ABCFT YOUnionews for January 7, 2022
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
I received some excellent questions regarding banking minutes that I would like to address this week. First, let me make a distinction between “shifting” minutes and “banking” minutes. As a member pointed out, if the minutes that a staff chooses to work on day X are then used precisely for an identified purpose with no other added responsibilities or tasks on day Y then this is indeed the shifting of minutes and members are not in fact working extra without compensation. Ideally, this is how the system should work and congratulations to those sites that can use this tool to the benefit of their students and staff.
The difficulty is in making sure that you are only working minutes for an identified need and nothing more. I would also suggest that members should not be put in a position where they feel compelled to vote for additional minutes for something that should perhaps be negotiated or provided out of district time. For example, if a site chooses to bank minutes so that they can have a minimum day on Back to School Night and Open House that is their prerogative. But if the number of minutes they bank exceeds this targeted amount and the additional minutes are then used at the discretion of the site administrator, members are in effect working for free in that scenario. If banked minutes were intended, to give another example, to have a finals schedule that ends at 12:30 p.m. rather than 3:30 p.m. it would imply that all professional responsibilities truly end at 12:30 p.m. on each of those days.
What can end up happening, however, is that a staff identified need can then be assigned a different or additional purpose. To answer another question, according to the contract we have a professional responsibility to attend four staff meetings of up to one hour four times a month. Elementary teachers have 30 minutes of planning time a week noted in the contract while secondary teachers have none. Unfortunately, secondary teachers may be put in the position of feeling that they need to bank minutes in order to have time that could otherwise come from staff meeting time. If a site ends up banking minutes and then using those additional minutes to address district or administration priorities rather than site priorities then members are working for free.
Here is another example to consider: banking minutes to have a minimum day on Back to School Night and Open House sound like popular options. I assume that the idea is to work additional time on other days to get out earlier on those two days to allow teachers more time to prepare their classrooms for visitations. I get it. But don’t most teachers end up working more time than just that which is banked on those evenings? Don’t most teachers stay in their classrooms from the end of school until the beginning of the event anyway? If they didn’t bank minutes and get out early that day they would still spend whatever time was necessary working after their professional duty day was over to ensure that the event was a success, right? That’s where banking minutes may start to feel like a grey area where you are banking additional minutes for time that you would end up working anyway.
To use a formulation from the last update; let’s call working to the contract plan A. If a site wants to target a very specific need, a certain number of minimum days for example, then they could propose a plan B that works just enough additional minutes to meet the desired goal. To ensure that you would be shifting minutes rather than working for free a site would need to set boundaries about what those hours were truly going to look like and be used for. An administrator might propose banking even more minutes for even more additional hours in a plan C. Sites should vote only on plans that accurately reflect the wishes of the staff. If Plan C has filler or things that would be “nice” but not necessarily essential then this shouldn’t be brought forward for a vote. Plan A or Plan B should be the sole choices offered. Plan C vs. Plan A should not be offered as a false choice, forcing staff to accept things they don’t want just to lock in the more limited things that they do want to achieve.
Lastly, the ABCFT negotiating team is cognizant that teachers need more planning time, more time for department meetings, and more collaboration time. Last year we were able to bargain for some of these elements during our asynchronous Wednesdays. We also work to ensure that teachers are compensated for all of the hard work that they do. If sites are banking minutes (rather than shifting minutes) and teachers are paying for their own collaboration time or department time it makes it more difficult to try and add those things in our next contract or argue for the importance of being appropriately compensated for all of our valuable time as professionals.
In Unity,
SCHOOL BOARD REPORT - Emergency Study Session
Thursday evening the ABC school board held an emergency special session about the latest COVID safety guidelines and protocols. It was important the community was able to hear what steps the district and school sites are doing to ensure the safety of students and staff. The Safely Keeping Schools Open slide show can be found here. Of equal importance was the opportunity for parents and community members to share their thoughts and concerns with the board. The community has been wanting transparency and communications from the board and holding this special session was a step in the right direction.
Highlights: President Yoo’s opening address, Dr. Zietlow Overview of protocols, ABC substitute and student absence numbers, COVID testing information, ABCFT Report, Board Trustee Brad Beach thanks ABC employees.
