ABCFT - YOUnionews - September 18, 2020
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
The latest negotiating emphasis has been regarding our innovative Wednesday schedule. The new CDE requirements for attendance/participation/
The solution was as follows: 45 minutes every Wednesday is provided for the student weekly engagement and attendance/daily participation document review and update. We are aware, unfortunately, that more time may be necessary for this brand new state requirement but we felt it was crucial to have specifically allocated time set aside to at least begin to acknowledge the scope of new work we are being asked to perform. Teacher collaboration time is 30 minutes and teacher planning time is 60 minutes. These minutes are fixed every Wednesday.
The new variable is that sites that have 90 minutes of site consultant PL will begin at 8:00 a.m. and have 30 minutes set aside for a staff meeting and sites that have 60 minutes of district provided PL will begin at 8:30 a.m. and have 60 minutes set aside for a staff meeting. The total minutes are the same.
One point of clarification; site consultant PL supersedes district provided PL. That is, if a site has set up PL with a consultant, then the member should participate with their site PL. If a site has no plans with a consultant, then the teacher should participate with the district PL. This is important to remember if a district PL menu says that a training is required. Academic Services understands that site consultant PL has priority.
Questions regarding special education will likely be next on the negotiating agenda. For example, how to assess students with a maximum of attention towards safety and a minimum of disruption will be our next challenge. The negotiating team will soon begin to discuss the many issues that will need to be addressed before we can safely return to a hybrid model. We will continue to make the health and well being of our members and our students the focus as we attempt to solve the myriad of problems involved in getting us back to a more traditional teaching and learning environment.
In terms of compensation; the $500 one time off schedule payment will be attached to your October 1 check. If you participated in the voluntary August PL, those funds will come on the October 5 hourly pay cycle. If you use direct deposit, that is how the money will be processed. If you receive a check, it will be mailed to you.
I hope that the start to your virtual year has been successful thus far and that we can all breathe easier (yes, pun intended!) in the coming weeks.
In Unity
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - ELECTION 2020
Beginning in 2020, all California registered voters are able to vote-by-mail which provides voters the ability to complete their ballot from the comfort and safety of their home. Ballots will be arriving in your mailboxes starting October 5th for registered voters.
Encourage all of your friends and families members age 18 and over to use their voice to vote this November. To participate in this election, you must be registered by October 19th.
In-person voting locations will be offer voter registration, replacement ballots, accessible coting machines, and language assistance for those in need.
With online access, registered voters are a click away from important voter information including the ability to check the status of your ballot once you have voted.
Click below to learn more about
California’s Election and Voters Guide
Register to vote
Learn how to vote
Check your voter status
Official Voter Information Guide
MEMBER BENEFITS - WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS
Maintaining our mental health and well-being is important for all of us. ABCFT will be offering Wellness Wednesdays. Each Wednesday from 3:00 to 3:30 pm members will have an opportunity to virtually participate in Guided Meditation and Chair Yoga. These weekly sessions will give members a chance to practice self-care.
In partnership with Kaiser Permanente, you can also access mindfulness resources for all ABCFT members. For Kaiser members, you have free access to the app Calm and myStrength which offers personalized self-care programs based on the cognitive behavioral therapy model.
Please be kind to yourself and find time in your busy schedule to take care of yourself.
This week, Donna focuses on improving your breathing, noticing your thoughts, and being kind to yourself. The concept of RAIN which stands for: Recognize your feelings
Awareness of the feelings
Investigate the feelings
Nurture yourself
SPOTLIGHT ON CHILD DEVELOPMENT
The ABCFT Teachers who are part of the Child Development Program have had many of their own challenges and changes this year. The ABCFT Headstart Program and the State Preschool Programs have been teaching virtually and suffered many of the challenges that all teachers faced in the spring when faced with teaching their students virtually for the first time. The Tracy Infant Center teachers which were reduced to two teachers due to budget cuts are still preparing for the transition of teaching babies and their families virtually beginning in the coming weeks. The greatest challenge for these programs are how to communicate and facilitate their curriculum with limited technology resources. ABCFT has been advocating for improved technology access for both students, parents and teachers.
