ABCFT - Week in Review - May 31, 2019
 |
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
For confidential emails - use your non-work email to write us at:
|
Teacher Leaders Application for 2019-20 Program
With the support of AFT our national union, we are again honored to offer the ABCFT Teacher Leaders Program for the 2019-20 school year. To honor your time AFT offers a $1500 stipend for participants that complete the program. Below are the details regarding this national program as well as the online application process. To learn more about the TL program click here to access the 2018-19 action research papers.
The recruitment flyer which highlights the program
TLP guidelines are here--->TLP Participant Guidelines
ABCFT Teacher Leaders Applications are due by Tuesday, June 4, 2019
NEGOTIATIONS and the CFT LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
Education Highlights from the Governor’s 2019-20 May Budget Revision.
Last week members of the negotiating team attended a budget conference that discussed the education budget highlights for California’s May revised budget for 2019-2020. If you’ve been following the State budget timeline we posted that last few weeks you will see that we are entering the final legislative negotiations that impact the California state budget.
The CFT state legislative update is easy to read but there a lot of numbers to digest and analyze. However, as you glance through the CFT report you will see the word “proposal” repeated throughout the document. If you look at the timeline below on the budget you will see that the Governor is now entering the final negotiating phase with the legislative bodies. The May revise budget proposals are all parts of a negotiating framework that the Governor uses to push his political agenda. This year is particularly interesting because Governor Newsom is untested in negotiating at his current position. Thinking back on Governor Brown’s tenure it is easy to see a pattern of how tough a negotiator Governor Brown was when dealing with the Legislators. With Brown, the education world had a good idea of what was going to happen once the May revised budget was made available. In 2019, with newly elected Governor Newsom there are questions about what parts of his budget proposals will stick or be written off in negotiations. That being said, districts have a ballpark idea of how much money is in play but it is more a guess of where those dollars will be appropriated.
Next week ABCFT will share the entire powerpoint that was shared at this budget conference so you can see firsthand some of the information that your negotiating team looks at prior to salary negotiations. I hope that in the next couple of weeks we will be able to spell out some of the factors that are being taken into account as the negotiating team begins preparations for the start of salary negotiations for next school year which will begin in early August. I hope that you are finding these reports useful in understanding the State budget process and how it impacts the employees of ABC.
March-May - Each house refers to its budget bill to their respective budget committees. The bills are then broken down by subject and assigned to the appropriate subcommittees by subject areas. After completion of the hearings, each subcommittee votes and send its report to the full budget committee.
Late May - June - The budget committee of each house considers the subcommittees’ reports and sends a revised budget bill to the floor for evaluation by the full body. Each house discusses and then votes on its version of the budget bill. The differences between the Assembly and Senate versions of the budget bill are worked out in a conference committee made of three members from each house. Upon completion of its review, the conference committee submits a single version of the budget bill to both houses. The Senate and Assembly each vote on this final version before it is sent to the Governor. The houses also vote on trailer bills if statutory changes are necessary to implement provisions of the budget bill.
June 15 - July 1 - The bill becomes law as soon as it is signed by the Governor due to its status as an urgency measure.
ABCFT Health Benefits Survey Q&A
As promised in last weeks Review, we are addressing the thoughts and concerns from our member survey about our health benefits. We begin with the most concerns that were mentioned most by our members in the survey.
Q: Why doesn’t the district find other healthcare companies so we can have more choices?
A: Healthcare is a very competitive business and with the high numbers of ABC employees using Kaiser other healthcare providers are not interested in competing for the small number of non-Kaiser employees or spend money trying to lure Kaiser or Blue Shield participants away.
Q: Wow, a double-digit increase from Kaiser seems like a big jump. How are they able to ask for such a large increase in just one year?
A: We were fortunate for the last three years to have little to no rate increases from Kaiser. We have a cap on how much healthcare providers rates can increase. Our cap is 15% and Kaiser’ initial proposal came in just above it at 15.16%. Our third-party broker worked with Kaiser and Blue Shield to lower the rates and their final proposed combined rate increase is 12.44%
Q: What does this proposed healthcare rate increase mean to me?
A: The short answer is, it depends. But since that won’t suffice, here’s the long answer. In regards to negotiations, it could negatively impact the total amount available for salary increases since the money used for salaries are paid from the same pot as health benefits. The negotiating team along with ABCFT Executive Board will continue to consider the impact of the proposed rate increases and use the information from the survey to guide their decisions.
