ABCFT - YOUnionews - May 1, 2020
MEMBER VOICES - We Want to Hear from YOU
YOU are a vital part and voice of the YOUnion. ABCFT leadership wants to know what is on your mind. Do you still have unanswered questions? Still unsure about remote learning, contact language, salary, negotiations, evaluations or anything else related to our current working conditions, click this link here. All questions will be anonymous. For universal issues, we will address the answers each week in our Tuesday Talk.
AFT’s PLAN TO SAFELY REOPEN SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITIES
This week, American Federation of Teachers, AFT, our national affiliate shared their guidance document as we eventually transition back to open up schools, communities and businesses. ABCFT members will be working with their respective CFT committees and division councils using this document as a resource to give guidance to CFT as we seek how to safely reopen our schools and communities.
Here are the five pillars AFT identified as necessary to responsibly and safely reopen society.
- Maintaining physical distancing until the number of new cases declines for at least 14 consecutive days. Reducing the number of new cases is a prerequisite for transitioning to reopening plans on a community-by-community basis.
- Putting in place the infrastructure and resources to test, trace and isolate new cases. Transitioning from community-focused physical distancing and stay-in-place orders to case-specific interventions requires ramping up the capacity to test, trace and isolate each and every new case.
- Deploying the public health tools that prevent the virus’ spread and aligning them with education strategies that meet the needs of students.
- Involving workers, unions, parents and communities in all planning. Each workplace and community faces unique challenges related to COVID-19. To ensure that reopening plans address those challenges, broad worker and community involvement is necessary. They must be engaged, educated and empowered.
- Investing in recovery: Do not abandon America’s communities or forfeit America’s future. These interventions will require more—not less—investments in public health and in our schools, universities, hospitals, and local and state governments. Strengthening communities should be a priority in the recovery.
NEGOTIATION UPDATE - KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Ruben Mancillas
Notes from Underground
Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! That’s right, May 4-8 is designated Teacher Appreciation Week by the national PTA. https://www.pta.org/home/
The month of May is also Labor History Month in our state. Credit to CFT for being co-sponsors of the legislation that created this recognition and was signed into law in 2012 by Governor Brown. The link is here, https://www.cft.org/labor-
Speaking of governors...Governor Newsom understandably generated a great deal of discussion during our union chats on Tuesday and Thursday when he surprised everyone with talk of a potential school start in July. Here’s my short answer: I don’t see it happening. A slightly more thoughtful response is: Newsom is likely responding to pressure from a number of different sides. The concern with “learning loss” (be ready to hear that term a great deal) and remediation for students who have not mastered foundational skills is a real one. A number of ideas are going to be proposed regarding staggered starts and how to best maintain social distancing while trying to get back to the live teaching that the vast majority is now discovering is so important. Many of these plans will be unworkable while some may have a basis for a potential remedy. The July start date is not viable, in my opinion, for a number of reasons but may have been the Governor’s attempt at floating a trial balloon or even setting up an extreme option so that a later compromise would appear more reasonable. I’m not sure, he didn’t call and ask for my advice (again!). Governor Newsom did receive a great deal of pushback from superintendents and labor groups from across the state immediately following his mention of a July start. In ABCUSD, we are moving forward with the intention of keeping to our negotiated calendar of a start in August. The current plan is that summer school will still take place as scheduled, likely with an online model.
In Unity,
MEMBER WELLNESS - Tanya Golden
Each week we share resources that may support our members during these challenging times. Cerritos High School teacher, Viki Yamashita shared this delightful video by a music teacher. Hopefully it brings a smile to your face. There is no doubt we can all relate to her song about how teachers are feeling during this pandemic.
Thank you Burbank staff for sharing this creative and fun bitmoji banner of the Bulldogs!
If you’d like to share what your site is doing to connect with your students and families, email us at ABCFT@abcusd.us
In case you need to find creative ways to decompress and relax (do your best!) from Thrillist, here is
To further support educators, students, and families, ABCUSD social workers and PBIS coaches launched a new Mental Health and Wellness website. The site highlights ABCUSD programs and services such as COVID-19 resources, PBIS supports, academic support, crisis and support hotlines, food and nutrition, health and medical services as well as many other resources. Sharing these resources with our students and families in need is a great way to share how we care support them during these turbulent times. If you or a fellow co-worker is in need of support be sure to access the Staff and Employee page within this site.
