ABCFT - YOUnionews - December 4, 2020
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - by Ruben Mancillas
I hope that you all enjoyed your much needed and well deserved Thanksgiving break. How many of us can clearly remember the days of “only” two days of vacation?!? Being aware of what can become the new normal is instructive during these turbulent times. As we prepare for what teaching will look like next semester/third trimester, and more importantly next year, we will need to keep in place and potentially improve what has worked while being equally willing to discard or change what has not.
While I just found messaging on the district website that still uses January 2021 as a potential reopening target let me state that every indication is that this is no longer the case. I expect that the next board meeting will make this more clear but I will repeat: we should not plan on returning to school in-person using a hybrid or any other model this January. The numbers just don’t support that we can do this safely at this time. The most recent news from the state and county indicates that positivity rates are rising rather than falling, more restrictive guidelines are being suggested daily, and all of this is without factoring in the expected spike in exposure post Thanksgiving holiday travel.
Schools are still open and essential, of course, but yesterday’s quote from Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti sums up our current situation well, “It’s time to hunker down. It’s time to cancel everything. If it isn’t essential, don’t do it. Don’t meet up with others outside of your household. Don’t host a gathering. Don’t attend a gathering...if you’re able to stay home, stay home.”
The next potential window in the calendar where we will be negotiating with the district about the possibility of small cohorts like specific student groups within special education returning would be sometime in March. But once again, we are planning because we need to have a plan, not because we have a realistic expectation that we will actually return in person at that time. The likelihood remains that we will stay virtual unless health data dramatically improves. My understanding is that in our color coded tiers we are not only in purple but apparently we are in something called deep purple (yes, the jokes write themselves).
On the national level, I am cautiously optimistic that a new administration will bring a new emphasis on full funding for public education and respect for public educators. We have a side bet in the union office regarding the new Secretary of Education. Let’s just say if Randi Weingarten is nominated someone is going to be even more happy than usual at such news! There have also been updates, though not all as positive, that progress is finally being made towards a stimulus bill to help provide much needed funds to state and local governments. In ABCUSD, we will feel the effects of our declining enrollment and look forward to Governor Newsom’s January budget as another opportunity to protect public education and fund Prop. 98 appropriately. We will keep you informed as to the impact on our budget and implications for us at the bargaining table when we get further updates at the School Services meeting in January.
Please stay safe and healthy. And let me express my thanks to work with and help represent colleagues like all of you.
In Unity,
A BLUEPRINT TO SAFELY OPEN SCHOOLS
BY AFT President RANDI WEINGARTEN, OPINION CONTRIBUTOR — 11/30/20 06:00 PM EST
You can find the original article here
The United States has the sad distinction of having the most confirmed coronavirus cases and death in the world, which has kept many schools shuttered for instruction in person. Parents and educators know that our children do best at schools, where they can get support, and they worry that the lack of learning in person has hurt students in need.
Systems from New York City to the Netherlands have shown that, with the necessary protocols to prevent transmission, students can safely return to learning in person. But schools are not islands. Americans must summon the collective will to follow science both in and out of schools. If we can do this, we can allow children across the country back to schools for the second semester and then for enriched summer programs.
Reopening schools is vital for the health and education of our children. It is also critical for the economy. We all have a role in doing this safely. Our holidays will look very different this year as infections surge with hospitals at capacity. Our leaders must use every tool at their disposal to reduce the spread of the coronavirus and pass a relief package that includes funding for states, schools, businesses, and the Americans who now struggle with rents, nutrition insecurity, and student loans. It is why we need a national blueprint that has these objectives to safely reopen schools.
We must get the coronavirus under control. This will take a national mask mandate, a federal system for both testing and contact tracing, targeted regional closures of schools and restaurants, making sure our exhausted health care workers have everything they need, and a robust coronavirus vaccination program once it is proven as sound and effective.
We must place public health protocols in schools. We know what works, such as masks, hand washing, physical distancing, sufficient ventilation, electrostatic cleaners, and broad testing. These protocols are enabling New York City to bring hundreds of thousands of elementary students back for learning in person at schools for the next semester.
We must make distance and hybrid learning as effective and engaging as possible. Teachers are working hard and deserve support to do their best. They need resources like more space to phase out hybrid learning while maintaining social distancing, more staff to support individual needs of the students, more time for teachers to plan, and the prohibition of the untenable practice of mixed learning online and in person.
