ABCFT - YOUnionews - October 4, 2019
KNOW YOUR CONTRACT
Duty-Free Lunchtime and Sick Days
Lunchtime IEP meetings (Article VIII Duty Day, B.6 page 15) - Your administrator should find coverage for your class when IEPs are held during the school day. Your lunch is duty-free and you should not be forced to sacrifice your unpaid time for an IEP. The team should look for a time that is considerate of everyone’s time. I’m sure there are special circumstances that cause exceptions but having lunchtime IEPs should not be the norm.
Sick Days and Personal Necessity (PN) Days (Article XX Leaves with pay, pages 67-69) - Every year you receive 10 sick days for the school year. You can use up to 7 of those 10 sick days for Personal Necessity (PN). When you use one of your sick days as a PN day you don't have to give a reason for the absence. It is to be used when “...the unit member believes that his/her absence from duty is necessary.” You determine what is necessary. You can use up to seven of your sick days as PN days each year, never more regardless of how many sick days you have. PN days are not extra days but they are just another way to use your sick days. All unused sick days can be carried over and there is no limit to the number of accumulated sick days you can have. Accumulated sick days are banked and are usually used for medical conditions that require the member to use more than the 10 sick days provided each year. Accumulated sick days are also used during your retirement calculations with STRS.
ABCFT Activists at CFT Standing Committees - Tanya Golden
There are fifteen ABCFT union activists serving on the 2019-21 CFT Committees. The majority of our ABCFT team is serving for the first time and is the largest group ABCFT has ever had at committees. These activists are giving their time to advocate for education issues, working conditions, and social justice at the state level. Last Saturday they met at El Camino College for their first meeting. Before they got to work in their specific committees, members heard CFT President, Jeff Freitas State of the Union address. The CFT also provided training on how the CA budget funds public education and learned about the CFT legislative department and their role in the CA legislative process.
The training also focused on their role as a committee member. As the primary subject matter experts, they will advise CFT governance bodies on policy positions and other relevant matters. They also introduce resolutions which advocate for their committee’s subject area and provide workshops to educate delegates at CFT conventions. Committee members will be called upon by the CFT legislative department as subject matter experts to provide support and guidance for CFT legislative efforts. They may also serve as a CFT representative for state agencies. Lastly, they will report back to their locals with updates from their respective committees and seek guidance on the topics they cover. This is the first time CFT Standing Committee members received this important training. We are appreciative of CFT for listening to the needs of the committees and supporting our members in a way that will help with their committee work. Click the link here ABCFT CFT Standing Committee Members for the committees and the names of those ABCFT members committed to this important work.
Once again, ABCFT is at the table to provide crucial input that will shape and guide CFT policies that affect thousands of educators across the state. This is democracy at work within the union and how we use our collective voices to become union strong.
PICTURE OF THE WEEK
CFT Standing Committee Members from ABCFT
Pictured from left to right front row: Reema Suleiman, Diana Middleton, Jennifer Bridwell, Patty Alcantar, Rachel Santos, Stefani Palutzke, Jill Yasutake, and Susie Gomez. Back row: Tanya Golden, Connie Nam, David Hind, Diane Jhun, Gaby Ibarra, Rhonda McNutt, and Michael Hartshorn.
Personal Learning Opportunity - Mindfulness
The second in the series of free members-only Personal Learning is Mindfulness offered by wellness coach, Donna Valenti. Have you ever wondered what your life could look like if you had more clarity, better focus, reduced stress and a sense of purpose, all while having success in your career, meaningful relationships, and the time in your day to enjoy the things you love? Are you over-stimulated, frenzied, stressed, exhausted, fatigued and desperate as you attempt to cope with the challenges of modern life? The culture of driving and nonstop activity is taking a huge toll on your health, happiness, and overall well-being. Let’s have some fun and learn how to give your body, mind, and spirit a fresh start.
Mindfulness
Personal Learning Opportunity
Tuesday, October 15th
from 3:30-5:00 p.m.
at Fedde Middle School MPR
21409 Elaine Ave, Hawaiian Gardens.
Light refreshments will be provided.
Seats are limited so be sure to sign up today!
Click the link to register for the
Mindfulness Personal Learning Opportunity.
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OCTOBER ACADEMIC SERVICES UPDATE
Each month Kelley Forsythe 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 Kelley give reports and take questions on all things related to academic services.