Caring for the Caregivers - Relationships and Learning in the Age of COVID-19- ...and then the world changed. The COVID-19 pandemic has flipped our world upside down. It’s time to be innovative about how to build on the strengths of our families and teachers, foster a growth mindset and not take ourselves too seriously. Learn and share practical strategies about staying connected to families and colleagues in a physically distant life where the classroom walls have come down and boundaries between home and school have vanished. Presented by San Juan Unified School District - Kate Hazarian
May 11, 2020 3:00pm - 4:00pm (PDT) Click here to register. More PBIS related resources can be found at the PBIS Coalition.
MEMBER BENEFITS
THANK A HERO SWEEPSTAKES Teachers, nurses, and public employees are all heroes. Nominate one with a special message, a photo or a short video, or post about them on social media. Maybe it is your child’s favorite teacher, or the nurse who cared for you or your loved one. Maybe it’s a colleague you want to honor. And, if you are a teacher, nurse or public employee, you can nominate yourself by sharing with us how YOU make a difference every day. Winners will win free books from First Book or $100 gift cards for takeout to local restaurants, to help small businesses stay afloat.
THE BIG 7 - HEALTHY EMOTION REGULATION DURING UNCERTAIN TIMES WEBINAR - Marc Brackett, Ph.D., is the director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University. Marc is the lead developer of RULER, a Pre-K to high school approach to social and emotional learning that has been adopted by over 2,000 schools. He also is on the board of directors of CASEL and the author of Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help our Kids, Ourselves, and our Society Thrive. Have you been riding a roller coaster of emotions lately? You aren’t alone. Join Dr. Marc Brackett for strategies to help make the ride a little smoother. This interactive session on emotion regulation will offer research-based strategies to support your own and others’ well-being and better decision making, relationship quality, and performance during these uncertain times. Click here to register for a free on-demand webinar.
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;
The question on everyone’s mind was sparked by a statement by Governor Newsom this week that schools would be preparing to possibly start school in July. By the end of the week, the Governor got a taste of reality as State and National Teacher Unions released statements in opposition of such an idea. Furthermore, on Wednesday, superintendents from across the state of California pushed back on the unrealistic comments of the Governor. In many districts, superintendents are assuring their employees that the 2020-2021 academic school year will not start in the month of July.
ABC Superintendent Dr. Sieu reiterated that it is an “huge challenge” for all districts and that she and other superintendents are working with the state to get clarity on the Governor’s comments. Most districts are currently working on plans and the logistics involved in how do deliver services for Summer School at the end of this school year. ABC administrators see this summer’s courses as a way on how to address the remediation needed to help students who have fallen behind over the course of the past couple of months. ABCFT is currently working with ABCUSD on ideas on what a Summer School program will look like and how it will address the needs of students but also balanced with the changes in our working/learning conditions. You will see the details of the Summer School program by the middle of May.
I woke up this morning and as I was watching NY Governor Andrew Cuomo’s daily briefing I was listening to him recaps the incredible saga of COVID-19 and the state of New York. Always looking for inspiration on what to write each week I’m going to follow the governor’s lead this week. Let’s take a look at where we were in early March and where we are now. Let’s not dwell on the anxiety and stress this situation has caused but let’s focus more on how far we’ve come and how we take those lessons learned to use them to plan going forward. Teacher Appreciation Week is next week and I hope that all of you will take a moment to appreciate each other and to congratulate yourself on your overall success in providing a structured remote learning curriculum delivery system with almost no preparation. Incredible work.
I pulled up a document from March 11th to see where we were just fifty-one days ago as a frame of reference. This document is significant because it outlines where we were at that moment in time, discussing the possible scenarios that could unfold in a dismissal/closure event and how it would impact everyone in the ABC Community. Not only did we as a district figure out Distance Learning together, we also hammered out curriculum supports, gathered resources and tools, created technology and curriculum delivery systems, provided feedback and guidance on grading and live video conferencing guidelines, helped with meal deliveries, work schedules, and pushed to provide mental health services for our students. This significant change has been a hardship on everyone but never once have the members of ABCFT ever wavered in their duty to protect the interests of 30,000 ABC students we serve. Every change in policy or working conditions has been a negotiation process where the interests of teachers are balanced against the significant limitations COVID-19 has created for the social activity of education. Not only has this been a time of great upheaval, it is also a time of preparation for a new age of education. A time for contemplation on how together we can work to shape the future. With new situations facing all stakeholders, there will be a new appreciation for what we all bring collectively to the table on behalf of students and our own families.