Is there good news? Yes, in the words of State Preschool teacher Reema Suleiman, “last Friday, we were able to recharge our batteries and fill our buckets during an incredible grab and go event for our State Preschool. This event provided learning supplies for our beloved children at the State Program. Our Grab & go event was inviting and successful. This couldn't happen without ABCFT support.”
Click here for a video created by the State Preschool teachers.
If the file doesn’t load it is a small download and worth it.
ABCFT Extended Day Program have had more challenges than any other group in child development. After a month of preparation for opening for full day child care for ABC students they opened last week only to be shut down due to low enrollment and an additional State waiver that is needed for full day instruction. It is a shame that these brave and heroic EDP teachers will have to wait a while longer before they can get back to their students. ABCFT is working closely with the EDP teachers and District leadership to ensure their safety and job security. ABCFT is proud that we have been able to protect the jobs of these essential workers for ABC. We will continue to highlight the Child Development teachers and other members throughout the school year in our weekly YOUnionew spotlights. If you want a spotlight on your program or your school drop us an email at abcft@abcusd.us
ABCFT-RETIREES REPORT by Sylvia Rodriguez ABCFT-R President
ABCFT Retiree Chapter presented 2020 CHS graduate and former Carver student, Allyson Grace Francisco, with its annual $2500 scholarship. Allyson Francisco will be attending Cal State Fullerton.
The scholarship is given each year to a graduating senior in ABC who is planning to become a teacher. The scholarship is dedicated to an ABC Teacher who was a great union activist and teacher. This year Ethel Bowman was the honoree. Ethel was/is a dedicated unionist. She worked as an elementary school teacher for ABC from 1967 to 2003. Her last assignment was at Nixon Elementary School. The scholarship encourages students to pursue a teaching career in public education. This is our 8th scholarship. Past winners have been from AHS, CHS, GHS, and WHS. We are very proud of Allyson and wish her the best.
ABCFT PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer
Communication is a union’s most important tool for advocating for its members at the bargaining table. Every conversation with the membership is focused on the end result of negotiating for the future prosperity and wellbeing of ABCFT members. This weekly report aims to keep the membership informed about issues that impact their working/learning conditions and their mental well-being. Together we make the YOUnion.
How many of you feel like your playing a game of whack a mole all day long as you run from one challenge to another? I see a few hands raised and I hear you. Teachers and nurses throughout the district are all working their way through the educational maze of 2020. ABCFT is working hard advocating for teachers to have clear guidelines on what their week is supposed to look like and what is expected of them week to week. It’s so difficult to get a flow going if the ground below you keeps shifting. In my weekly discussions with Superintendent Dr. Mary Sieu we discuss the landscape of the school district, the state of our schools, and most importantly how employees are feeling. All of these factors play an important role in how our students learn and grow. Without stability and predictability our students will not make the academic progress that is vital to the success of the ABC School District. Teachers need to find that “flow” with their students.
The month of September has been chaotic and I see all of you striving for stability in your classrooms. Your students depend on their teachers to be the guiding force for learning and “normalcy.” If we look South of ABC we are now hearing that Long Beach will not be transitioning to in person learning till at least the end of their first semester and many of the nations largest school districts and universities are now saying they will wait till January until they begin face to face instruction. This is a good trend. Think back on what we saw unfolding 7 months ago in March and how ABC was purposely not commiting to reopening in May...frankly there was just no way it was going to happen under the circumstances. I find us in that very same position right now. In my discussions with the ABC District leadership and ABC School Board members we are having good discussions about NOT rushing to get back to in person instruction. If there were any discussions about changing to in person instruction ABCFT would communicate those discussions immediately. At this time there is no concrete discussion about any major changes in the near future. My hope is that you will use the most valuable asset of time to find stability and routine with your students.
There are still questions about what will happen with special education and ELL students but we are looking for solutions that will minimize the number of employees who will be involved in IEP assessments or small cohort programs. Over the next couple of weeks ABCFT and ABCUSD will work together on a survey for special education teachers and support staff. This survey will help to shed light on the concerns and important challenges we need to address as a district to serve our ELL and special education populations. For now I need you to know that ABC is not rushing into any kind of in person instruction and YOU will be part of those discussions when they happen. I know we are all closely looking at other school districts to find best practices for safety and curriculum delivery so that ABC can be successful in transitioning to hybrid in-person months from now.
