ABCFT - YOUnionews - February 5, 2020
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
Nothing much to report this week; we’re only negotiating language regarding what a reopening might look like, including a new hybrid schedule, a calendar for next year, a grading policy for the second semester at the secondary level, and compensation for the 2020-2021 school year.
Simultaneously.
The district has submitted a plan with the state to make ABCUSD eligible for additional funds to help with the reopening. The initial group to be brought back to in-person instruction is TK-2, followed by grades 3-6. A number of variables remain, specifically the health numbers at the county level as well as the evolving status of the governor’s plan in the legislature.
Here’s some political context: there is a great deal of pressure on all sides to both do something in a timely manner and get it right. Governor Newsom presented an ambitious reopening plan in late December but the legislature is questioning parts of it and has ideas of their own. There is a vocal contingent of people who want schools to be reopened sooner rather than later as well as opposing voices, including those of CFT, who are pushing for vaccines and the safety of teachers and students.
As many of you are aware, there is a national discussion about school reopening contained in the COVID relief bill as well as regional issues at play. For example, some of the larger districts in Northern California have more favorable infection data than Los Angeles County does at present so there is a great deal of urgency in the call to return to in-person instruction in cities like San Francisco. Unfortunately, this has led to the dramatic step of the city suing its own school district and board of education to reopen classes. This degree of infighting and tension, even between traditional allies, is an unfortunate glimpse into the dynamics we should expect to see more of in the coming weeks and months.
One of the elements of the governor’s plan is additional funding for up to five additional school days for the 2021-2022 school year. Extending the school year is clearly a huge shift in our working conditions and how we do business as a district. We are also aware that everyone will need as much time as possible to accommodate any such change so we have a full negotiating calendar for the month of February so that we can provide some clarity to the questions we all have. In terms of summer school, the plan is that it will be virtual. In terms of the way we open in August, with the actual date still to be determined, I would anticipate us starting in a hybrid model.
We are still in the process of bargaining but we are committed to updating you as soon as we have information that we can share. We will schedule a general meeting similar to previous years with the change being that it would be virtual this time. Thanks again for all of your comments via email and participation in events like our weekly YOUnion chat. Many of you have the same good ideas and it helps us to be able to go to the table with your input on the issues we face as educators.
Dr. Sieu wrote yesterday about the first 100 days of the school year and the accomplishments we should all be proud of. Of course, I chose to interpret her praise as further justification for why ABCFT should be seen as valued partners during negotiations. Our members have served our students and the community with distinction despite the most difficult of circumstances. It is crucial that we be listened to as we work together to solve the challenges that lie ahead.
In Unity,
TOSA TIDBITS
This TOSA report provided by David Franklin
Secondary Educators,
Welcome to the new semester! As part of the transition, you may have created new grade books in Aeries for the Spring.
We have learned from some teachers that when attempting to import grades to Aeries from last semester’s Google Classroom Gradebooks, Aeries processes all of the Fall assignments before importing the selected Spring assignments. Teachers have shared concerns about the length of time this process takes.
To help with this, we suggest that teachers sync assignments and grades from newly created Google Classrooms with the Spring Aeries Gradebook. Teachers can independently create and roster Google Classrooms as they have in the past, or submit a request to “Refresh Google Classrooms”.
Follow this link for more information
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Jamboard Update
The Jamboard Application is an option now available to schools in the “.ORG” (student) domain with limited functionality. If you are interested in using Jamboard in your “.ORG” Google account, please work with your tech liaison and site admin to submit an activation request to the IT department. Although you may have heard of many great uses for Jamboard, it is important to understand that restrictions for students will remain in place which impact how you choose to utilize this tool.
While using Jamboard with students, the restrictions limit its use to what can best be described as a virtual whiteboard.
While using Jamboard on computers or Chromebooks, teachers can:
Write, sketch, or draw with their trackpad on frames
Insert images
Drag and resize text and images
Share Jams with other teachers
While using Jamboard on Touch-screen Chromebooks or tablets, teachers can:
Write and draw with their finger or a stylus frames
Search Google and insert images or webpages
Drag and resize text and images with their fingers
Use image recognition technology to convert a sketch into a polished image
Share Jams with other educators
Add Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides to the Jam
Jamboard also leverages the customary features we are familiar with when using Google Apps such as Slides or Drawings. While a unique tool, Jams are saved and organized in the drive, are a live changing document when connected to the internet, and open in windows like most other web resources that we can share with students by presenting our screens in video meetings.