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
Teacher union publishes school reopening plan
The American Federation of Teachers has released a 20-page “science-based” plan for safely reopening schools across the country. The union’s plan calls for maintaining physical distancing until the number of new cases declines for at least 14 consecutive days, and for infrastructure and resources to be in place to test, trace and isolate new cases. It also urges involving workers, unions, parents and communities in all planning, and investments in recovery at schools, universities, hospitals, and local and state governments. The guidance comes off the back of comments from President Donald Trump this week, during which he advised state governors to “seriously consider and maybe get going” on opening schools. AFT President Randi Weingarten criticized the remarks, stating “Our blueprint serves as a stark contrast to the conflicting guidance, bluster and lies of the Trump administration.” Meanwhile, Lily Eskelsen Garcia, president of the National Education Association, said teachers are united after more than two years of strikes for more state funding; she didn’t rule out strikes if state leaders move prematurely on a reopening of schools, and she said she believes parents would protest too.
AFT Releases Plan For Safely Reopening Schools
U.S. News & World Report (4/29) reports the American Federation of Teachers “issued guidance Wednesday for how and when schools should safely reopen, slamming President Donald Trump for his comments to governors suggesting they look at opening schools.” AFT president Randi Weingarten said in a statement, “Our blueprint serves as a stark contrast to the conflicting guidance, bluster and lies of the Trump administration.” The 20-page guidance includes five major recommendations: maintaining physical distancing until the number of new cases decline for 14 days; establishing the infrastructure to test, trace, and isolate new cases; deploying public health tools needed to curb the virus’ spread; including workers, unions, and parents in planning how to tackle each community’s unique challenges; and continued federal, state, and local investment in public schools.
The Hill (4/29, Klar) reports the AFT said its plan is “based on the science as well as educator and healthcare expertise” rather than “politics or wishful thinking.” Weingarten said, “By drawing on facts and science, and the expertise of educators and healthcare practitioners, we have drafted a bold five-point plan that aligns necessary public health tools, student instructional needs and logistics to gradually — but safely, equitably and intentionally — reopen our schools and communities.”
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
California teachers rubbish ‘unrealistic’ call for July start
California teachers unions were quick to kick back against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s suggestion that schools could reopen in July to help reduce learning gaps caused by the coronavirus and allow parents to return to work in a greater capacity. Jon Bath, political action chair for the Fresno Teachers Association, said: “It’s insane. It’s not safe to go back in July,” while Oakland Education Association President Keith Brown, asserted: “We are very concerned about the governor’s comments. It really caught so many teachers by surprise. The state has not issued any executive order around the opening of schools and that sort of thing must be negotiated between labor and school districts." United Teachers Los Angeles suggested instead that the state should meet more of the metrics Newsom outlined in his reopening plan, including increasing testing sites, before setting "unrealistic timelines." Superintendent Tony Thurmond on Wednesday updated his comment on the issue: "Right now we don't know exactly when school can start and we will not ask for schools to start until it is safe for everyone to come back to our campuses."
Teachers Unions Push Back On Newsom’s Suggestion Schools Open This Summer
Politico (4/29, Mays) reports, “California teachers unions are fighting” a suggestion by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) “that schools open this summer” so as to minimize learning gaps and free parents to work in a greater capacity. However, while school officials have been preparing adaptions to deal with the pandemic in the fall, “they were not prepared to rush toward a mid-summer reopening.” Meanwhile, United Teachers Los Angeles called for the state to meet more of Newsom’s reopening plan’s metrics, including increasing testing sites, “before setting unrealistic timelines.” Additionally, California School Boards Association spokesperson Troy Flint said,” There is not a clear plan for how this would take place or much of a plan at all,” even as health concerns abound.
The AP (4/29) reports Flint called reopening California schools a “herculean task” that will require intense guidance and investment from the state. In a Wednesday livestream for parents, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond “said the state won’t ask for schools to restart until it’s safe.”