In the meantime, I encourage you to find time for yourself. This school year is not a sprint but it is going to be a marathon. Work to the best of your ability but save energy for yourself and the people you love. Join ABCFTs Tanya, Ruben, Stephanie, Mike, Kelley or many other regulars to the YOUnion Chats as we laugh and inspire each other to get through another work week. Join us on Wednesdays for our Wellness activities or watch those recordings on your own time. If you find a funny meme share it with us so we can pass it along to make others laugh. If you find yourself having negative thoughts when its time for yourself, play whack a mole with those feelings buy acknowledging them and letting them go. Find the time for peaceful moments and pass that energy on to your students. They are counting on you to get them through this “unprecedented” (drink) time. Have a good weekend my friends.
In Unity, This made me laugh and cry hehe
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
CFT Thanks Governor Newsom for Endorsing Proposition 15 – the Schools and Communities First Initiative
SACRAMENTO, CA -- California Federation of Teachers (CFT) President Jeff Freitas released the following statement following Governor Newsom’s endorsement of Prop. 15, which would reclaim $12 billion annually for California schools and communities by closing corporate property tax loopholes:
“The 120,000 educators and classified professionals of the California Federation of Teachers are grateful that Governor Newsom has pledged to fight alongside us for the resources our students need to succeed. California schools have been critically underfunded for decades, and are now facing a $20 billion deficit because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Governor Newsom’s support of Prop. 15 is critical to ensure that this essential initiative passes and our schools have the resources they need so that our students receive the education they deserve.
“Wealthy corporations are doing everything they can to defeat Prop. 15, to keep exploiting outrageous loopholes and avoiding paying their fair share, while our kids have the most crowded classrooms in the country, and our communities are denied the resources we need to fight COVID-19. With Governor Newsom on our side, educators and classified professionals will keep fighting to reclaim the $12 billion per year that will help our schools thrive and invest in communities that need it most.”
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 Poll Shows America’s Parents, Teachers Want ‘Safety First’ on School Reopenings
Trump and DeVos’ Ruinous Agenda Rejected, Comfort with Return to Brick-and-Mortar Schools Significantly Higher when Protections, Funding in Place
WASHINGTON—The nation’s teachers and parents are seeing through the Trump administration’s chaos and disinformation over reopening schools this fall, new polling shows. And while supermajorities of the poll’s respondents fear they or their child will be infected with the virus, they are united behind the need to secure safety measures and the resources to pay for them, so students can return to in-person learning.
Sixty-eight percent of parents—including 82 percent of Black parents—and 77 percent of teachers say protecting the health of students and staff should be the primary factor in weighing whether, how and when schools should open their doors for in-person instruction, according to the survey, conducted by Hart Research Associates.
Just 21 percent of parents and 14 percent of teachers say schools should reopen on a normal in-person basis—as demanded by President Donald Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos—and significant majorities reject the administration’s plan to strip federal aid from schools that don’t comply.
With the coronavirus still spreading rapidly in large swaths of the country, majorities of both parents and teachers worry their districts will move too quickly to fully reopen, rather than too slowly.
Majorities of teachers (60 percent) and parents (54 percent) are not comfortable starting the school year in person, and concern for personal safety is the top reason they remain leery. But, crucially, when safety protections such as masks, daily deep cleaning and sanitizing, physical distancing, proper ventilation and the funding to provide them are in place, 71 percent of parents and 79 percent of teachers are comfortable returning.
Parents and teachers voice high levels of concern about the personal risks of coronavirus infection. And 1 in 3 teachers say the pandemic has made them more likely to leave teaching earlier than they planned. Most teachers say they have purchased personal protective equipment for themselves (86 percent) or their students (11 percent). Overall, half of parents and teachers report their schools are opening with at least some in-person instruction, with 2 in 5 schools opening remotely. Parents think remote learning has had a more negative impact on their children’s social-emotional health than on their academic progress. Most parents feel an adult will need to be with their child for remote learning; 3 in 10 of them say it will be difficult to make this happen. Hart Research conducted the comprehensive national survey on behalf of the American Federation of Teachers, the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, the League of United Latin American Citizens and the NAACP.