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ABCFT 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. Throughout the year I find articles that are interesting and food for thought;
“Trying not to go ape ****” is just one message I heard from an ABCFT member today and after this last September, I get it. Even though there seems to be some stability in the schools there are plenty of raw nerves across the district. A few of the top stressors are curriculum pressures, GATE questions, and the amount of professional development. Over the past month, ABCFT representatives Kelley Forsythe, Rich Saldana, Tanya Golden, and I have been working to find answers about GATE and are having conversations about the pace of curriculum changes. I hope that you will take the time to look at the academic services report that Kelley and Rich have put together for this month. I will be meeting with Dr. Valencia Mayfield the Assistant Supt. of Academic Services about our concerns about professional development and the number of days that teachers are out of the classroom. It is my belief that educators cannot model good attendance when teachers are constantly out of their classrooms. As teachers, we all strive for flow and routine in our classrooms to be most efficient in how educators deliver the curriculum. In the meantime, please take care of yourself with self-care activities that will help you keep your strength throughout the year. Here’s an article to inspire you to do self-care.
Yesterday, ABCFT had the monthly Site Representative meeting for the month of October. Your site reps spend about two hours after school representing your concerns and providing valuable feedback the union leadership needs to address the larger issues that are prevalent across the district or in specific schools. One of the most important activities we do each year (4x a year) is a portion of the meeting called “Focus Groups.” When the site reps go into focus groups representatives break into grade-specific discussion groups. The group categories in no particular order are elementary, middle school, high school, special education, child development, and adult school. In these groups, reps are given a topic of focus for the school year and also time to share concerns that are important to that specific group type.
This year, our focus topic is adjunct duties. We will be exploring how the duty lists are created, the process for assigning duties, and the number of duties typically at a school site. Your site representatives will be gathering the different adjunct duty lists and these will be shared for all representatives and members to see in the coming months. I’ll be sharing more about the process of focus groups work throughout the school year.
During the focus groups yesterday there was a common issue of student behaviors and the lack of training on how to deal with extreme student behavior. There is also the prevalence of parents that impact the entire classes of teachers in their advocating for their children. Although there are individual cases that we can help address, there is the reality that most teachers, nurses, and SLPs are dealing with a significant increase in behavioral challenges they face every day. We will continue to advocate for support and solutions to help members during this trying time.
I’m with the negotiation team today so I’m limited on my time to write today. Next week, we hope to be able to share some of the negotiating progress that we have made so far. Have a good weekend and do some self-care to get you through the week.
In Unity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
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
NEW DISCOUNT PROGRAM FROM AFT MEMBER BENEFITS
Dear AFT Affiliate Leader
Please share with your members.
NEW DISCOUNT PROGRAM FROM AFT MEMBER BENEFITS
Office Depot/Office Max Discounts
- up to 55% on 300+ core office and school products and office/school breakroom products and cleaning supplies
- up to 30% on office services like printing and tech support
- free shipping on purchases over $50.00
- download a discount card to use in the store or request a personalized discount card when you create an account
This is a MEMBERS ONLY Discount and can only be accessed through the AFT Members Only site.
Four easy steps:
- login to AFT members only site
- click on Office Depot
- create an account at Office Depot
- start shopping
How to login to AFT members Only Site:
If you are already registered for AFT Member Benefits, go here to login and get to the members only site: https://hq-secure01.aft.org/
If you are not registered but have your card or know your member ID, register here: https://hqsecure.aft.org/
If you don’t have your card or Member ID, you can complete this form to request your member ID*: https://leadernet.aft.org/
When you get to the members-only site you can print a temporary membership card, request a replacement or update your account information.
*there may be a delay in getting a number if you are a new member or are not yet in our membership system
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
Gov. Newsom signs law overhauling charter schools
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law Thursday overhauling California’s charter schools in a move that brought together teachers’ unions and charter school advocates who have long been at odds over how the schools affect public education. The new law will let districts consider how proposed charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately run, would affect traditional schools in the district and whether they would siphon money from schools already in financial distress. High performing charter schools will be eligible for seven-year renewals, compared with five years for middle-performing charter schools. Districts will be able to close charter schools that fail to serve student populations such as those with disabilities. Eric Premack, executive director of the Charter Schools Development Center, said the new appeals process under the law Newsom signed Thursday is significantly weakened, which he worries will make it v ery difficult to open new charter schools in the state. “When you both expand the reasons for denial and you make it harder to appeal… we think the effect will be to severely constrain the growth of charter schools going forward,” he said.