LEGISLATIVE CHANGES: California’s Newest Laws
The new year brings a raft of new laws for Californians. They’re likely to affect what your neighborhood looks like, how safe you feel, what recourse you have against discrimination — even how you take out your trash. In 2021 the Legislature’s super-majority of Democrats sent Gov. Gavin Newsom hundreds of bills that he signed into law, including several with major consequences for Californians. Here’s a breakdown of those new laws taking effect in 2022, most of which lawmakers approved in the last session (a few videos cover more than one new law on the same subject).
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - CalSTRS Retirement Workshop
My Retirement Decisions Workshop
CalSTRS offers a multitude of resources for members which can be accessed on the CalSTRS website. We are highlighting this workshop for those members that may be considering retirement. This hands-on online workshop is designed for CalSTRS members who are close to retirement and looking for information to make informed decisions. You’ll learn how to calculate your retirement benefit and how to choose your retirement date. You’ll also find out about beneficiary options, service retirement forms, your Defined Benefit Supplement account and working after retirement parameters. Prepare for the retirement you want by getting the information you need.
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Top 2021 Resources: The Best of Share My Lesson
Share My Lesson is showcasing their top resources for 2021 on topics such as navigating unprecedented historical events, why pronouns are important in school, how to teach about 9/11, incorporating social-emotional learning into your curriculum, how to practice mindfulness, and so many more relevant and engaging topics. Check them out and find resources to help you get 2022 started out on the right foot.
If you missed last year's collection check out 2020's top resources here.
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.
A member wrote to me after the board meeting about what she was experiencing and expressed her frustration that the union was not more forceful at the board meeting. I get it. In my comments at the special board meeting last night I didn’t want to add to the hysteria and finger-pointing of the many public comment speakers. Hearing the parents scold the school board members about being proactive and prepared for the Omicron surge was not productive and only added to the anxiety and frustration of the meeting. Could we really of been ready for what is happening now? I doubt it. This latest surge of COVID is beyond anything we have experienced so far and frankly, the Omicron variant did not really illustrate its power and swiftness until the last few days of December of 2021. This teacher had ALL valid points and I appreciated her expressing to me how we are all feeling inside. Only a month ago, many of us were starting to adjust to a new normal, still struggling with COVID inconveniences but making good things happen in our classroom for all our students.
Back from Winter Break, we returned to the unknown of how Omicron would impact our schools, how rapidly it would spread, and how the resurgence of COVID fears would drive parents to keep their kids at home. Large organizations like states, counties, and districts need time to prepare and deliver supplies. The State and the district have been hard pressed to deliver needed materials such as testing kits and masks. Your administrators should have put in an order for masks from the district and your “Upgraded” masks will be delivered next week. An additional hurtle is that the State promised six million testing kits to LA County and delivered only three million that have yet to be distributed to districts by the LA County of Education. The system is strained.
ABCFT is working diligently behind the scenes making sure the district is following through with all of the testing, protocols, and delivering materials needed to get us as safe as possible through this crisis. ABCFT is making significant progress outside the public eye ensuring your safety, your pay, and most importantly addressing coverage of your sick days so that they don’t come out of the limited number of days you get each year.
This is a very fluid situation and is changing for the worse from day to day which directly impacts your teaching situation. At this moment the State does not allow us to do hybrid teaching like we did last year and our current short-term independent study program is all that is legally allowed. My thought is that in the next coming weeks as Los Angeles, Santa Ana, and other districts come back from winter break and will experience a similar situation of increasing COVID outbreaks and lack of personnel. Once Los Angeles starts to pressure the state and county, I believe that we could possibly see changes. ABCFT will continue to put out information as soon as it is made available.
On a side note for Negotiations: ABCFT has submitted a new proposal that will be discussed with the school board on the 18th in closed session. We should have more information later that week as to the status of our negotiations with the District.
I know this situation is overwhelming, but I want to assure everyone that your efforts are not unseen. At last night’s board meeting every parent that mentioned teachers was thankful for your sacrifices, threw praises of your efforts and are moved by your attentiveness to the safety and well being of their children. Keep Safe and Keep Heart, this too will have a solution and we will prevail.