AFT President Randi Weingarten said: “Parents and teachers are on the same page when it comes to school reopening—and they are united in the belief that we must protect our students, educators and communities’ safety and health and reject President Trump and Betsy DeVos’ agenda to strip schools of funding if they don’t fully reopen. “We all want to get back to in-person learning, but that should not happen until there are COVID-19 safety measures in place and the funding to pay for them. While teachers and parents have been toiling for months to try and reopen, Trump downplayed the virus. While the president never misses an opportunity to threaten schools, or to sow confusion or chaos, he and DeVos were missing in action when it came to planning and resourcing what should have been the country’s biggest priority: reopening schools for our kids. Indeed, the only guidance DeVos has issued for this year is to mandate standardized high-stakes tests. One just wonders why kids’ and teachers’ health can be dispensable, but high-stakes testing is not.”
NAACP Vice President of Civic Engagement Jamal Watkins said: “The facts: Data, analytics and example after example have proven that the school system today is still fraught with unequal funding, environmental racism and toxic stress to which students of color are exposed—and the underlying factor is structural racism. With the mismanagement of COVID-19 and the failure of both the Trump administration and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, we are deeply concerned that reopening without key guardrails and a true plan that puts students, parents, educators and staff first is a disaster that will continue to unfold.
“We stand with the AFT and will use every action and tool available to us, from serving on state and local reopening committees to filing lawsuits and other advocacy actions against unsafe and unsound plans, or the faulty implementation of plans. Nothing is off the table when it comes to the safety and health of those on the frontlines in America's schools.”
AROS Executive Director Keron Blair said: “Parents, educators and students are united in thinking that Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos have not done enough to keep our children and communities safe as they press for the reopening of schools. We have also seen that where remote learning is being offered, adequate technology has not been provided to make access to learning equitable. The coronavirus pandemic is a health crisis. It is a racial justice crisis. And it is, for sure, a crisis and failure of leadership. The information revealed in this poll strengthens our claims and adds necessary fuel to the fights that parents and educators are leading for the safe and equitable reopening of schools.”
Sindy Benavides, CEO of LULAC, said: “Our nation’s classrooms are a microcosm of what is occurring everywhere in our country during this pandemic, and we now know that even children are not immune in close proximity among themselves or with others. The only difference is that what we, as adults, decide to do is our choice, while students are being mandated, and by extension their teachers and school staff, to re-enter spaces that at present pose a risk of exposure to the virus. Latino parents are facing disproportionate challenges, including higher numbers of COVID-19 as America’s essential workers, higher unemployment rates, and lack of access to technology. LULAC has always viewed public education as an essential component for the progress of an individual and our community. However, we cannot in good faith support sending our youngsters into possible harm’s way while some elected officials play politics with their lives.”
The online poll of 1,001 parents of public school K-12 students, including 228 Latino parents and 200 Black parents, was conducted Aug. 26 to Sept. 6, 2020; the online survey of 816 public school teachers across the United States was conducted Aug. 26 to Sept. 1, 2020.
The full poll deck is available here.
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHTS-----
Trump Says He Will Create “1776 Commission” To Promote “Patriotic Education”
The Washington Post (9/17, Balingit, Meckler) reports that, speaking at the National Archives on Thursday, President Trump said he would issue an executive order to create what he called the “1776 Commission” – an effort to “promote ‘pro-American curriculum that celebrates the truth about our nation’s great history,’ which he said would encourage educators to teach students about the ‘miracle of American history.’” The Post says the President “pressed his case...that US schools are indoctrinating children with a left-wing agenda hostile to the nation’s Founding Fathers, describing efforts to educate students about racism and slavery as an insult to the nation’s lofty founding principles.” The President “characterized demonstrations against racial injustice as ‘left-wing rioting and mayhem’ that ‘are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools. It’s gone on far too long.’”