We must set wraparound services in place. Schools must be the hubs of community services to address nutrition insecurity and other hardships which confront families. This includes expanding internet connectivity, offering nutrition programs, and providing more guidance counselors, mental health services, and nurses for students and staff.
We must use assessments to support learning. The assessments based on projects and performance make more sense now than ever to let students show what they know and guide teachers with instruction. From logistics to severely limited utility of the data, standard testing, and certainly such use in accountability, makes little sense for next semester.
We must provide more instructional support to bolster achievement and close gaps. We are all concerned about learning loss and such extended disruptions for our children. But the direst predictions assume there will be no true investments in schools and communities that lack resources. Research shows that life trajectories could improve with smaller classes, social learning, extra learning time, tutors working with teachers, great summer programs, and culturally responsive practices.
We must ensure reasonable accommodations. Staff at high risk of serious illness, and those with high risk family members, must have the chance to work remotely. The biggest concern I hear from educators is that they will make their families sick, yet several districts refuse to negotiate alternate work options. No teacher must work with that kind of fear.
Finally, transparency and collaboration matter. Trust takes engagement. Those districts that have reopened schools with success have involved educators, like in New York City, where they have a labor management council, and like in Boston, which has its committee to solve problems and offer teachers a new platform to raise their concerns.
Our children have endured disruptions to their lives and education. They are the last people who should pay for the failures of others, from people who refuse to wear masks to officials in government. We must not give up on the spring semester. We know how to control the coronavirus, and we know how to safely reopen schools. Now we have to display responsibility and secure all the resources necessary to make it happen.
MEMBER BENEFITS - WELLNESS WEDNESDAYS
Maintaining our mental health and well-being is important for all of us. ABCFT will be offering Wellness Wednesdays 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 mindful breathing. Participants used breathing techniques where they took a breath in to a count of 2 and exhaled to a count of 4 and so on. This mindful breathing can aid in slowing down your heartbeat and blood pressure while helping calm your digestive system. The yoga practice is on sun salutations which takes just 5 minutes and is a great way to begin each morning.
The session ended with a quote from Robert Fulghum about wonder,
“Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.”
MEMBER ONLY RESOURCES
DECEMBER ACADEMIC SERVICES UPDATE
This month’s academic service update is vital for all teachers. We hope that you will take a moment to look at this monthly report which discusses changes in academic services. This document provides the union with a means of giving the District feedback on the many programs or changes they are proposing at any one time. Without your feedback or questions on these changes, it is harder for ABCFT to slow down and modify the district’s neverending roll out of new projects. Please submit your comments and questions to the appropriate ABCFT liaison.
For Elementary curricular issues please email Kelley at Kelley.Forsythe@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
For Secondary curricular issues please email Rich at Richard.Saldana@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
For Special Education issues please email Stefani at Stefani.Palutzke@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
For Nurses issues please contact Theresa at Theresa.Petersen@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
Click Here For This Month’s Full Report
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.
Every Tuesday at the YOUnion Chat, about 100+ ABCFT members show up regularly to express concerns, exchange ideas, ask questions, an most importantly connect with each other about what is happening in their classrooms and among colleagues at all the ABC school sites and programs. Some participants have their cameras on and speak up regularly, some will turn on their cameras when they speak up, and some multitask off camera, but one thing is for sure and that is that everyone is ENGAGED. My hope for the chats is that everyone feels like they can share freely because the YOUnion chats need to be a safe space for us to explore difficult topics and dynamic ideas. Thank you to those who drop into the chats and if you haven’t been to one yet, please stop by and lurk or get into the conversation. Just this week a president from another local was lurking among our members because she wanted experience how ABCFT holds YOUnion chats. She we so inspired she wants to do something similar with the members of the Inglewood Teachers Association. That’s cool.
This week, I didn’t come to the YOUnion Chat with any agenda but I did drop a couple of thoughts about grading to get the discussion going. Yes, grades are again a highly charged topic in education across the country and ABC is no exception. In the YOUnion Chat, we discussed grading policies, student disengagement, the idea of uniform grading guidelines, tools to encourage students to do their work, and successful ways people are communicating with parents. It was a good discussion about an issue that is a real problem for public education during this pandemic. If there is one thing we can agree on, it is the fact that issues that were troublesome prior to COVID are now much more apparent. Like a bad hair day, something must be done to make it right. Somethings gotta be done about grades and grading overall to address the pandemics impact on teacher grading and what we can do to make grading meaningful and coherent for our students and parents.