In YOUnity,
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
Borrowers Welcome Student Loan Payment Pause, Call for Debt Cancellation
American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after the White House announced it would extend the student loan payment pause an additional three months:
“Postponing student loan payments another 90 days is the right move to help struggling borrowers. The COVID variants have left us all with a lot of stress and uncertainty, and extending a break in payments is a big win for Americans who continue to face an affordability crisis daily as they grapple with the pandemic, inflation, and the associated stress and exhaustion. On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of teachers, nurses, and public employees we represent—and the hundreds and thousands of students they serve who are struggling with onerous student debt—we thank President Biden and Vice President Harris for this breathing room.
“These postponements make clear that long-term debt cancellation of up to $50,000 would be a critical step for every American who’s saddled with a piece of our country’s $1.7 trillion debt burden, particularly in light of current economic realities. Student loan debt has increased an average of 18 percent for baby boomers, Gen Xers, and millennials, who carry more debt than any other generation.
“For communities of color—especially Black families—debt cancellation would be an economic game-changer and would go a long way toward fixing the racial wealth gap in this country. Nearly 85 percent of Black bachelor's degree recipients carry student debt, compared with 69 percent of their white counterparts; and around 38 percent of Black students who entered college in 2004 had defaulted on their student loans within 12 years—a rate three times higher than white borrowers.
“Our communities and our economy needed today’s extension of the payment pause. The administration did heroic work to fix the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, and now they must take the next step to fully address the larger student debt crisis.”
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
US School Closings Accelerate As Omicron Causes Staffing Shortages
Bloomberg (1/4, Querolo) reports school closings “are accelerating across the US as omicron infections ensnare teachers and drive staffing shortages.” The surge’s speed “led large districts like Atlanta, Detroit, and Prince George’s County in Maryland to adopt remote instruction just days into the new year, often leaving parents little time to readjust schedules.” Nationally, “the number of in-person closings has tripled since Dec. 19 as the percentage of positive tests surged. At least 3,229 schools were closed in the first week of January, the highest for the year but still below the peaks reached during last year’s winter surge, according to Burbio, which tracks school closings.” Bloomberg says the surge “has put state and city officials reluctant to repeat last year in a bind.”
The Seventy Four (1/4, Lehrer-Small) reports Burbio co-founder Dennis Roche told The 74 that most of the school announcements were made “last second, and it continues to be.” Over the weekend, he “watched Burbio’s school closure tracker jump from 1,591 to 2,181, and again on Tuesday to 3,556. Shutdowns were concentrated in the Northeast and Great Lakes regions, where current COVID rates are among the highest in the country.”
Fox News (1/4, Conklin) reports “various school systems in Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio, New Jersey, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Maryland and other states have delayed reopenings after winter break, citing COVID-19 concerns and related staffing shortages.”
Many Teachers, Students Absent From Schools In Florida Due To Omicron. Politico (1/4, Atterbury) reports, “Schools in Florida are reporting droves of absences among teachers and students this week, a sign that the highly contagious Omicron variant is already wrecking the budding new semester.” More than 10% of instruction staff – about 2,100 employees – in Miami Dade County “missed the first day of school on Monday, according to school officials.” Broward County “was missing some 1,740 teachers on Tuesday,” and was unable to “find substitutes for 35 percent of classrooms,” leading schools to deploy other staffers to fill the gaps. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has pledged “to keep schools open and in-person classes churning without any mask mandates or new restrictions.” His administration is instead “messaging that asymptomatic people should resist being tested for the coronavirus as hundreds of students and teachers miss the first days of school in 2022.”
Most Texas Public Schools Remain Open But Face Staff Shortages. The Texas Tribune (1/4, McGee) reports many school districts across Texas this week “opted to power through omicron, to stay on course with plans to reopen after the holiday break with in-person classes even as Texas reports a record share of positive tests” The decision “is definitely testing school staffing,” as schools statewide and nationwide “have struggled to hire a necessary number of substitutes since the pandemic began.” Austin ISD is “struggling to find enough bus drivers to cover the nearly 350 morning routes due to COVID-19. They’ve relied on supervisors, mechanics and main office staff to drive buses on a daily basis.” Meanwhile, some smaller districts “extended their winter break through the end of this week because of the rise in COVID-19 cases.” The Texas Education Agency “has been quiet on exactly what specific guidance it is providing to schools on how to respond to the new variant. At least one district told the Tribune they are still awaiting guidance on how to respond to omicron.”