The New York Times (9/17) reports Trump focused much of Thursday’s speech “on his claim that American schools have become infected with revisionist ideas about the nation’s founding and history, producing a new generation of ‘Marxist’ activists and adherents of ‘critical race theory’ who believe American society to be fundamentally racist and wicked – and who have taken to the streets in recent months.” Trump said that “left-wing rioting and mayhem are the direct result of decades of left-wing indoctrination in our schools,” adding that “it’s gone on far too long.” The President also “boasted” that the National Endowment for the Humanities has “awarded a grant to support the development of a pro-American curriculum” that would help “restore patriotic education to our schools.”
Additional coverage provided by the Washington Times (9/17, Boyer), Education Week (9/17, Ujifusa), Politico (9/17, Niedzwiadek), Axios (9/17, Rummler), AP (9/17, Madhani, Riechmann), TIME (9/17), Fox News (9/17, Best), Intelligencer (NY) (9/18, Stieb), and The Cut (NY) (9/17, Lampen).
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
COVID-19 has killed at least 121 youngsters in U.S., reports CDC
COVID-19 has killed at least 121 people under 21 years old across the U.S., nearly two-thirds of whom were Black and Hispanic people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Although infants, children, and adolescents are more likely to have milder COVID-19 illness than are adults, complications, including MIS-C and respiratory failure, do occur in these populations,” the researchers wrote. MIS-C refers to Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, which is a rare but severe condition that appears to be associated with COVID-19. Among the 121 young people who died of COVID-19, 45% were Hispanic and 29% were Black, the study said. About 4% were American Indian or Alaska Native people, the study added. Altogether, the groups represent 41% of the U.S. population, the researchers said, but account for more than 75% of COVID-19 deaths among people below the age of 21. They added that 75% of the 121 people who died had at least one underlying medical condition, and the most frequently reported conditions were chronic lung disease such as asthma, obesity, neurologic conditions and cardiovascular conditions.
COVID-19 school closures could cost U.S. economy $14tn
The loss of academic learning due to schools closing to stem the spread of the coronavirus could cost the U.S. economy between $14tn-$28tn if they remain closed for in-person learning much longer, according to a new study. Economists Eric Hanushek, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution of Stanford University, and Ludger Woessmann, professor at the University of Munich, evaluated the economic impact across a host of developed countries using existing research that suggests students in K-12 will experience a 3% lower income over their lifetimes because of the pandemic, translating to an average of 1.5% lower annual GDP for the remainder of the century, on the low end of the possible ramifications. "These economic losses would grow if schools are unable to re-start quickly," they warned. "These losses will be permanent unless the schools return to better performance levels than those in 2019." Notably, the economic losses are expected to disproportionately fall on disadvantaged students – specifically poor students and students with learning disabilities, both of whom have had a much harder time transitioning to remote learning. "All indications are that students whose families are less able to support out-of-school learning will face larger learning losses than their more advantaged peers, which in turn will translate into deeper losses of lifetime earnings," they wrote.
Schools that are predominantly black, Latino favor starting online
Districts where the vast majority of students are white are more than three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for some in-person learning, according to an analysis conducted by the Associated Press and Chalkbeat. Survey responses from 677 school districts covering 13m students found that most students will begin the school year online. But the survey shows that race is a strong predictor of which public schools are offering in-person instruction and which aren’t. There are a number of possible explanations for the racial divide. One is politics. Schools in areas that supported President Donald Trump in 2016 are more likely to open in person, the AP-Chalkbeat study and other analyses show. Other factors are also influencing reopening decisions, including the severity of local virus outbreaks, school districts' ability to pay for costly safety precautions, and the guidelines set out by public health officials. Continued distance learning raises risks that students will fall behind their peers; they will also lose reliable access to free or subsidized meals, special education services and other support. “I do worry about that and the fact there are these correlations between what schools are doing and students’ backgrounds,” said Jon Valant, a senior fellow focused on education at the Brookings Institution.
Republicans champion school choice to parents
President Donald Trump is hoping to leverage parents’ education concerns into newfound support for school choice policies. If public schools fail to open, Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos say parents should get a cut of the district’s federal funding to send their children to private schools or for home schooling, learning pods or other options that have arisen during the coronavirus pandemic. DeVos has long-championed school choice and voucher programmes, while for Trump it’s seen as a potential lifeline to Black and Hispanic voters who are, polls suggest, more likely to support school choice options. “Parents are increasingly demanding it. It’s becoming ever more evident that parents and students need to have more choices. I would argue that it is the ideal time to be talking about this more widely. And in fact, we are,” DeVos says.