The Los Angeles Times (4/29, Blume, Kohli) reports Thurmond said reopening decision will be made at the school district level and the state will help provide resources and supplies to support campus operations. Thurmond also “said a working group of state leaders will study reopening and said that some form of remote learning may still be needed.” Newsweek (4/29, Kim) also covers this story.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Betsy DeVos tells Congress to keep intact law on educating students with disabilities
School districts will have to continue complying with the federal law requiring them to serve students with disabilities, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Monday. “While the Department has provided extensive flexibility to help schools transition, there is no reason for Congress to waive any provision designed to keep students learning,” Mrs DeVos said in a statement. “With ingenuity, innovation, and grit, I know this nation’s educators and schools can continue to faithfully educate every one of its students.” Under a provision of the coronavirus relief package that passed at the end of March, DeVos had until Monday to recommend any additional waivers of federal education law to Congress. Already, states have been able to apply for waivers to skip annual tests and change how they spend certain federal education dollars. She did recommend two minor special education-relate d waivers. One would allow schools to continue providing toddlers with disabilities services they had already received past their third birthday, when they would usually need to be reassessed. The other concerns grants to special education teachers.
Secretary DeVos releases billions more in coronavirus education aid…
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has made more than $13.2bn in emergency relief funds available to state and local education agencies, as part of the CARES Act signed into law by President Donald Trump last month. The money will initially go to states, but at least 90% ultimately must be passed along to school districts via the Title I formula designed to help schools with large shares of students from low-income households. "This national emergency continues to shine a light on the need for all schools to be more agile," Mrs DeVos said in a statement. "Now is the time to truly rethink education and to get creative about how we meet each student's unique needs. The funding made available today has very few bureaucratic strings attached and empowers local education leaders to do just that. I encourage them to focus on investing in the technology, distance learning resources, training and long-te rm planning that will help education continue for both teachers and students, no matter where learning takes place.” State education agencies have until July 1 to apply for the funds, by submitting a simple signed Certification and Agreement form to ESSERF@ed.gov. The department said it intends to process applications for the aid three days after it receives them.
Education Secretary announces ‘Rethink Education Models’ funding program
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced this week she is starting a competition for states to apply for “rethinking” education grants. A total of $180m is being made available for the “Rethink K-12 Education Models Grant” program, taken from the $308m of emergency education relief allocated by Congress in the CARES Act “for grants to states with the highest coronavirus burden.” “The current disruption to the normal model is reaffirming something I have said for years: we must rethink education to better match the realities of the 21st century,” she said in the announcement. “This is the time for local education leaders to unleash their creativity and ingenuity, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do to provide education freedom and economic opportunity for America’s students.” The first priority listed in the grant application notice is “Continued Learning Parent Microgrants,” which would give money to families so they can “access high-quality remote learning options.” The second is for the development and/or expansion of a “high-quality” statewide virtual school or a course-access program that would let students choose courses from different providers. The third calls for states to “propose their own educational strategies … to address the specific educational needs of their states, as related to remote learning.”
----- STATE NEWS -----
Newsom waives gym class requirements
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order Thursday that gives school districts some breathing room in terms of meeting state mandates during coronavirus closures. The order waives state laws dictating a set time spent on physical education as well as the requirement to conduct physical fitness testing this spring. State law requires 200 minutes of gym class every 10 days for students in grades 1 through 6, and 400 minutes for those in grades 7 through 12.
First states receive emergency education funding
The U.S. Department of Education has confirmed that Hawaii, Louisiana, Maryland and Maine have become the first states to apply for and receive emergency education funds. The Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund, part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, is separate from the $13.2bn available to state and local education agencies and is essentially a block grant giving governors discretion in using the money to support “needs related to COVID-19.” The amounts available to states vary however, ranging from more than $355m for California to about $4.4m for Vermont.
California has new web portal to help essential workers find child care
The Urban School Food Alliance has received several weighty grants to jump-start its Student Emergency Food Access Fund, which supports 12 of the largest districts in the country in distributing hundreds of thousands of meals to students and their families. The Rockefeller Foundation and No Kid Hungry, a national campaign to end child hunger in America, are among the supporters. The Alliance is also a beneficiary of America's Food Fund to aid in the efforts to combat the growing U.S. food security problem. The school districts include New York City Public Schools, Dallas ISD, Baltimore City Public Schools, Chicago Public Schools, Boston Public Schools, Los Angeles Unified School District, The School District of Philadelphia, DeKalb County School District in Georgia, and Florida's Broward County Schools, Orange County Public Schools, Palm Beach County and Miami-Dade C ounty Public Schools.