While Jamboard is disabled in student accounts, they will not be able to create Jams, collaborate in, or download Jams shared with them by teachers.
Follow this link for more information about Jamboard
SPOTLIGHT ON MEMBERS -
The 100th Day of School Celebrations by Tanya Golden
February 4th marks the hundredth day of school this year. Elementary teachers cleverly use this day to support their instruction by helping students with their counting and sorting skills. For me, it's a way to secretly relish the fact we have more than 55% of the school year completed. I think we can collectively agree, these have been the most challenging, exhausting and exhilarating 100 days of school ever. It’s not often that joy and state standards are said in the same sentence but the celebration pictures demonstrate how ABC teachers continue to creatively design curriculum which brings joy while covering state standards to their students! Thank you to the numerous ABCFT members who shared their celebrations in pictures.
ABC’s 100th Day of School Celebrations Pictures in Review
MEMBER ONLY RESOURCES
The 1619 Project | Pulitzer Center Download this high school lesson plan, designed to introduce Nikole Hannah-Jones’ essay, “The Idea of America,” and The 1619 Project as a whole, through discussion and guided reading.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH LESSON PLANS AND RESOURCES
Black History Month Activities: Exploring The Roots of a Celebration
It’s a misconception that Black History Month has only been around since its official designation by President Gerald Ford in 1976. Carter G. Woodson, a Harvard-trained historian and the renowned father of black history in America devoted his life toward advocating for visibility, recognition, and appreciation of the black experience and contributions to American history, culture and society. Pursuing these ambitions, Woodson laid the foundations for Negro History Week (NHW) in 1925. The event was first celebrated in February 1926 and was to coincide with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
FEBRUARY 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 Nurse issues please contact Theresa at Theresa.Petersen@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
Click Here For This Month’s Full Report
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 the art of unlooking and how to move from story mode to observing mode. By slowing down and observing before creating a story in our mind it can bring awareness of your reactions and can helo you react, perhaps differently, to future solutions. Participants also engage in a variety of chair yoga poses; seated pigeon, warrior 2, reverse warrior, and reverse warrior 2.
Quote by Anais Nin: “We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are.”
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.
Is there a lot of tension in the air? Yes, without a doubt. As individuals and as a society right now there are a lot of pent-up feelings of frustration that is boiling over among parents, teachers, administrators, politicians, friends, spouses, and strangers in the streets. The fact that vaccinations are still frustratingly difficult to organize or the difficulty finding vaccine access to for even the highest priority citizens is causing this lava flow of emotions. I don’t know of anyone who has been immune to the rollercoaster of emotions that are going on in our hearts and minds as we move ever closer to the year anniversary of the closing of our nation’s schools. Ruben did a good job of outlining the tensions that are happening politically right now but those same tensions are beginning to play out locally as parents vent their frustrations, teachers complain (rightly so) about not being able to get vaccinated like promised, or our students who are pushing numbly forward in hopes of someday going back to school. It is heartbreaking and we need to recognize that collectively as a society our hope is always being tested. So let me offer these thoughts.
This will end. In the next twelve months, we will still be feeling the impact of COVID but take solace in the fact that we have survived the unknown. After a year of constant daily heartbreak, there are glimmers of hope that life will be renewed. We’ve all watched our foothill mountains threateningly burn away the dry brush and trees only to be reborn in the next season with sparkling green plants of a new beginning. That’s what I want you to remember. When we eventually are together with our students and our friends and colleagues there will be joy. It will feel like the first time your parents gave you the car keys so you could take the family car. We will be nervous but we will be excited with possibilities.
You, my friends are incredible teachers (and nurses) who have a completely different skill set then you did a year ago. With those new skills you’ve learned how to be more efficient and you’ve learned to work with your entire class on a level that was only really discussed in research papers. Prior to the pandemic teachers were taken for granted for the work they did in Americas classroom. Parents are WOKE (my 15 year old will not approve of me using that term but hey, it works). When students do start going back to school, even if it is a hybrid schedule it will be a welcome relief for parents, grandparents and most importantly our students.
I’m forever an optimist and I will always look for the silver lining. Its crazy right now but just remember that those vaccines will get here and that there are powerful politicians and businesses that are working to get those out to the public as soon as possible. It’s gonna happen. Your classrooms will be ready with MERV13 filters, plastic barriers on teachers desks, cleaning supplies for our classified friends to keep our classrooms clean, and safety protocols to keep us all as safe as possible. It’s already happening in schools in Orange County under the worst of conditions. If you have a medical condition and you’re worried about the future there will be options because the virtual option for students will remain for some time.