----- TEACHER STRIKES -----
DiSalvo: Teacher Retirement Benefits Eating Up Higher Pay For Current Teachers
In an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal (9/30, Subscription Publication), Daniel DiSalvo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a professor of political science at the City College of New York-CUNY, writes that while teachers and teachers unions attribute low teacher pay to low state spending on education, in most areas education spending is increasing. The problem, DiSalvo writes, is that instead of going to teacher paychecks, the money is being used to cover retirement benefits for former teachers.
Chicago Teachers Moving Towards Strike
The AP (10/2, Tareen) reports, “A Chicago teachers strike could be less than a week away if there isn’t a last-minute deal.” The Chicago Teachers Union “overwhelmingly voted to authorize a strike” with contracts yet to be agreed to regarding “pay and benefits, class size and staffing shortages.”
Chicago Teachers, Other District Workers Threaten October 17 Strike
Reuters (10/3, O'Brien) reports that Chicago teachers “will go on strike against the third-largest US public school district” on October 17 “if their protracted labor negotiations with the city do not result in a new contract, the teachers’ union said on Wednesday.” Reuters says the walkout “would disrupt classes for about 360,000 Chicago [K-12] students.” The Chicago Teachers Union “announced a ‘unified strike date’ with the labor group that represents Chicago Park District workers and the union representing school security guards, janitors and special education aides.” The three unions “represent nearly 35,000 public employees in Chicago, according to local media.” Reuters reports the teachers union “intends to continue to bargain in good faith” and “a strike will be the ‘last resort,’” according to teachers union president Jesse Sharkey.
The Washington Post (10/2, Tareen) says the teachers union “wants a nurse and librarian at every school, more social workers, class size limits that are strictly enforced and movement on what they call ‘social justice’ issues, like further sanctuary protections for immigrant students.” The union also “wants a three-year contract with annual raises of 5% and a rollback of employee health care contributions increased in a previous contract.”
Analysis: Research Shows Chicago Teachers Received Mixed Pay, Compared To National Averages.Chalkbeat (10/2, Kunichoff) reports that Chicago district officials “have characterized their current salary offer to teachers...as generous and even ‘historic.’” Chalkbeat says Chicago’s teacher salaries are mixed when compared with nationwide averages. In 2017-18, Chicago “ranked toward the top in pay for more experienced teachers,” but “toward the bottom for a first-year teacher.” This ranking “was compiled by the National Center on Teacher Quality, a nonpartisan policy and research center.”
Novato teachers call for better pay
For the third year in a row, members of the Novato Federation of Teachers (NFT) are protesting amid difficult contract talks with Novato USD officials. The Novato Federation of Teachers’ last one-year contract with the district expired June 30th. Despite four negotiation sessions so far, the district and the teachers remain far apart. NFT president Mariah Fisher said a 7% salary increase is needed to catch up after two prior years where raises were just over 2% in 2018-19 and a flat one-time $1,100 in 2017-18. The district has offered a 1% pay hike.
Northern Humboldt students walk out to support teachers in contract talks
Around two dozen McKinleyville High School students, most dressed in black, walked out Wednesday during their lunch break, frustrated that ongoing contract talks between the teachers’ union and the district have resulted in teachers locking doors at lunch and after school. The students marched to the Northern Humboldt Union High School District Office, where Superintendent Roger Macdonald invited them in to air their grievances. “While you may be able to patronize us and say we don’t understand everything going on with the contract negotiations, we do understand that the purpose of public education is to serve the students and educate and nurture us,” sophomore Cicely Jones. In response, Superintendent Macdonald said contract talks were more difficult this year than in past years, citing the district’s “deficit spending” as well as the rising costs of health care and pensions.
----- STATE NEWS -----
Bill that could give public system $15bn added to March ballot
A bond on the March ballot would provide one-time funds of $15bn to the California Public School system if passed. The money will ultimately be allocated toward improving school infrastructure and technology, said Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, who introduced Assembly Bill 40. It would provide $9bn to the state’s K-12 public schools, $2bn to the community college system, $2bn to the CSU system, and $2bn to the CSU system. Gregg Goldman, vice chancellor and chief financial officer at UCLA, said he thinks the bond has a high likelihood of being passed on the March ballot. He added public education funding has historically been separated into two bills: one for the K-12 public school system and one for higher education. He said he thinks merging them is a good idea since people typically support K-12 funding over higher education funding.