Coronavirus Outbreaks Likely Inevitable In K-12 Schools
The New York Times (9/16, Nierenberg, Pasick) reports one thing that “seems certain in this back-to-school season” is that “outbreaks will appear in many K-12 schools as they reopen.” This inevitability “can feel frightening,” but a “classroom in quarantine, or a school forced to switch to remote learning, does not necessarily mean a district has failed. In fact, if your school is following an established pandemic procedure, it might mean things are working as planned.” The Times says that “a few unrelated cases at a school does not necessarily mean there’s an outbreak,” nor does a case in your child’s school “mean that your child has been exposed.”
----- STATE NEWS -----
California school funding law awaits Newsom’s signature
The first significant change to the state’s seven-year-old K-12 funding system, the Local Control Funding Formula, is currently sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. AB 1835 would end what advocates for years have called a glaring loophole that undermines the funding law’s cardinal purpose, which is to provide additional funding for four groups of underserved students: English learners, low-income students, homeless and foster children. It would require districts and charter schools to earmark unspent funding for high-needs students and spend it on those students in future years. And it would require that they track how they spend the money in districts’ annual spending plan, called the Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, and report the data to the state every year. Hundreds of nonprofits and civil rights groups signed a letter last week urging Newsom to reject advice to veto it to do that; signing it instead would ensure that funding for “our highest-need, most vulnerable students is actually directed to support them,” the letter said. However, the Department of Finance said that forcing districts to adopt a uniform system of reporting how they spend supplemental and concentration funding would be “a major shift in policy” and add “significant, unknown costs” to districts and the state. The California Association of School Business Officials also cited bad timing in a letter it sent last month to the Senate Appropriations Committee. Were it not for a pandemic and its uncertain long-term impact on state funding, the organization would not have opposed the bill, it said.
Survey: California Voters Oppose Lifting Ban On Affirmative Action
EdSource (9/16, Fensterwald) reports a survey by the Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) released Tuesday of 1,168 likely voters found that only 31% of voters said they would vote for Proposition 16, which would “repeal the state’s 24-year-old ban on considering race, gender or ethnicity in admission and hiring decisions at California’s colleges, universities and other public entities.” The survey found that 47% said they oppose the measure and 22% have not decided. Mark Baldassare, president and CEO of PPIC, said, “Our recent surveys have shown there is a great concern in California about the state of race relations and a desire to do something about it, but supporters at this point have not connected the dots with voters.”
----- DISTRICTS -----
San Jose to continue with distance learning through December
San Jose USD has announced that distance learning will continue through at least the end of December 2020, saying conditions continue to remain unsafe for in-person learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a statement last night, Superintendent Nancy Albarran said the “difficult” decision was taken based on transmission data and a community survey, as well as consultations with health officials and labor groups. Key factors to continue distance learning included the county’s ongoing ban on all indoor gatherings, case counts that continue to exceed levels seen when schools were forced to close in March, along with “substantial” community spread of the coronavirus. Albarran was also concerned about testing and contact tracing, which she called “inadequate.”
East Bay Times CBS SF Bay Area
Poway USD wants a Costco store on school land
Poway USD school board members have voted in favor of a plan to lease 27 acres at the intersection of Carmel Valley Road and Camino Del Sur to Costco. The school district said a middle school is no longer needed at the site, so it declared the land surplus property in 2012, and again in 2019. It plans to lease it the big box chain for up to 60 years, starting at $2m annually, and increasing it to $4m. The Costco development also would include other retail businesses, restaurants and housing on the property.