So this weekend if you find yourself thinking dreadfully about the present, take a moment to check those thoughts by thinking about it will feel to be around your students and colleagues again. It’s going to happen and even if we are nervous about all the moving parts, there will be more good than bad, more joy than sorrow, more hope over dispair. Stay strong and enjoy these three-day weekends. YOU truly deserve this break.
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.
Classroom Learning and Safe Schools for Employees and Students (CLASSES)
A Pathway to Bringing Students Back to Schools
California teachers and classified employees want nothing more than to be back in our physical classrooms and school sites and know first-hand there is no equal substitute to regular, in-person learning. California’s schools are the heart of their communities. For many of our most vulnerable and underserved populations, they are lifelines. The educational, social and emotional needs of California’s students, particularly those who often lack the technological and additional education support to sustain distance learning, are of paramount concern.
The last year has brought unprecedented challenges to California’s students, families, and our educational and economic systems. School employees have made extraordinary contributions to our students and our communities: classified employees have continued to serve on the frontlines, distributing millions of meals to needy families, conducting contact tracing, reconfiguring school ventilation systems, and providing childcare to essential workers; and teachers have adapted and overhauled curriculum for distance learning and have worked tirelessly with students and families to ensure continued engagement and education. Our collective work has been essential to the education, health and safety of millions of Californians.
As COVID-19 continues to mutate and threaten our communities with new variants that are more contagious and possibly more lethal1, we remain committed to finding a path to safely return to in-person instruction. This path must be safe for the entire school community: students, staff, and school families. As CDC researchers concluded, the path back to in-person instruction requires an accompanying commitment to reducing community transmission of the virus. Safe conditions extend beyond the walls of our school sites.
The Legislature and Governor should consider the following:
Preventing transmission in school settings will require addressing and reducing levels of transmission in the surrounding communities through policies to interrupt transmission.
Multi-layered mitigation measures in schools must require:
universal face mask use,
increasing physical distance by redensifying classrooms and common area
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHTS-----
Schools can reopen without vaccinating teachers, CDC director says
Teachers do not need to get vaccinated against COVID-19 before schools can safely reopen, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Wednesday. At a White House news briefing, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters: “There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated.” She leaned toward recent research that found limited documented cases of COVID-19 in schools that took extensive mitigation steps, like keeping small groups of students in classroom cohorts to limit the risk of transmission within the building. Some educators fear such conditions are difficult to replicate in aging and crowded buildings. At a later briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki stressed that Dr. Walensky’s comments were not official CDC policy. She said the agency’s positions on reopening will be detailed in upcoming guidance.
Newsom: Teacher vaccinations not necessary for school reopenings
Gov. Gavin Newsom said he believes schools can begin to reopen even if all teachers are not yet vaccinated against COVID-19, provided that proper safety measures and supports are in place. United Teachers Los Angeles and other teachers unions have balked at resuming in-person instruction before teachers are inoculated. L.A. Unified Supt. Austin Beutner has said it is critical that health officials specifically target school employees for vaccination while campuses are closed so that this impediment to reopening is removed. However, echoing new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Newsom said he subscribes "to the Biden administration's point of view, reinforced again today in their press conference, that we can safely reopen schools with [an] appropriate level of support." Doing so, he added, also will require "accountability in terms of enforcing the rules of the road."
Marjorie Taylor Greene barred from Education Committee
In a largely-partisan 230-199 vote, lawmakers yesterday removed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from the House education committee, for endorsing conspiracy theories claiming that mass school shootings were hoaxes and supporting violence against political rivals. Ms Greene’s posts on social media about the shootings at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., and other school shootings, as well as her endorsement of violence against Democrats, received widespread media attention. “It is horrifying to read Rep. Greene’s comments through the eyes of principals who have endured the very school shootings she denies,” commented Ronn Nozoe, CEO of the National Association of Secondary School Principals.