School transport to look very different when kids return
Anna Borges, director of student transportation in the California Department of Education's (CDE) Office of School Transportation, is developing a host of recommendations that will be included in guidelines issued by the CDE’s School Facilities and Transportation Services to districts before the summer. She outlines a raft of considerations currently on the table, including dealing with how students ride buses, how they congregate at bus stops, should they be screened before boarding buses and what might happen if a student is found to have a fever. Tony Peregrina, president of the California Association of School Transportation Officials, comments: “Absent a vaccination, it is highly probable the school bus will look very different when our students return to school.” Nationally, transportation companies are feeling the pinch. Baumann Bus Company, one of the larger bus companies on Long Island that serves the Hewlett-Woodmere School District, is just one example of firms that have gone out of business amid the pandemic.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Superintendents Ask Congress For $200 Billion To Prevent Massive Layoffs
In continuing coverage, HuffPost (4/30, Klein) reports more than 60 superintendents nationwide signed onto a letter sent to congressional leaders this week “warning that big urban school districts could be forced to lay off as many as 275,000 teachers unless the federal government intervenes. The schools are in desperate need of funds because they’re facing an estimated 20% loss in local and state revenues, according to the letter, sent under the banner of the Council of the Great City Schools.” The letter asks Congress for at least $200 billion dollars, “including for special education services and Title I, the program that helps fund districts that serve primarily low-income students.
Some Districts Opt To End School Year Early Over Remote Learning Challenges
NBC News (4/30) reports on districts throughout the country who are opting to end the academic year earlier due to complaints from teachers, students, and parents about remote learning. Curtis Jones Jr., superintendent of the Bibb County School District in Georgia, said, “I heard complaints from teachers that they were trying to teach their students, they were trying to help their own children and manage the home.” Some in his district “also lacked the technology to get online or said they had one computer to share among multiple children.” Meanwhile, District of Columbia Public Schools said in a statement classes are ending three weeks early to give them “the opportunity to preserve time for the option of additional, targeted summer learning, as well as the start of the 2020-2021 school year when health conditions are more favorable.”
Rural Georgia District “Ravaged” By Coronavirus Weighs How To Reopen Schools
Education Week (4/30, Samuels) reports on how the Dougherty County School System, located in rural Georgia, is “weighing what happens next” as the state “aggressively” restarts its economy. The coronavirus outbreak has “ravaged this corner of the state,” as Albany and Dougherty County “have lost at least 120 residents to COVID-19,” which is “on par with the number of deaths in Atlanta and Fulton County, which has a population more than ten times higher.” Moreover, by late April, “the district had 33 employees who had either been ill themselves, or who had to cope with the illness or death of a close family member.” State health statistics show the “pace of infections, hospitalizations and deaths in Georgia is slowing,” but superintendent Kenneth Dyer said the community is still coping with the “sheer traumatic aspect of this.” With that said, the district is trying to figure out “how it will help its students keep up after losing so much face-to-face learning time.”
Chalkbeat (4/29, Belsha) reports teachers unions are warning that “sending educators into crowded buildings without widespread testing for coronavirus will amount to an unacceptable risk.” Researchers and public health officials currently “say that in most parts of the country, there is not yet enough testing to allow people to safely go back to work.” Yet, not reopening schools in the fall would “bring a host of challenges,” including the continued burden on parents, concerns over a worsening digital divide, and reduced support for special needs students and English learners. For now, “school districts are planning for multiple possible scenarios for the fall and trying to work out how much each would cost.”
USA Today (4/29, Richards) takes an in-depth look at what schools might look like should they reopen this fall. The school week could, for instance, “look vastly different, with most students attending school two or three days a week and doing the rest of their learning at home.” Inside the classroom, desks could be “spaced apart to discourage touching.” What’s more, “arrival, dismissal and recess happen on staggered schedules and through specific doors to promote physical distancing.”