If you currently have Kaiser, you will continue to have no cost premiums for yourself and family. If you didn’t know already, this no-cost family coverage is a benefit that many of our neighboring districts do not offer.
If you are with Blue Shield Trio ACO HMO, just like Kaiser participants, you will continue to have no cost premiums for yourself and family.
If you are with any of the other Blue Shield coverages you may have an increase to your premiums due to the overall proposed rate increase.
Just to be clear, ABCFT has not negotiated any changes to the health benefits but we want to make sure the membership is aware of the situation and the possible minor changes that may or may not happen in the future. We understand the value of sharing important information with our members and hope these issues around our health benefits will continue to be addressed and clarified here each week.
School of Choice Update by Ray Gaer-
For those of you following along, click here to see the powerpoint presentation that was used for the May 9th SOC meeting. I’ll mention a couple of things of importance to look at for this powerpoint that jumped out at me. First, on page two of the document, you will see a flow chart of how the SOC has progressed and what goals/benchmarks the SOC will tackle in the next six months. Second, on page two you will see the differences between what is board policy and administrative policy. What this illustrates is that there is a board policy that operates like the outer shell of a car and then there is the yoke that is the administrative regulations that are the engine of this governing system. In theory, these two policies should be in alignment so that there is no question of the scope of what the school board does as district trustees. When the administrative regulations were not in line with the board policy we have a situation like the one employees are currently experiencing. The priority of employees kids was not spelled out in board policy but it was an informal procedure in administrative policy. It is an unfortunate mess what happened this year.
The rest of this SOC meeting focused on the remaining slides where members discussed how to make the board policy clear. At the next meeting on June 13th, the SOC will approve the recommended changes that were made to the policy. The approved document will then go to the school board for final approval. ABCFT will continue to keep you up to date on what is happening in the SOC over the next six months.
If you have been negatively impacted by the dramatic procedural change for ABC’s School’s of Choice lottery, I would encourage you to write to Tim.Catlin@abcusd.us
______________________________
Free AFT Resources
2019 VIRTUAL CONFERENCE HIGHLIGHT- ON DEMAND
You'll discover sessions filled with "use right now" strategies and tools for teachers, paraprofessionals and school related personnel, parents and community members. With 30+ FREE sessions, you're sure to find sessions on topics of interest.
Share My Lesson is known for our expansive library of science, math, social studies, English language arts and health-related resources; and this free professional learning webinar series will provide the professional support you're looking for in your instructional practice and resources to support for students and steps for implementing schoolwide programs. We also have many sessions that school staff, administrators and parents will find of interest. So, make some time for these worthwhile sessions filled with new content from education experts from across the country.
Note: If you can't make a session time, register anyway, and we'll send you a link to view it on-demand after it has aired live.
Only have time for the highlights? View a sampling of sessions available on demand now.
______________________________
MAY 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.
Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive Needs Your Help
Every year the LA Labor Federation unites forces with the Letter Carriers and United Way to collect food for the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. All the food collection and sorting wouldn't be possible without the help our locals across the county and this year is not different. They need all the help they can get to sort 2 million pounds of food by the summer and have extended the time from now until June 15th. See the flyer below for details and links.
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 Friday sort of snuck up on me. There are only nine more days left in this contract year, thankfully. This week I’ve been busy with representations and working to help members navigate some of the bureaucracy of the district office. I was notified by Human Resources that many of the teachers who are moving sites will be finalized in the first week of June but as stated in the Master Contract, those moving and all teacher’s assignments are assigned before the last day for teachers. There are sometimes changes during the summer but almost all teachers will know exactly what their teaching assignments will be for next year as we leave for summer vacations.
I’m going to keep it short this week but I greatly appreciate all of those who do take the time to read our messages every week. Have a good weekend!
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
What To Do Between Strikes An essay by Raoul Teilhet
Editor’s note: This essay was presented to CFT Convention on March 9, 2002. Because of Raoul Teilhet’s Parkinson’s disease, it was read by then-Vice President Greg Camacho-Light, a drama teacher from the Gilroy Federation of Teachers and Paraprofessionals. Gov. Gray Davis attended a convention that day and officially named it Raoul Teilhet Day. 
One of the important responsibilities of the CFT annual conventions is to provide leadership training opportunities for both seasoned and emerging local leaders. To this end, I have been asked today to share a few personal experiences and observations with you.
Running a public or private school local, whether it be large or small, rural or urban, or elementary or higher education, poses a difficult set of tasks unless, of course, your rank-and-file is always supportive, never ill-tempered, unified on the issues, and always a yes vote on dues increases.