----- TEACHER VACCINATIONS -----
Discrepancies among states' teacher vaccination eligibility rules
At least 24 states and Washington, D.C., are providing shots to some teachers of kindergarten through high school, according to the New York Times, which tracks vaccine eligibility rules in all 50 states. In certain states for example, like Texas and Florida, officials have ordered schools to reopen for in-person learning but teachers have not been made eligible for shots, while teachers in West Virginia are eligible for the vaccine only if they are age 50 or older. In Montana by comparison, a limited number of teachers are allowed to get shots if they have specific medical conditions.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Miguel Cardona under scrutiny during senate hearing
In a Senate committee hearing Wednesday morning Miguel Cardona, President Joe Biden’s nominee for Education Secretary, pledged to help schools reopen safely and ensure educators and students have the support they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr Cardona, currently the Connecticut Commissioner of Education, told members of the Senate education committee that future pandemic relief funding from Congress must focus on helping students recover from COVID-19 academically and in other ways. “If we really want to recover, we need to invest now or we’re going to pay later,” Dr. Cardona said. “The funds that are being discussed now are really to help us with the long-term recovery process, preventing layoffs, when we need more teachers, not less.” Dr. Cardona did not however fully address the question of whether he would grant waivers from federal testing mandates this year , a requirement that is currently weighing on education leaders across the country. “I don’t think we need to be bringing students in just to test them on a standardized test — I don’t think that makes any sense,” Dr. Cardona said. “I do feel that if we don’t assess where our students are and their level of performance, it’s going to be difficult for us to provide targeted support and resource allocation in the matter that can best support the closing of the gaps that have been exacerbated during this pandemic.” He voiced support for transgender students' participation in school activities, calling it the "legal responsibility" of schools to protect all students' civil rights, and also for reducing exclusionary disciplinary practices. Although Dr. Cardona is yet to be confirmed, committee chair Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) said she would try to set a committee vote "as quickly as possible." The full Senate has not set a date for Cardona's confirmation.
New York Times Education Week K-12 Dive The 74 Chalkbeat Chalkbeat
Dems reintroduce bill to curb school discrimination
House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Robert Scott (D-VA) and House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) introduced legislation on Tuesday aimed at holding schools accountable for discrimination. The Equity and Inclusion Enforcement Act, which was passed in a 232-188 vote in September, would allow families to bring disparate impact claims against schools under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It would also require schools to designate a person to serve as their Title VI monitor, who would investigate any complaints of discrimination based on race, color or origin, and mandate the Education Secretary to appoint an assistant secretary to advise the department on matters relating to equity and inclusion consistent with Title VI.
Calls mount to strike Marjorie Taylor Greene from House Education Committee
The two largest teachers’ unions in the U.S. released a joint statement on Tuesday calling for the removal of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from the House Education Committee. In a letter to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers argue that Ms Greene lacks the “judgment, empathy or wisdom” to have responsibility over learning environments, as demonstrated by her associations with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. Their call has been echoed by Rick Hess, a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute think tank and the director of its Education Policy Studies, who argues that Ms Greene’s “poisonous calumny” about school shootings, which includes “false flag” accusations about Parkland in 2018, “should be reason enough for Republicans to want her nowhere near a congressional educational committee.”
Republicans propose alternate COVID relief package
A group of 10 Senate Republicans, including Susan Collins of Maine, Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia, and Mitt Romney of Utah, on Monday presented President Joe Biden with a $618bn counterproposal to the $1.9tn coronavirus relief package put forward by the Democrats. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) announced they would continue setting up budget reconciliation this week, which would evade the Senate’s 60-vote requirement. They will pass a budget this week instructing committees to write a $1.9tn relief bill, which includes items like raising the minimum wage to $15 an hour, $400 in additional weekly unemployment assistance through September, and direct payments of $1,400 per person. "There is nothing in this process that will preclude it from being bipartisan. We welcome Republican input," Schumer said. The GOP proposal calls for an additional $300 per week in unemployment benefits through to the end of June, an additional $1,000 per person, plus $500 for children and other dependents. It offers no extra funding for state and local governments, unlike the Biden plan, which would provide $350bn in aid. The Republicans would provide $20bn to help K-12 schools reopen, and nothing for higher education, in contrast to the Democrats, who would provide $130bn for schools and $35bn for higher education. Twenty billion dollars in block grants would be provided for child care, while Biden would expand tax credits to help families cover up to $3,600 in child-care costs, provide $25bn for child care providers, and $15bn in block grants. "I wouldn't say that we came together on a package tonight. No one expected that in a two-hour meeting,” Collins told reporters at the White House on Monday evening. She said the senators, Biden and White House aides agreed to “keep talking.”