----- FINANCE -----
California schools face devastating budget cuts
Schools across California face a devastating fiscal future, with a loss in revenue of $1,400 per student, or more, state education experts said Tuesday. With the state heading into what could be a severe recession, the loss may be closer to $2,000 per student - a 15% reduction from the current funding level of $13,000. “All indications are it will be very difficult for California education,” said Carrie Hahnel, an independent researcher on education policy, during a webinar hosted by Policy Analysis for California Education, a nonpartisan research center. “Schools in California should be bracing for a big hit.” The focus right now, said policy experts, should be on the federal government addressing the financial impact of the coronavirus crisis, specifically in the form of funding for schools in the upcoming economic stimulus package.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Covid-19 recession could hit education workforce hard
A coronavirus-inflicted recession could cost almost 320,000 teaching jobs, according to analysis by the Learning Policy Institute, which has suggested that some states could see reductions in teacher numbers of up to 20%. Cutting teaching positions, the Institute stressed, either through layoffs or eliminating vacant positions, would obviously also result in larger class sizes. California, New York, and Texas would see the largest teacher reductions, the analysis shows, while South Dakota, Rhode Island, and Montana would lose the least amount of teachers. On Wednesday, the Commerce Department reported that the U.S. economy contracted at a recession-indicating 4.8% pace from January to March, the biggest decline since the financial crisis, when the United States lost more than 120,000 teaching positions.
Analysis Suggests Teachers Face Higher Risk Of Severe Illness From Coronavirus
Education Week’s (4/30, Will) “Teaching Now” blog reports that a “new analysis of federal data warns that teachers could be more susceptible to severe illness from COVID-19.” Federal data analyzed by the research group Child Trends show “about 29 percent of teachers are aged 50 or older.” Older adults “are at higher risk for severe illness from COVID-19,” and the report points out “teachers have significantly more social contact than the average adult, since they’re in close quarters with dozens of students every day.” Furthermore, teachers say they “frequently come down with colds and other garden-variety illnesses over the course of the school year.” Renee Ryberg, a research scientist at Child Trends, wrote decision makers “responsible for reopening schools should weigh not only the health of their students, but also that of their teachers who are at elevated risk.”
Analysis Suggests Hundreds Of Thousands Of Teaching Jobs Will Be Lost If States Cut Education Budgets
Education Week’s (4/30, Will) “Politics K-12” blog reports a new analysis by the Learning Policy Institute suggests “almost 320,000 teaching jobs could be lost if states cut their education budgets by 15 percent in a coronavirus-inflicted recession.” This would result in an “8.4 percent reduction in the U.S. teaching corps, with some states seeing reductions as large as 20 percent.” Michael Griffith, the author of the analysis, said, “What we’re hearing from some states is it’s going to be a lot higher than [a 15 percent cut], but everyone’s guessing at this point, so we stayed on the conservative end.” He explained a national economic downturn “would impact states in different ways, depending on how much their schools rely on state revenue.” Earlier this week, “the Council of the Great City Schools estimated that 275,000 teachers could lose their jobs in big-city school districts alone, although the group did not provide details about that projection.”
----- SPORTS ----
NCAA backs athletes' ability to generate income
In a push that could have significant implications for collegiate sports, the NCAA is moving forward with a plan to allow college athletes to profit from third-party endorsements and other activities that use their name, image and likeness. The recommendations include allowing athletes to earn compensation through endorsements and other personal activities, such as social media content, businesses they've started and personal appearances, and the divisions are expected to adopt the new rules by the start of the 2021-22 academic year. The organization has faced increasing pressure from state and federal lawmakers to adapt such a model.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Teachers now “eyes and ears” of district mental health provision
Already in short supply and vulnerable to budget cuts, school psychologists are increasingly calling on teachers, principals, parents and even students themselves for help to steady mental health provisions amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Some 55 million students are no longer on site and psychologists worry most about those students who already faced problems before the shutdowns began, including financial instability, which could be exacerbated by surging unemployment. Meghan Stets, a counselor at Pinnacle Charter Elementary School in Federal Heights, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, called teachers “the eyes and ears” of the school district during the shutdowns: “Right now, we must rely heavily on teachers to keep a pulse on their students’ well-being and to assist us in identifying families in need of any resources,” she said.