LAUSD rolls out coronavirus testing, contact tracing program
Los Angeles USD has begun the roll-out of its COVID-19 testing and contact tracing program, and will now test all employees currently working at LAUSD schools and their children, who will be placed in onsite childcare programs this week. Once all students are back on campuses for in-person learning, whenever that may be, the district hopes on conducting about 40,000 tests per day. Testing will also be provided to household members of students or staff. There will be an initial baseline test provided to every student and staff member, followed up by periodic testing “based on advice from epidemiologists,” the district said. “There is no other school district doing this, but we think it’s necessary and appropriate, because this will provide the foundation for all to be back in schools for a safe a manner as possible,” stated Superintendent Austin Beutner. Among those collaborating on the $150m program are UCLA, Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Microsoft, Anthem Blue Cross, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and Health Net.
The Daily Breeze CBS Los Angeles The Patch
SF schools to begin in-person classes at ‘community hubs’
San Francisco is forging ahead with school reopening plans, with thousands of students set to attend in-person classes from today at “community hubs” at 40 sites citywide. A tour of one of the sites at the Minnie and Lovie Ward Recreation Center featured rooms with folding tables spaced six feet apart, ample hand sanitizers and masks. No more than 14 students are allowed per “pod”, according to county health orders. Students must wear masks while attending class, except while eating and exercising. This initial phase will focus primarily on serving the city’s neediest and most vulnerable kids, such as those in foster care or experiencing homelessness. Cherease Coats, program director for San Francisco’s Recreation and Parks Department, says they have been successfully implementing many of the requirements over the past six months under their summer and emergency childcare programs. As for the rest of San Francisco’s students, schools that meet certain health criteria can reopen for in-person classes starting on September 21.
NYC Education Leaders Scrambling To Resolve Issues Ahead Of Monday Reopening
Chalkbeat New York (9/16, Amin, Veiga, Zimmerman) reports New York City students will return to classrooms Monday on a hybrid basis, but “they face a mountain of worries and unanswered questions.” City officials have “delayed the start of school to give teachers and principals more time to plan for a year filled with new social distancing rules and staffing conundrums.” For example, much of the reopening logistics have “focused on personal protective equipment, cleaning supplies, and ventilation,” but “comparatively little energy has been spent adapting curriculum to suit the remote learning environment.” Meanwhile, “staffing remains one of the biggest challenges for school leaders” as the “union representing principals and other administrators said schools are short 10,000 teachers.” The city’s $9 billion budget hole also raises concerns about teacher layoffs. Other concerns include how students will be graded and how the city’s competitive admissions process will work.
The Seventy Four (9/16, Kirsch) reports an analysis of city reopening plans suggest that “as of Sept. 12, 109 schools were still in the process of determining who will evaluate sick students, in the event of a potential COVID-19 case.” Department spokesman Nathaniel Styer told The 74 Monday that the “situation on the ground in the country’s largest school district is changing daily.” Furthermore, Styer “declined to fact-check all of the schools and would not provide an updated number for how many still have nurse vacancies.” The numerous uncertainties surrounding reopening has “left teachers, whose faith in city leadership had been dwindling for months, spooked, and families of the system’s 1.1 million students wondering whether New York can really pull off being the only major urban district to return to in-person learning this fall.”
----- FINANCE -----
State revenues decline for first time since the Great Recession
The majority of U.S. states have closed out fiscal 2020 with a decline in general fund revenues, both compared to prior-year (fiscal 2019) collections and to pre-COVID revenue projections. As states continue to experience high unemployment rates and lower consumption levels, the trends seen in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020 are expected to further depress state revenues in fiscal 2021 and beyond, with sizable public-sector job losses, particularly in K-12 and higher education, on the cards. Wesley Tharpe, Deputy Director of State Policy Research at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, says that major, and flexible, federal fiscal aid is needed to reverse cuts already made, and to prevent new losses. Many states and localities have already cut K-12 spending, including Colorado (more than $500m) and Georgia (nearly $1bn); although some states and localities have managed to limit or delay cuts to K-12 and higher education to date, Mr Tharpe says that’s likely unsustainable since education and health care account for more than half of state and local spending nationwide. Without new federal funding, he says, the COVID impact on employment will be similar to the Great Recession.