Politico Reuters
Schools can’t exit identification statuses this year
The Department of Education’s Office of Elementary and Secondary Education has released an FAQ document informing states that any school with the status of comprehensive support and improvement, targeted support and improvement, or additional targeted support and improvement in the 2019-20 school year will keep that identification status in the 2020-21 school year. The Department of Education is providing flexibilities for certain accountability and school identification requirements, but it maintained that "assessment, accountability, school identification, and reporting requirements under Title I are not waived for the 2020-21 school year." Statewide assessments and state report cards, the document said, must continue this school year. Nevertheless, it is possible that assessment and accountability flexibilities released by the Education Department under the Trump administration may change under P resident Joe Biden's term. Miguel Cardona, nominee for Education Secretary, is known to be “pro-data,” and assessment advocates have said assessments are key in gathering data about where students have — or haven't — made progress in their learning.
How Biden's cabinet could influence K-12 education
Andrew Ujifusa and Evie Blad explore how a host of agencies work either independently or in conjunction with the Education Department to set policies and priorities for schools, and how President Biden's cabinet selection could impact K-12. Biden’s pick to lead the Agriculture Department, former Secretary Tom Vilsack, held the same role in the Obama administration, where he played a key role in implementing and defending heightened nutrition standards for school meals. Health and Human Services oversees the $10.7 billion Head Start program, which provides early-childhood health, nutrition, and education services, along with a wealth of other education-focused initiatives, like the Child Care and Development Block Grants ($5.9 billion), and Biden’s nominee to lead the department is California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, who previously served on the House education committee during his time on Capitol Hill. Separately, Education Week previews Miguel Cardona's appearance in front of the Senate’s education committee Wednesday as it considers his confirmation to become U.S. secretary of education. Former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos had an "unusually divisive" confirmation process, Evie Blad notes, which ended when then-Vice President Mike Pence broke a tie in the Senate to confirm her to the role.
----- STATE NEWS -----
‘COVID slide’ research shows younger, lower-income students faring worst
A study on the extent of pandemic-induced learning loss in 18 California districts reveals younger, lower-income students and English learners were the hardest hit by school closures last spring. Researchers from Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) compared 2019 and 2020 test scores from 50,000 students in grades 4 through 10, looking at typical gains from one year to the next, and finding that low-income 4th- and 8th-grade students declined 7% in the usual rate of learning. With their wealthier peers showing a 5% increase in growth compared to the usual rate, the data amounts to a 12% learning gap. On the 5th-grade MAP English language arts test, ELL students’ academic growth was 30% less than it would be in a typical year. Non-English learners’ loss was only 10% lower than average, which makes for a 20% learning gap.
----- DISTRICTS -----
San Francisco sues its school district over COVID closures
San Francisco city officials have filed suit against San Francisco USD and the Board of Education, accusing them of failing to come up with a reopening plan even as numerous other schools across the U.S. have reopened. The lawsuit, the first of its kind in California, alleges that the school board’s plan is “woefully inadequate” and falls short of basic requirements set by the state “to offer classroom-based instruction whenever possible.” Instead, Mayor London Breed and other officials say the school board has focused more on issues such as renaming 44 schools to address perceived racial issues. They are seeking a court order to require schools to prepare to offer in-person instruction and file a detailed “appropriate plan to show that they are ready to do so.” While San Francisco schools have been allowed by law to reopen since September, teache rs’ unions have said they will not return to in-person learning until they receive vaccinations. The district had plans of reopening to younger students and to students with disabilities in January, but that plan was canceled because it could not reach an agreement with the United Educators of San Francisco. The city has been praised for its early shutdown orders and mask compliance and has been looked to nationally as a model for how to maintain low virus case rates.
Education Week SF Gate Wall Street Journal The Hill Politico Fox News
SF school board aims to change Lowell’s culture
After decades of Black and Latino students decrying what has been described as a “racist culture” at Lowell High School, a proposal to address those concerns that could spell the end of the school’s selective admissions policy debuted at the San Francisco USD school board on Tuesday. The resolution seeking an equity review, action plan and change in policies comes after anti-Black and anti-Semitic slurs and images flooded an anti-racist lesson last month. Notably, the proposal also seeks to end Lowell’s selective admissions policy, which is described as “out of compliance with state law.” Lowell is the district’s only school that admits students based on academics and has long been majority Asian and white students with Black and Latino students in the minority, in numbers disproportionate to the district’s demographics. Should the resolution pass, SFUSD would undergo an equity audit that would review demands made by Black students during a 2016 walkout and create an action plan with results published by the end of the current school year.