In my mind we are peeling an onion. First looking at grading, not just for special education students but for all general education students. Which leads to better gradebook options for teachers, more streamlined report cards for elementary, which could lead to looking at our SST process, which could addresses our overidentification of minority students in special education etc. I think it is vital that everyone who wants to know about these changes is informed about the process of change and that everyone who is a stakeholder gets an opportunity to provide input into this change process. These changes may take a few years but if we talk about these issues now, teachers can guide the narrative and have meaningful input as we develop solutions. ABCFT has always been a solution-driven union, that why AFT President Randi Weingarten characterized ABC as being solution driven because she didn’t have a category to put us in at the time.
Anyway, I don’t want to get too far down the rabbit hole (too late Ray!) but suffice to say that at this moment in time the ABC district is not currently looking at changing grading for this year, BUT it IS happening in other districts and it is more than likely that the California Department of Education will post some sort of mandated grading modification that will apply for all school districts. At least that is my hunch. In the meantime, do what you do best, adjust to meet the needs of students and parents, communicate and document, and trouble shoot with your colleagues. In my quarterly meeting with ABC PE teachers this week, the best advice they gave each other was to slow the pace down.
In other news, ABC now has a COVID dashboard on the District website but good luck finding it because it is hidden like an Easter egg. Hopefully in the future, this important dashboard will be easier to find so that the ABC community doesn’t attack our board members about not being transparent. Here is the like to the ABCUSD COVID Dashboard. I hope that you read Ruben Manicillas’ article this week. Its always great to read Ruben’s articles in the YOUnionews because I find his perspective to be easy to relate to and he has a knack for really highlighting those critical points issues, dare I say he has a calming effect. Thanks for your work Ruben!
Lastly and most importantly, December has been a very somber month so far. I just want to send all of you my supportive thoughts as many of you deal with family illness, hospitalizations and the unfortunate passings of your loved ones. There have been many painful losses the last couple of weeks and I want you to know that as a YOUnion we are collectively in your corner as you go through these difficult times. Please everyone, wear a mask, minimize your contacts and keep your families safe.
LOVE and 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
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
Education Groups Say Teachers Should Be Near Front Of The Line For COVID Vaccinations
Politico (12/3, Gaudiano) reports teachers unions and school officials say that educators should “be near front of the line for access to a coronavirus vaccine.” In a Monday letter to the CDC advisory committee responsible for finalizing recommendations for vaccine distribution, several education groups wrote that giving adults in school systems priority access to vaccinations will be “critical” to fully reopening school buildings for in-person learning. They also said vaccinating “trusted messengers” like teachers will generate trust in the vaccination program among the public. The groups, which included the AFT, NEA, AASA, the School Superintendents Association, and others, wrote, “Our students need to come back to school safely, educators want to welcome them back, and no one should have to risk their health to make this a reality.”
Philadelphia Superintendent Says Teachers Should Be Among First To Get COVID Vaccine. Chalkbeat (12/3) reports Philadelphia schools superintendent William Hite said Thursday that educators should be among the first to receive the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available. Hite said, “Right now as you know healthcare workers are the priority along with individuals in assisted living and we are trying to make the case that the next group of individuals becomes educators.” He added, “So people want to restart the economy, children need to be back in school. We are advocating on a national level to be prioritized.”
Indiana Officials Say Teachers Likely To Be In Second Wave Of Individuals Getting COVID-19 Vaccine. The Indianapolis Star (12/3) reports during Indiana’s weekly COVID-19 briefing on Wednesday, “state officials said that teachers will likely be among the second wave of individuals” to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, after frontline healthcare workers and long-term care facility residents. Indiana State Department of Health Chief Medical Officer Dr. Lindsay Weaver said when that happens depends on how many doses Indiana receives and when the state receives them. “We are already in full planning mode to start vaccinating that critical infrastructure (group) when we have the vaccine and we’re ready to do so,” Weaver said. “I 100 percent believe that teachers getting vaccinated will help our schools.”