----- LAUSD To Open Next Week -----
LA schools to demand negative tests from workers and students
Los Angeles USD students and staff are required to submit a negative COVID-19 test before returning to classrooms on January 11th. The district is accepting external PCR, antigen or at-home tests. The new testing requirement comes as the U.S. continues to see a surge in COVID-19 cases nationwide, driven in part by the highly transmissible omicron variant. The COVID-19 positivity rate in Los Angeles spiked in December, and the seven-day daily average positivity rate is now 14.9%, according to the county’s COVID-19 data. LAUSD already conducts the nation’s largest weekly school-based coronavirus testing program, but health officials in the county have ratcheted up other measures that will affect the hundreds of thousands of students and employees in the school system, along with those in private schools and nearly 80 other public school districts. New health rules starting Jan. 1 mandate, for example, that returning students at all of the county’s districts wear face masks not only indoors but also outside at recess, and that school employees upgrade to medical-grade N95 or KN95 face coverings.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Cardona urges schools to stay open
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona on Sunday signaled his resolve to maintain in-person learning amid the most recent surge in COVID-19 cases due to the omicron variant, but acknowledged there will likely be "bumps" in the road. "We've been very clear, our expectation is for schools to be open full time for students for in-person learning. We remember the impact of school closures on students last year, and our science is better, we have better tools, we have $10 billion in the American Rescue Plan for surveillance testing," he said, appearing on "Fox News Sunday." Parents of children in K-12 schools around the country are nonetheless bracing for changes in reopening plans. Nearly 2,200 schools have announced that they will be closed starting today, according to data firm Burbio, which is monitoring K-12 school closures in 5,000 districts across the country. Washington, D.C., and Baltimore are extending winter break by two days to test staff and students before reopening buildings Jan. 5., while Chicago is recommending that parents administer rapid tests to their children before returning to school. Milwaukee shelved its scheduled in-person reopening, while Syracuse, N.Y., canceled school because of an increase in cases among staff and the lack of substitutes to cover their absences. There will be no in-person or virtual learning Monday through Wednesday in the Detroit school district.
Chalkbeat, The Hill, Politico, Wall Street Journal
Thousands Of Schools Temporarily Close Across The Country Amid COVID-19 Surge
ABC News (1/6) reports, “As schools returned from winter break this week amid skyrocketing COVID-19 cases, more did so virtually than at any point so far this school year.” This week, “there have been over 4,500 temporary school closures across the country, according to Burbio, a company that monitors COVID-19 policies in over 80,000 K-12 schools.” The prospect of a return to remote learning, “on a short- or long-term basis has some parents around the country concerned about the challenges of remote education and unpredictable childcare after great lengths were taken to keep kids in the classroom.”
Schools Scramble To Find Substitute Teachers. The AP (1/6, Melia) reports that “principals, superintendents and counselors are filling in as substitutes in classrooms as the surge in coronavirus infections further strains schools that already had been struggling with staffing shortages.” Staff absences and the surge driven by omicron “have led some big districts including Atlanta, Detroit and Milwaukee to switch temporarily to virtual learning.” Meanwhile, “where schools are holding the line on in-person learning, getting through the day has required an all-hands-on-deck approach.” The AP says “even before infection rates took off around the holidays, many districts were struggling to keep up staffing levels, particularly among substitutes and other lower-paid positions.”
Also reporting are Education Week (1/6), PBS NewsHour (1/6), and Newsweek (1/6).
C.D.C. recommends shorter COVID quarantines
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has shortened its recommendations for the length of isolation and quarantine periods amid the Omicron surge. People with COVID-19 should isolate for five days and if they are asymptomatic or their symptoms are resolving, without fever for 24 hours, follow that with five days of wearing a mask when around others to minimize the risk of infecting people they encounter. It's hoped that the new guidance will be helpful for schools trying to maintain in-person learning while facing an increase of coronavirus cases. “This is welcome news to principals, who are dealing with lengthy and disruptive quarantines. Even as the pandemic continues to pose new challenges, we must remain laser-focused on ensuring students are attending in-person schooling when it is safe to do so,” the National Association of Elementary School Principals said in a statement.