California to let college athletes sign endorsement deals
California became the first state to require major financial reforms in college athletics on Monday after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a measure that allows players to receive endorsement deals, despite the National Collegiate Athletic Association calling the move unconstitutional. Under the law, which takes effect in 2023, students at public and private universities in the state will be allowed to sign deals with sneaker companies, soft drink makers or other advertisers and profit from their names and likenesses. The NCAA's current rules regarding athletes’ ability to make money off their names, images and likenesses are much more restrictive than California’s will be. The conflict raises myriad questions almost immediately in the areas of recruiting and scheduling, both of which occur years in advance in college sports. “The California legislation may be the most significant threat to the NCAA’s broad amateurism rules that we’ve seen to date,” said Gabe Feldman, director of the Tulane Sports Law Program and Tulane University's associate provost for NCAA compliance. “The best outcome would be for the NCAA to voluntarily change its rules.”
Native American students suspended at higher rates than peers
Native American students in California's public schools face higher-than-average suspension rates, according to a new report from CSU San Diego, and the Sacramento Native American Higher Education Collaborative. Native American students in California's public schools are suspended at a rate of 7.2%, more than twice statewide average of 3.5% for all students. The highest percentage of suspensions for Native American students occurs in middle school, at 16.5% for Native American boys and 9.1% for Native American girls, below statewide averages of 9% and 4.3% respectively. Luke Wood, a co-author of the report and chief diversity officer at CSU San Diego, said: "We believe this report is particularly groundbreaking, because Native American students are often ignored in scholarly research due to limited sample sizes. Too often, Native American populations are relegated to being nothing more than an asterisk in data sets, thereby ignoring glaring disparities in outcomes that render them invisible."
----- SECURITY -----
Spending billions on school security tech won’t protect kids
A new report from the Educator’s School Safety Network asserts some hard truths about schools and states' approaches to "response based" strategies - rather than prevention - to stop school shooters. While all the hardware and technology is impressive, says leading expert on schools and safety Dr Amy Klinger, co-founder of the Educator’s School Safety Network, it’s not solving a key problem - stopping violence before it occurs: "It is not just about react, react, react. It’s about prevention,” she asserts. To more responsibly address threats, Dr Klinger and her group are advocating training teachers to become the real first responders - spotting troubled students and situations before there is escalation and violence.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Florida Now Allowing Teachers To Carry Guns In Classroom
The Washington Times (10/1, Vogt) reports “Florida teachers are now allowed to carry guns in their classroom thanks to a controversial new law that went into effect Tuesday.” Under the law, “school districts can now choose to opt in or out of arming teachers.” The New York Times (10/1, Holson) says “currently 39 counties participate in the program, according to the Florida Department of Education,” though “not all school districts agree that teachers should be armed.” The Times adds that “according to The Miami Herald in September, only 11 school districts had sought to arm teachers through the program.”
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
UC continues fight against Trump’s DACA repeal
The University of California has filed a brief in the United States Supreme Court in San Francisco, challenging the Trump administration’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, alleging that the repeal violates students’ rights. UC President Janet Napolitano said that the White House “acted illegally by ending the DACA program without offering any valid justification for doing so. Five federal courts have considered this issue and found that the administration's decision was arbitrary and capricious, and therefore unlawful." The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments on the case on November 12th.
----- OTHER -----
Most kids want to be teachers
Teaching continues to be the most popular future occupation for kids, according to a new poll by Moneypenny, with a majority of children in 17 states saying they want to become teachers when they grow up. A couple of decades ago, the most popular answers in Florida were teacher, firefighter, police officer and nurse, most of the Sunshine State's youth now long to become veterinarians and care for animals. Going against the majority, most kids in Arizona want to become professional baseball players, most in Delaware want to be nurses, most in Kansas and Massachusetts want to be musicians, kids in Oklahoma and South Dakota want to be artists, while and kids in Maryland and Minnesota aspire, respectively, to become authors and zoologists.
B is for birthday
Sesame Street, introduced when it wasn't common for children to attend preschool, celebrates 50 years of quality early learning this year. Research has demonstrated those who watched it experienced better outcomes later in life than those who didn’t. In a year of significant 50th anniversaries - the Apollo 11 mission and the Woodstock music festival, suggests Linda Jacobson, it’s hard to match Sesame Street’s impact on generations of children - many of whom grew up to be teachers.
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.