LA schools to remain in hard shutdown for near future
Los Angeles USD Superintendent Austin Beutner said yesterday that the district’s schools will delay in-person student classes and services of any kind while coronavirus infection rates remain high in local communities and teachers remain unvaccinated, Questions about the possibility of reopening campuses for kindergarten through sixth grade emerged last week when LA County Health Director Barbara Ferrer said declining coronavirus rates in the county could hit the state threshold number in two to three weeks. However, Mr Beutner appeared to dismiss this possibility, and also criticized California’s waiver process to let schools open for lower grades as “bass ackwards.” “Our goal has to be to get COVID down where we can start having all students back,” Mr Beutner said. “And the notion that somehow we have this other process where a few students come back. That’s not born in science . That’s political.” He also hailed the success of the district’s Grab & Go community food program, which yesterday distributed its 100 millionth meal, at Garfield High School in East Los Angeles.
Los Angeles Times The Press-Telegram
Oxnard begins move toward district-based elections
The Oxnard Union High School District is set to officially begin the process of transitioning to district-based elections ahead of next year's election. The move stems from a 2019 letter from Malibu-based law firm Shenkman & Hughes, which notified board members at the time that Oxnard Union was in potential violation of the California Voting Rights Act by continuing with at-large elections, in which voters within the district's boundary vote for all seats. The district will need to apply for a waiver with the California Board of Education to waive a state requirement that would have voters decide whether or not to move forward with a by-trustee election.
Carlsbad to open learning groups at middle and high schools
Carlsbad USD middle and high schools will begin bringing small groups or “cohorts” of students on campus during the school day, after previous plans to reopen those campuses in a hybrid model were cancelled last month because of new state orders. Under the new plan, small, fixed groups of students will work on distance learning from classrooms on campus, Superintendent Ben Churchill said. Other North County districts, including San Dieguito Union High School District, Escondido Union High School District and Vista USD, have convened similar groups of students, also known as “learning pods.” The district will survey families about their interest in the program next week, and then notify families about participation by February 11th.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Eliminate 'microaggressions' to improve equity in schools
Administrator and consultant Jessica Huang asserts that creating a more equitable school culture that embraces anti-racism requires "identifying and eliminating microaggressions aimed at people of color." Microaggressions, she explains, are "brief, everyday exchanges that send denigrating messages to individuals because of their group membership." To build a culture that eliminates racism, school leaders should explicitly lay out expectations and values and clearly define microaggressions, Huang argues, adding that school leaders can then implement a "shared vision and language" emphasizing the school’s anti-racism position. "Brave spaces," as opposed to safe spaces, encourage questions, curiosity and growth, she adds.
----- LEGAL -----
LA Councilman announces plan to sue LAUSD
Los Angeles City Councilman Joe Buscaino said yesterday that he will introduce a motion next week asking the city attorney to explore legal options for forcing Los Angeles USD to reopen its campuses for in-person learning. The lawsuit is modelled on one announced this week by San Francisco officials, who have initiated litigation against San Francisco USD. The Los Angeles action is justified, said Buscaino, based on a growing body of research assembled by federal experts, Biden administration policy aimed at reopening schools and the great harm to students pursuing their studies remotely from home. Mr Buscaino said he also was influenced by a statement this week from the Southern California affiliate of the American Academy of Pediatrics, which called for an immediate reopening of schools.
Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Daily News
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
K-12 safety incidents increase significantly
K-12 schools saw a 66% jump in the number of overall safety incidents during the first three months of the 2020-21 school year, when compared to the same time last school year, according to a fresh report by security management outfit Gaggle, which pulled data from 4.5m students and 3bn items within school accounts. Specifically, the increases were spread across four kinds of incidents; suicide and self-harm (83%), violence toward others (63%), nudity and sexual content (135%), and also drugs and alcohol (59%). Elementary school students are increasingly contributing to the number of incidents compared to 2019-2020, which the report says highlights the need for districts to include K-5 students in their school safety initiatives. Justina Schlund, senior director of content and field learning for the Collaborative for Academic, Social and Emotional Learning, comments: "The rise in stress, anxiety and other mental health issues
Congress urged to provide healthy school meals for all kids
In a piece for Real Clear Education Dr. Katie Wilson, Executive Director for the Urban School Food Alliance and former U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary of Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services, urges Congress to extend past this summer a policy making it possible for schools to serve meals at no cost to families. Around 30 million children rely on school meals, two-thirds of whom come from low-income families. The federally subsidized meals meet nutrition recommendations based on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and may be one of the only meals many children receive in one day. Along with an extension of the program, the Urban School Food Alliance is calling for the restoration of progress on standards for sodium and whole grains, and the creation of new rules to limit added sugars. Additionally, it says, if schools are shuttered for any reason, children should have access to a program called Pandemic-EBT or P-EBT, which provides the financial equivalent of the school meals they’re missing through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
-----CHARTER SCHOOLS -----
Report: California ‘wasting’ millions funding online charters
A new report on California’s online charter schools says that the state is “wasting hundreds of millions of dollars a year by funding these schools at a level far above their costs.” About 10% of public school students in California attend charter schools, both brick-and-mortar and online. According to the report, from nonprofit research and policy organization In the Public Interest, nearly 175,000 California students in 2018-2019 were enrolled in 156 online charter schools, representing 27% of all charter school students in the state. It found, however, that their educational outcomes “are significantly below the state average, by every measure.” The report sets out a series of recommendations to remedy this, including the prohibition of public funding for online charter schools if a student’s home district already offers an online education program whose educational track record is as good or better than the charter school. It also says states should ensure that per-pupil funding for online charter schools is in line with these schools’ actual operating costs, based on a state study of operating costs for online charter schools as a whole and “homeschool” charters as a special subset of these schools.
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
CoSN reveals K-12 cybersecurity policy trends in new report
CoSN just released a new policy report revealing 2020 trends in cybersecurity legislation and calling for additional government support in 2021 to ensure that school districts can protect their networks, students and staff from future cyberattacks. The pandemic has rapidly accelerated technology use in education by forcing schools to expand online learning and support district operations. At the same time, it has highlighted challenges such as cyberattacks on school districts, which can seriously disrupt operations and compromise sensitive teacher and student data. The CoSN report, 2020 State and Federal Cybersecurity Policy Trends: Insights for Education Technology Leaders & Policymakers highlights the importance of digital safety due to the increased role of remote and blended learning, adding that the trend is likely to continue for years to come.
CoSN: 2020 State and Federal Cybersecurity Policy Trends
Scores of K-12 cybersecurity bills introduced last year
Almost 100 cybersecurity bills were introduced in 27 states in 2020, according to a new report from the Consortium for School Networking. At the federal level, ten proposals focused on the K-12 cyber-landscape, building a cyber workforce, expanding cybersecurity awareness and training, and technology investment. Ten pieces of legislation were passed into law in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Massachusetts and Virginia, and those addressing risks in K-12 in particular focused on cybersecurity instruction for students, technical assistance to schools, and investments for improvement in technology and professional development. Security experts say districts can take the following steps to mitigate cybersecurity risks; maintain a cybersecurity insurance policy, audit cybersecurity preparedness, regularly change and strengthen passwords, use two-factor authentication, routinely backup system s and keep them offline, or "immutable," eliminate unneeded internet-facing systems or servers, and regularly install security updates and software patches.
Millions of students still suffering digital divide
As many as 12m students in the United States remain disconnected after the pandemic prompted pivot to online learning, according to a report by Common Sense, Boston Consulting Group and the Southern Education Foundation. While efforts to close the gap have reduced the number of students without access to e-learning devices by 40% to 60%, the report suggests it will take between $6bn and $11bn to close the divide the first year and another $4bn to $8bn annually after that. Nationwide, according to a Pew Research Center report, about one-third of households with annual incomes under $30,000 and with children under 18 don’t have high-speed internet connection at home, which impacts about 9.7m students, while breaking down the issue by race, according to the Future Ready Schools initiative, the homework gap impacts 34% of American Indian/Alaska Native, 31% of Black, 31% of Latino, 21% of White and 12% o f Asian students.
----- OTHER -----
California schools press ‘play’ on esports leagues
With traditional sports on hold at many schools, a growing number of districts are looking to organized video games to provide students the team sports experience they’re missing during the COVID-19 pandemic. West Contra Costa, Los Angeles and Sacramento City have joined or formed esports leagues in recent years in which teams of students compete in online video game tournaments and scrimmages against other schools. Some schools are tying computer programming and STEM education to esports, and some colleges are even offering esports scholarships.
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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