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’s Weingarten on the Biden Plan for Educators, Students and Our Future
HOUSTON—AFT President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after she joined Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden and for an AFT Votes town hall during which the former vice president released his comprehensive plan for public education in America:
“Joe Biden’s education plan represents the kind of muscular investment we urgently need to meet the needs of America’s kids, their families and their educators. The former vice president and Dr. Biden are committed to public schools because they know teachers are on the front line, protecting and nurturing the next generation.
“Like so many of the other candidates’ plans we have praised, this one is far more than rhetoric: It lays out concrete steps to fund the future of American public education by tripling Title I funding and boosting funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act so we live up to our promise to the country’s neediest children. It invests in mentoring and community schools and teacher diversity, closes the teacher pay gap, and doubles the number of school psychologists, counselors and nurses. It recognizes that education follows our students from birth all the way through college by fixing Public Service Loan Forgiveness once and for all, while investing in community colleges and providing universal pre-K for 3- and 4-year-olds.
“I have worked closely with Joe throughout my career and spent today with him and AFT members from across Texas. The former vice president has lived a life filled with compassion, understanding and incredible resilience. He understands people, and he fights for them. And this education plan reflects his core values to a T.”
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
DeVos urged to cancel disabled veterans' student debts
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has been urged to automatically forgive the student loan debt of eligible veterans who became disabled through their military service. A group of bipartisan attorneys general from 51 states and territories have written to the Department of Education, asserting: "We write, as the Attorneys General of our jurisdictions, to urge the Department of Education to take prompt action to satisfy its statutory mandate to discharge the student loans of veterans who are permanently and totally disabled or otherwise unemployable. As a nation, we have a moral obligation to assist those who have put their lives on the line to defend us."
Joe Biden touts education agenda
Former vice president and current Democratic presidential hopeful Joe Biden released his sweeping education proposal on Tuesday, which calls for federal investment in low-income schools, support for universal prekindergarten, higher teacher pay, and, he added in a public appearance afterwards, opposition to for-profit charter schools. The plan earned praise from the National Education Association after he was introduced by Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, who called Mr. Biden “our North Star” in the Obama administration and praised his plan as “the kind of muscular investment we urgently need to meet the needs of America’s kids, their families and their educators.”
----- STATE NEWS -----
Plans to impose charter moratorium stall in Sacramento
Senate Bill 756, a proposal to impose a two-year moratorium on new charter schools in California, was blocked yesterday, leaving supporters of the legislation pledging to try again next year. The measure sought to delay the creation of new charter schools across California until the Legislature crafted rules that limited the power of state education officials to allow new campuses to open without first receiving approval on a local level. Charter school advocates celebrated news of the bill’s demise on Wednesday, having successfully raised doubts among some members of the Senate about the legislation’s effect. “Charter public school families’ voices were heard loud and clear by Sacramento politicians: We cannot and will not accept legislation that limits access to great public schools,” said Myrna Castrejón, president of the California Charter Schools Association, in a written statement.
----- TEACHER STRIKES -----
New Haven teacher strike enters second week
Teachers from New Haven USD stood outside the Alameda County Office of Education late into the evening Monday as talks at the bargaining table continued. However, it was announced that the 12-hour talks were unable to produce a settlement. The union announced a new proposal Monday evening. Instead of requesting a 10% raise over the next two years, it will come down to about 7%. The district is now offering a 2% raise starting in January and a one-time 3% bonus for this current school year.
----- DISTRICTS -----
LAUSD parcel tax faces ‘tough road’
A new poll from Probolsky Research indicates Measure EE is likely to fail if voter turnout on June 4 is as low as expected in Los Angeles USD. The survey suggests a higher-than-average turnout would make the district’s proposed parcel tax competitive, but if turnout drops too much, the measure will struggle to reach the necessary two-thirds majority. Adam Probolsky, the nonpartisan company’s president, said “People are persuadable. This isn’t a presidential election where everyone isn’t going to move from their position, but clearly, it is a tough road in the lower turnout scenario.” If 17% of voters show up, the polling projects 62% would vote yes, with another 6% still unsure. If the turnout is halved, the yes votes drop to 57%. Measure EE is a 16-cents-per-square-foot parcel tax that pledges to pay for lower class sizes, help to retain and attract high-quality teachers, and improve services and programs for students.
----- CLASSROOM -----
LAUSD seeks to make elementaries teach cursive
The Los Angeles USD school board has requested a plan to ensure that cursive writing is taught at all elementary schools in the district. Speaking on the request, superintendent Austin Beutner said: "Even in today's high-tech world, learning to read and write cursive remains an important skill for our students," citing research which indicates that children often "learn best when they put pen or pencil to paper."