----- LEGAL -----
Parents file lawsuits to halt school face mask mandates
School districts across the United States are facing lawsuits brought by parents protesting requirements for students to wear face coverings on campuses. As officials respond to the public health emergency, lawsuits from Tennessee to Connecticut highlight fierce pushback among some citizens who argue the mask requirements amount to government overreach. The pandemic-driven lawsuits also highlight the logistical challenges of requiring students to wear masks over the course of a school day, especially with young children and those with special needs. Francisco Negron, chief legal officer at the National School Boards Association, said that school leaders should work in concert with public health officials to determine whether local infection rates necessitate mask mandates. “It’s clear that school districts have an obligation to keep children safe, not unlike existing state requirements for vaccinations or other kinds of safety measures,” he said. “The law is strongly on the side of school districts, provided that school districts have made their decisions about mask wearing grounded in the appropriate recommendations of public health officials.” However, he noted that educators may need to make modifications for some children with disabilities, noting that such accommodations are required under federal special education law.
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Cyberattacks disrupt learning even more during COVID-19
Cyberattacks on school districts, disruptive even at the best of times, are having an even greater impact on students’ educational, social and emotional needs. At a time of full-time distance learning, or a hybrid of in-person and virtual education, a cyberattack can have an outsized impact on schooling. So far, there have been 220 attacks for the 2020 calendar year, compared with 348 for the full 2019 calendar year. But the start of the school year is bringing a wave of new disruptions, according to Doug Levin, founder and president of the K-12 Cybersecurity Resource Center. “The cyber hackers are back at work,” he said, with an average of two hacks per day. Mr Levin suggest that school districts create a plan for how to handle such an attack, including not just IT staff but also legal counsel and public relations officials. Districts should also know who their law enforcement contacts are, and consider having a cybersecurity firm on retainer that can help with recovery and forensics.
----- SOCIAL & COMMUNITY -----
Study underlines discrimination among principals
The results of a new survey designed to measure whether U.S. public school principals respond differently to families based on their religious beliefs show that discrimination against Muslims appears to exist among public officials. The study, published in the Public Administration Review, involved the sending of emails to a sample of more than 45,000 public school principals divided evenly across the country, purportedly sent by a fictional family interested in sending their child to the principal’s school; each family was randomly assigned a religious affiliation, or a belief in atheism. Compared with emails with no quote at the bottom of the email signaling a religious belief, emails from the “Muslim” family had a 4.6 percentage point lower probability of receiving a reply. Further, “Muslim” families looking for a compatible school or for some accommodation of their beliefs were both about 8 percentage points less likely to receive a reply than individuals who did not mention their religion.
----- INTERNATIONAL -----
UN: ‘at least’ 24m students could drop out of school due to COVID
Henrietta Fore, executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund, says that the disruption to schools caused by the coronavirus pandemic constitutes a “global education emergency” that threatens to cause “at least” 24 million students globally to drop out of school. She added that now, more than 870 million students, “or half the world’s student population in 51 countries,” are still unable to return to school. “The longer children remain out of school, the less likely they are to return,” she said. “That’s why we are urging governments to prioritize reopening schools when restrictions are lifted.” UNESCO, UNICEF and the WHO jointly published Monday a 10-page document that outlines guidelines to reopen and operate schools during the pandemic. “We know that closing schools for prolonged periods of time [has] devastating consequences for children,” Ms Fore explained. “They become more exposed to physical and emotional violence. Their mental health is affected. They are more vulnerable to child labor, sexual abuse, and are less likely to break out of the cycle of poverty.”
----- OTHER -----
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.
To All Members of the ABC Federation of Teachers,
National Teacher Associates (NTA) is committed in our efforts to helping educators through tough times. It’s what we do. After all…in our eyes you are the heart and soul of our communities.
Protecting you and your families has been our goal for over 45 years. Despite the current global pandemic, we are not about to slow down now. We know that many of you have had our programs for years and sometimes forget the intricacies of how they work. NTA wants to help facilitate any possible claims for now and in the future. Fortunately, all claims and reviews can be done by phone and on-line. I personally want to offer my services to guide you in the right direction with your NTA benefits.
We also apologize for not being able to finish the open enrollment for those of you who wanted to get our protection. We are still able to help by extending our enrollment window for the near future. Again, this can be done over the phone, email, or on-line.
Please contact Leann Blaisdell at any time either by phone or email.
562-822-5004
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