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Use of federal education aid must evolve, academic asserts
Marguerite Roza, a research professor at Georgetown University's McCourt School of Public Policy, where she leads the Certificate in Education Finance, asserts that, like interest on debt, learning loss as a result of the pandemic will "compound" without appropriate and urgent action. If more stimulus money comes, she suggests, it needs to be deployed "differently than it was with the CARES Act," as the challenges go "beyond access to a device and internet." Targeted aid should come in the form of $3000 per disengaged student, Roza proposes. Assuming 10% of students are on this lower leg, the total would be roughly $15bn, about equal to the annual Title I program. Innovation should be championed too, she adds, outdoor schooling models, mobile classrooms, "pandemic pods," and tutoring hubs are all worthy examples.
CARES act funding 'transparency report' published
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has unveiled an online portal that shows if states and local educational agencies are actually utilizing the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act's $31bn Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) to maintain learning provisions amid the pandemic. The new portal, found at covid-relief-data.ed.gov, captures awards and expenditures reported as of September 30, six months after enactment of the CARES Act. Of the $13.2bn Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund – which was awarded to the 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. – and reveals that just $1.6bn, or 12% of the total had been spent. Eight recipients had spent less than 1% of their award. Of the $3bn allocated to the Governor's Emergency Education Relief (GEER) Fund, a total of $535m, or 18%, had been spent. Thirty-four governors had yet to spend more than 1% of their allocated funding. In New York state, for example, less than 0.1% of ESSER funds have been drawn down. However, New York City again shuttered its schools yesterday, despite having only a 0.19% test positivity rate among students and teachers. Kentucky, which has more than $170m dollars available, closed schools for several weeks. Meanwhile, Iowa has spent the majority of its funding while successfully re-opening most of its schools for in-person learning. "States that neglected their obligations to provide full-time education, while complaining about a lack of resources, have left significant sums of money sitting in the bank. There may be valid reasons for states to be deliberate in how they spend CARES Act resources, but these data make clear there is little to support their claims of being cash-poor," Ms. DeVos comments. Carissa Moffat Miller, chief executive of The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), complains that the department's data and how it is presented is “misleading” however. "The Education Department's figures do not tell the full story of how CARES Act funds are being used. Many states and school districts have obligated funds beyond the levels described in the Department's figures - that is, they have placed orders or entered into service contracts that must be paid in the future." She also notes that states and districts have until September 2022 to enter into obligations to spend CARES money and adds that CCSSO estimates schools will need between $158bn and $245bn in new federal aid to cover various costs related to the pandemic.
U.S. Department of Education Education Week
Pandemic forces postponement of Nation’s Report Card assessments
The National Center for Education Statistics announced last Wednesday (25th November) that the biennial National Assessment of Educational Progress evaluations used for the Nation’s Report Card scheduled for next year are being postponed until 2022. James Woodworth, commissioner of the center for education statistics, said in the announcement that "too many students are receiving their education through distance learning or are physically attending schools in locations where outside visitors to the schools are being kept at a minimum due to COVID levels." Therefore, Mr Woodworth said he has "determined that NCES cannot at this time conduct a national-level assessment in a manner with sufficient validity and reliability to meet the mandate of the law." Education leaders praised the decision: CEO of the Council of Chief State School Officers Carissa Moffat Miller said in a statement that th e council also supports the delay and recognizes it "was not an easy decision," but believes "it is the right one based on what we know today about this virus and its impact on schools." However, Rep. Bobby Scott (D-VA), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee, and Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, called the 2021 administration of assessments "a moral imperative." They stated that without the assessments parents, educators and policymakers will have no data on the scope of learning loss.
Washington Post US News and World Report
New stimulus proposals include over $80bn for education
A bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced a coronavirus aid proposal worth about $908bn Tuesday morning, aiming to break the months-long impasse over emergency federal relief for the U.S. economy amid the ongoing pandemic. Senators and members of the bipartisan House Problem Solvers Caucus held a news conference to push their proposal as a "template for legislation" that could pass Congress as the economy faces increasing pressure from the recent surges in coronavirus cases. The proposals include, among a wealth of other benefits, the provision of $300 a week in federal unemployment benefits for four months, $160bn in funding for state and local governments and a temporary moratorium on some coronavirus-related lawsuits against firms and other entities. The bipartisan agreement also includes about $82bn for education, $288bn in funding for small businesses, including through the Payc heck Protection Program and other aid, $45bn for transportation agencies, $26bn in nutrition assistance and $16bn in healthcare, including to help with coronavirus testing and tracing, along with vaccine distribution.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California unveils blueprint for future of early education
On Tuesday, the California Health and Human Services Agency published the long-awaited Master Plan for Early Learning and Care, a blueprint to remodel the state’s child-care system and dramatically expand public preschool. Its most immediate aim is to untangle some of the bureaucracy governing early-childhood care by shifting oversight for virtually all state-subsidized programs from the state’s Department of Education to the Department of Social Services. It also suggests streamlining publicly-funded programs, simplifying eligibility for low-income families and overhauling reimbursements for providers, which the report called “overly complex and inequitable.” “The Master Plan shows how one state can achieve goals that are soon to become national ones,” the authors noted. “California can use the Master Plan to signal its fitness as an early partner with the incoming Biden ad ministration,” which advocates early-education reform and better access to child care.