----- WORKFORCE -----
Pasadena holding out on better staff dental benefits
Alvin Nash, president of the United Teachers of Pasadena union, has accused Pasadena USD officials of moving slowly on dental benefits, one of the items the two sides had already agreed upon. A 2%, one-time bonus for teachers this school year has been negotiated, along with a 3% rise next year, and the aforementioned dental benefits. Mr Nash says, however, that by not putting the matter on an upcoming agenda, officials are effectively holding the terms of the agreement “hostage.” The benefits need to be ratified by May 30th for them to go into effect by August. In the background are stalled discussions on 3% salary increases in the 2020-21 and 2021-22 school years.
----- ADMINISTRATION -----
Do school districts need business managers?
Woody Wiedenhoeft, the executive director of the Wisconsin Association of School Business Officials, discusses the importance of business managers for school districts. Business officials, who will be holders of an 08 license from the Department of Public Instruction, look after administration, accounting, facilities/buildings and grounds, transportation, food service, purchasing, and others on the non-instructional side of school district operations. If a larger school district had a business manager, but now is thinking a business manager isn’t needed, Mr Wiedenhoeft said time may tell. “If you had a really good business manager and everything is in very good shape,” he said, “you may not see any problems show up for a year or two. But when they show up, usually they become bigger problems than what the cost of the business manager is. Generally speaking, business managers pay for themselves.”
----- WORKFORCE ----
California districts look to teacher housing
School districts in high-cost areas of California are increasingly pursuing affordable housing projects in order to boost staff retention. In the last 20 years, affordable housing projects have been undertaken only in Los Angeles, Santa Clara and San Mateo statewide, but now projects at nearly a dozen districts are in the pipeline. The Bay Area is the main site of upcoming projects, with San Clara County, San Jose USD, Jefferson UHSD, Sonoma County Office of Education, San Francisco USD, San Lorenzo Valley USD, West Contra Costa USD and Mountain View Whisman USD all planning or considering employee housing provisions.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Schools rethink response to student vaping
As e-cigarettes become increasingly popular among teenagers, schools are starting to rethink their approach to student vaping, with experts calling for the behavior to be treated as an addiction rather than simply an infringement of school rules. In California, Conejo Valley USD recently stopped suspending students for first-time vaping offences, instead sending them to a Saturday class on the marketing and health dangers of vaping. E-cigarettes have now overtaken traditional cigarettes for popularity among students, with 1 in 5 high school students reporting having vaped at least once in the previous month in one survey.
-----CHARTER SCHOOLS -----
Charter managers indicted on conspiracy charges
Eleven people have been indicted on criminal charges of conspiracy, personal use of public money without legal authority, grand theft and financial conflict of interest in connection with charter school management corporation A3 Education, whose leaders control 13 schools across California. The indictment states that Sean McManus and Jason Schrock, A3 chairman and president respectively, essentially owned and operated the schools at the same time that A3 was contracted with them. The San Diego district attorney’s office has been investigating A3 since at least last year, when A3 Education learned of the investigation, according to the statement. “There are no words to express the shock and dismay that we are all feeling,” A3 leaders wrote in the statement. “However, we must keep in mind that the alleged wrongdoings are attributed to a few, internally and externally, not the organizations themselves or as a whole.”
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
Liberal arts 'under attack' by the wealthy
Academics Catharine B. Hill and Elizabeth Davidson, of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, have explored how much graduates with liberal arts education can earn and discovered that critics are wrong about the worth of such degrees. Donald Lazere, professor emeritus of English at California Polytechnic State University at San Luis Obispo, considers why wealthy families want their kids to pursue such routes amid a deliberate "dumbing down" of wider American society.
Santa Clara calls on Stanford to build more housing
Santa Clara County has told Stanford University to build nearly four times the number of housing units for staff and faculty than it originally proposed as part of its massive campus expansion, as a condition of giving the development the green light. In addition to 2,600 beds for students, the county wants the university to build at least 2,172 housing units for faculty and staff in order for the expansion to be approved. The county’s conditions also require the university to build housing units and academic buildings simultaneously in four different phases, which the university has strongly opposed. Stanford would only be allowed to build 25% of the total 2.3m square feet of academic space that it wants to develop at one time. Then the university would be required to return and seek county approval before moving forward with the development in each of the following three phases.</ span>
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.