-----CHARTER SCHOOLS -----
DeVos to states: for extra relief cash, create a virtual school or voucher-like program
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos will use $180m in federal coronavirus relief earmarked for the hardest-hit states to create voucher-like grants for parents and to expand virtual education. “The current disruption to the normal model is reaffirming something I have said for years: we must rethink education to better match the realities of the 21st century,” she said in a statement Monday. “This is the time for local education leaders to unleash their creativity and ingenuity.” In awarding these grants, the department says it will consider the coronavirus’ impact on a state, the stated purpose of the money, as allocated by Congress. However, its criteria go far beyond that, raising the possibility that grants will end up in states that have not been hit hardest by the virus. Forty of the 100 points of the scoring rubric relate to a state’s coronavirus cases and ability to transition to remote instruction.
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Technology market shortage to self-correct by June
A serious shortage of Chromebooks and iPads has reached its peak, says Lauren Guenveur, senior research analyst for market intelligence firm International Data Corp, who studies devices and displays, tracking and forecasting national and global trends. She sees the sector correcting itself by the end of June, hopefully enabling school districts to get the technology they need in time for fall. Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the country’s fourth-largest district, had been preparing for the possible closure of schools since early 2020 and had an excess of 200,000 devices readily available for students, thanks to a $1.2bn bond issue in 2012, while Los Angeles Unified, the country’s second-largest district, has already spent $100m sourcing Chromebooks and iPads. Some are struggling though; smaller districts in Massachusetts have requested to purchase technology from Boston Public Schools, unable to source it on their own. Raymond Sanchez, Superintendent at the Ossining Union Free School District in New York, has told the school board he is aware of a potential for a five-month gap between placing an order for new technology and receiving it.
USC: Most Parents Satisfied With Online Education
Most parents give a high grade to their child’s online education, but some are concerned their kids won’t be well prepared for the next school year, according to new findings from USC Dornsife’s national probability-based tracking survey measuring the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the lives of Americans. Seventy-eight per cent of parents are satisfied with communication from their schools, and 87% of parents of school-age children say at least one child is engaging in educational activities provided by their schools, according to a statement. But parents in 25% of all households are concerned their child won’t be prepared for the next school year. The concern is greatest among Latino parents, 37% of whom worry about their child’s or children’s preparation for school in the fall. The study, led by the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research, is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and USC.
----- SOCIAL & COMMUNITY -----
COVID-19 presents opportunity for reflection
Education historians Ann Marie Ryan, professor and department chair of interdisciplinary learning and teaching at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Charles Tocci, assistant professor of education at Loyola University Chicago, explore how, after COVID-19, the collective pursuit of a "new normal" for public education will be freighted with important decisions about what we want schools to do for our communities and "how equitably" we wish to fund these endeavors. One of the more promising trends of the early 21st century, reminiscent of the Gary Plan, the authors note, is the community schools movement, wherein collaborative institutions offer extended learning opportunities, engage family and communities, and provide mental and physical health services.
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
College enrollment likely to fall significantly
Some 40% of parents fear that the Covid-19 crisis could prompt their children to delay going to college, according to a fresh study commissioned by Brian Communications. “Parents of graduating [high school] seniors have deep concerns connected to this outbreak that could threaten the long-term viability of institutions if they don’t respond in the near term,” said Brian Communications boss Brian Tierney. Restrictive student visa policies and changing attitudes about studying in the U.S. will also inevitably hamper the flow of foreign students, who often pay full tuition and contributed nearly $41bn to the national economy in the 2018-2019 academic year, according to NAFSA: Association of International Educators. The financial devastation is going to be huge,” said Allen Koh, CEO of Cardinal Education, a California-based tutoring, test-prep and college admission s firm. Separately, of the 33 college and university admissions officials who responded to student portfolio platform Cirkled In's survey of colleges and prospective students on college-going plans for next year, an overwhelming 87% said they expected a higher-than-normal melt in the fall. “The results that we saw were not surprising but very sobering. COVID is changing the direction of life for some of these kids,” said Cirkled In CEO Reetu Gupta.
----- INTERNATIONAL -----
France to reopen schools with compulsory face masks
As countries across Europe begin to emerge from lockdown, France will reopen schools on May 11 with compulsory face masks for secondary schools. The government will make masks available for students who can't access them and classes upon return will be no larger than 15 students. France's kindergarteners will not be expected to wear masks unless they start showing symptoms during the school day.
NTA Life Insurance - An ABCFT Sponsor
About three years ago ABCFT started 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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