CIF officially pushes back start of sports to January
The California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) pushed pause on its return to play plans Tuesday, announcing in a news release that it does not expect to receive California Department of Public Health guidelines before January 1st. “We feel for our student-athletes and all the coaches and everyone involved that wants to get back on the field, the pool and the gym, we understand their frustration,” CIF State executive director Ron Nocetti said. “When we made the decision to set the calendar in July, we all knew there could very well be another surge, but we had to at least try. But without updated guidance, we can’t play at this time and we’re hopeful we get guidance soon so we can work with our sections and membership on a path forward.” Since August 3rd high school sports have been prohibited from competition and limited to modified conditioning and skill training workouts.
Los Angeles Daily News The Reporter
----- DISTRICTS -----
Newport-Mesa teachers union calls for return to distance learning
Newport-Mesa USD teachers are urging officials to reclose secondary schools to in-person learning, at a time when coronavirus cases are surging across the state, and by a record 1,422 infections yesterday in Orange County alone. The district’s secondary schools have been operating in a hybrid of some in-person and some remote learning since November 9th; however, in a letter to the district, the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers urged having the older grades temporarily return to distance learning after the Thanksgiving break. The organization claimed an inability to regulate large gatherings of teens in common areas and insufficient COVID-19 reporting and contact tracing protocols were increasing the risk for exposure. In Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, the cities served by the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, 293 children under the age of 18 have so far contracted the coronavirus, figures indicate.
Los Angeles Times Orange County Register
San Francisco may rename 42 schools
San Francisco USD is considering changing the names of 42 schools, an action that officials say will better reflect the district’s values. Some of the schools were flagged for removal because of alleged associations with slaveholding, colonization or oppression. Some graduates of the schools are up in arms about potentially changing the names of their alma maters, while the city’s mayor, London Breed, came out strongly against the timing of the renaming debate, describing it as an unwelcome distraction when schools are closed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Joan Hepperly, co-executive director for United Administrators of San Francisco, said the union supports the renamings but wants to slow down the process to ensure that it is inclusive, especially during a pandemic when families are struggling with online education. “A rushed process would distort what we would hope to be a unifying and transformative expe rience into one that instead excludes members of our communities who are most marginalized,” she said.
San Diego scraps plans for January return to classrooms
San Diego USD is to continue distance learning for most of its students through early next year, it was announced yesterday. The district earlier signaled that in Phase 1, starting January 4th, pre-kindergarten through fifth-grade students would return to campus four days a week, split into morning and afternoon sessions, with students in grades 6 through 12 returning to school two days a week in Phase 2 from January 25th. However, citing the current surge of coronavirus infections in the community, the district said it’s currently “unsafe” to advance with Phase 2. California’s second-largest school district plans to reassess local public health conditions to update families with a new timeline on January 13th, officials said in a letter to families. Appointment-based instruction on campuses continues to be offered to district students with the greatest needs, officials said. San Diego Unified also plans to increase the number of students learning in small groups in schools with appointments starting December 7th.
