. But they cannot tell us how."
----- LEGAL -----
Court orders teacher Yvette Felarca to pay Judicial Watch attorney fees
Berkeley USD teacher Yvette Felarca has been ordered by a district judge to pay $20,000 to conservative advocacy group Judicial Watch. In October, a judge ruled that Ms Felarca could not stop BUSD from releasing documents that included her name or references to Antifa and By All Means Necessary, or BAMN, to Judicial Watch. In a follow-up case, the court ruled Wednesday that Ms Felarca and two of her colleagues would have to pay some of the conservative organization’s legal fees.
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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