Times of San Diego NBC San Diego Fox 5 San Diego
San Diego Unified expanding Phase 1 meetings with teachers
San Diego USD will allow middle and high school students, as well as preschoolers, infants and toddlers, to go on campuses for short in-person support sessions starting Monday, December 7. The district still has not reopened for regular in-person instruction, but it is inviting some students to campus for limited in-person appointments with teachers during what it calls Phase 1 of reopening schools from coronavirus-related closures. So far, Phase 1 has served only elementary school students. The district is preparing for Phase 2, which is scheduled to reopen all elementary schools January 4 and all middle and high schools January 25. But that could be delayed if San Diego County does not emerge from the purple tier by then.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Schools embracing mindfulness
More and more schools in the United States are introducing mindfulness into curricula to help students deal with the stress brought on by pandemic-prompted changes in education. According to a recent survey, 50% of students reported worsening mental health since the beginning of the pandemic and 35% said their family relationships are "worse than before" and they now feel more anxious and lonely. A separate survey of sixth-graders indicated that students felt "less stressed" and had "fewer feelings of sadness and anger" after eight weeks of guided mindfulness. Distance learning also provides an ideal opportunity to introduce the practice, experts say, as some students feel more comfortable doing mindfulness exercises at home.
Learning loss this year not as bad as projected
A new study from the Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA) has found that the pandemic has had a negative impact on students’ academic growth this year, particularly in math. However, they didn’t fall as far as some projections suggested they would. In April, the NWEA estimated that students would enter the fall with only 70% of their learning gains in a typical school year in reading, and 50% of their typical gains in math. The new research, based on data from 4.4 million students in grades 3-8 who took the organization’s annual MAP Growth assessment, found students have made progress in both math and reading since the start of the pandemic, but by slimmer margins than is considered normal. In math, students fell between five and 10 percentage points behind their same-grade peers from last year. In reading, the numbers stayed about the same. While overall reading scores were similar t o scores prior to COVID-19 school closures, small declines were disproportionately concentrated among Hispanic and Black students in upper elementary grades, although researchers said it is too soon to draw definitive conclusions on differences by racial/ethnic groups from the results, as student groups particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the pandemic have a higher likelihood of not being represented in the data. The researchers also said they are seeing "alarming" course failure results in the higher grades, and more significant impacts on students in K-2, although that data remains to be released.
Education Week K12 Dive Chalkbeat EdSurge Education Week
Research unclear on how anti-bias training works
School districts across the U.S. are employing implicit bias and anti-bias training programs to help staff avoid the unconscious racial and other biases that could affect their relationships with students. However, several large-scale analyses of research on implicit-bias training suggest it more often changes short-term knowledge about the vocabulary of diversity, than long-term changes in behavior. Available evidence suggests staff training can be helpful, but only as part of a comprehensive strategy that includes identifying specific problems and strategies to address structures that perpetuate bias in a school system. In a study of 30 years of data on diversity initiatives from 800 U.S. companies, analysts from the Harvard Business Review found mandatory or “controlling” training did not lead to improvements in actual behavior or diversity, particularly when the training came in reaction to a negative event. Nancy Gutiérrez, the president of the New York City Leadership Academy, found schools that do provide anti-bias training can benefit from using interracial teams to lead the conversations, to provide broader perspectives and to prevent individual teachers of color from becoming overly called on to represent their racial or ethnic groups. “There’s a lot of will, a lot of desire out there right now to do something … but I think that sometimes we overestimate our skill to facilitate this work,” she said. “When you're talking about race and identity, you'd have to be at the intersections of who we are as people, and that takes a lot of planning and careful facilitation to truly engage in ways that will open up and deepen the conversation rather than shut it down.”
----- TOP EDUCATION ISSUES -----
Superintendent Survey Shows Concerns With Learning Loss, Teacher Burnout
Chalkbeat Colorado (12/3, Meltzer) reports that “young students are struggling to learn to read, and teachers are burning out as Colorado schools slog through the ninth month of the pandemic.” Those issues emerged “as top concerns in a survey of 140 superintendents conducted by the nonprofit Colorado Education Initiative and the Colorado Department of Education.” The needs assessment “updates a similar survey conducted in the spring and reflects the challenges of educating students learning both in person and remotely while managing conflicting health and safety guidance and frequent quarantines.” The findings “highlight the problems school districts need to solve this year – and the potentially long-lasting consequences of a year or more of disrupted learning.” State education officials “will use the findings to provide more targeted support to school districts, and legislators could use them to consider policy changes.”
Data Shows Failing Grades Increasing Amid Pandemic Learning
The Washington Post (12/3) reports that “failure rates in math and English jumped as much as sixfold for some of the most vulnerable students in Maryland’s largest school system, according to data released as the pandemic’s toll becomes increasingly visible in schools across the country.” In one stark example, “more than 36% of ninth-graders from low-income families failed the first marking period in English.” That compares “with fewer than 6% last year, when the same students took English in eighth grade.” The data come “as neighboring Fairfax County in Virginia recently reported a sharp increase in failing grades for its students – one of the first systems nationally to detail the fallout of pandemic-driven online education.”
----- FINANCE -----
Schools battling with meal logistics during pandemic
Not only has COVID-19 resulted in a raft of new logistics challenges for serving meals in schools, education leaders are also bracing for significant financial losses. Results from a new School Nutrition Association survey reveal that 54% of responding school districts reported a financial loss in school year 2019/20 and a "harrowing" 62% anticipate a loss this school year. Schools that have been most successful at transitioning food services to accommodate changing guidelines and schedules have a partnership between administration and food service leaders, administrators said. "Districts that are struggling are ones where school meal service were an afterthought once a reopening had been developed," suggests Diane Pratt-Heavner, director of media relations for the School Nutrition Association.
----- LEGAL -----
New lawsuit challenges education for students in California
A new lawsuit is challenging California’s promise to provide free, basic education to students, claiming the state has failed to do its job, in providing necessary resources for kids in underserved communities during the coronavirus pandemic. The families of 15 Oakland and Los Angeles public school students filed the suit in Alameda County Superior Court; it maintains that they were not provided devices and internet connections to attend online classes, and that schools did not meet academic and mental health support needs, English language barriers and the unmet needs of homeless students. One of the lawyers for the families, Mark Rosenbaum, said the lawsuit was the first case in the nation against a state for failure to meet the educational needs of students during the pandemic.
----- CHILD DEVELOPMENT ----
Schools take creative measures to enroll and retain youngest students
Early childhood educators and administrators are taking innovative approaches to keep their students engaged in socially distanced in-person learning environments, helping them to navigate online learning platforms independently, while offering adult-guided asynchronous activities so they can learn through movement and play-based activity without sitting for hours in front of a screen. In Florida, Broward County Public Schools has made various efforts to support early childhood educators, young learners and families during the health crisis, said Lori Canning, executive director of Early Learning and Language Acquisition in the Fort Lauderdale district. To encourage early childhood participation and active learning this year, the district provided 2,000 pre-kindergarten backpacks full of supplies, such as foam letters, crayons, scissors and more. The district, which has in-person learning as well as onlin e learning for families who chose that format, also made sure the virtual learning curriculum was developmentally appropriate by carefully planning for screen time and by providing a device for families who opted for virtual learning.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Will teachers get priority for COVID-19 vaccines?
A new survey of superintendents, principals and teachers calls for those on the "front lines" of K-12 to receive high priority for COVID-19 vaccines. In September, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten urged federal review panels to include teachers and school staff in the highest-priority group for vaccines, while the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency lists K-12 personnel as "essential critical infrastructure workers." Three companies—Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca—have now announced promising results of clinical trials on their vaccines.
COVID-19 liability protection a mounting concern
As the number of U.S. coronavirus deaths tops 250,000, school administrators are examining insurance policies to ensure they are covered in case someone contracts the virus at school. To accommodate, some insurers are adding riders to policies for coronavirus coverage, but the price tag can be considerable. Districts in Arizona, for instance, are being charged an additional $5,000 to $150,000 based on size for coverage that will pay out up to $1m per outbreak. One of school districts’ biggest exposures is workers’ comp, according to Lilian Vanvieldt, a senior vice president with insurance service Alliant. Although it hasn’t become an issue yet, since most schools kept teachers home in spring, workers’ comp could come more into play when teachers return to school for in-person learning.
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Most schools lack recommended connectivity speed
A new report from Connected Nation has found that nationwide, 67% of K-12 schools are still lacking the recommended internet connectivity speed of 1 megabits per second per student. Since 2015, connectivity has increased nearly five-fold, and the median cost per megabit has dropped by 84%; however, 31.5 million students still lack the recommended connectivity speed. As recently as October, 300,000-1m California students remained disconnected from school by either a lack of a device or weak broadband. To overcome the challenge, some districts are teaming up with private businesses in creative ways; in Texas, Ector County ISD is partnering with SpaceX to transmit high-speed, low-latency internet access to some students’ homes via the company's Starlink satellite system. The service will launch in early 2021 with 45 families who live in remote areas and have no internet options .
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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