School closure compensation offered to Arizona families
Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey on Tuesday announced a new program that will give qualifying families who are struggling with unexpected school closures up to $7,000 for children's educational needs. The Open for Learning Recovery Benefit Program will allow students to "access instruction that best meets their needs" if they meet certain income requirements. The funding would go toward childcare, transportation, tutoring and school tuition needs approved by the Arizona Department of Economic Security. "Every state should follow Arizona's lead," Corey DeAngelis, suggests national director of research at School Choice Now. "If a school doesn't reopen, families should be able to take their children's education dollars elsewhere. Education funding is meant for educating children, not for protecting a particular institution."
----- STATE NEWS -----
New law aims to account for all California homeless students
California has an estimated 270,000 homeless students enrolled in the K-12 school system; now, a law signed last September by Gov. Gavin Newsom will help districts to come to more exact numbers, by standardizing specific identification methods has begun to roll out across the state. The new law requires school districts, county offices of education and charter schools to administer an annual housing questionnaire and report the results every year to the California Department of Education. While many schools have distributed housing questionnaires in the past, their use was not required statewide prior to AB 27. The state law also establishes three technical assistance centers statewide that will create and facilitate training materials to help outline the needs of homeless youth and their families, plus assist school districts, county offices of education and charter schools in ensuring that all homeless students are identified. The first complete set of data since AB 27 was signed will be available on the state Education Department website during the summer of 2022, after the current school year ends.
California lawmakers may stop tying K-12 schools’ funding to daily attendance
After decades of linking K-12 school funding to daily student attendance, California lawmakers are poised to consider abolishing that standard in favor of a method that would tie it instead to annual enrollment. State Sen. Anthony Portantino (D–La Cañada Flintridge), who introduced the legislation, said it could bring in an additional $3bn in annual state funding for schools. To address absentee concerns, Portantino’s proposal requires that at least half of any new funds schools receive under the new policy be put toward combating chronic absenteeism and truancy. Although a shift to enrollment-based funding could create a wider gap between small and large districts, the bill states that no school would receive less funding. A “hold harmless” provision would maintain current funding levels but allow districts to apply for supplemental funding if enrollment totals are greater than the average daily attendance formula. The bill would go into effect in the 2023-24 school year. “What we’re saying is, let’s give them what the actual enrollment numbers are and that will translate into extra dollars for districts. No school district will lose money, it will only force the pot to grow,” Portantino said. “My districts have been saying for years that this would lead to more stability and more funds.”
https://www.sacbee.com/news/
----- DISTRICTS -----
Fifth of S.F. educators absent as district struggles to supervise classrooms
Nearly 900 San Francisco teachers and aides were not in their classrooms Thursday, a significant increase in absences over the previous day, representing about 20% of the district’s educators. The absences included 616 teachers, up from 414 Wednesday, with only enough substitutes to cover abut 180 of their classrooms. Central office staff with teaching credentials covered many of the remaining classrooms, with teachers also stepping in during their free periods to ensure a qualified adult was in each room. A group of teachers called for a sickout Thursday, arguing the district had not adequately protected them during the omicron surge, but it was unclear how many were participating in the sickout and how many were actually ill or caring for sick family members. Those supporting the walkout said they wanted to raise awareness of the health and safety demands of teachers and their union, including asking for N95 or KN95 masks, additional testing and an extension of a policy to provide additional paid sick days for those who contract the coronavirus.
Virtual learning switch chosen by Chicago Teachers Union
The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to teach virtually rather than in the classroom, likely triggering cancellation of classes today. The union's vice president, Stacy Davis Gates, said teachers are dealing with "severe staffing shortages" and a lack of mitigation measures against Covid-19. Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the country, resumed in-person learning Monday in conditions union leaders described as unsafe as the Omicron virus variant sent Covid-19 cases soaring around the country. In response, Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez said at a news conference Tuesday: "There is no evidence that our schools are unsafe."
CNN Edition The Southern Illinoisan
Free sanitary products to be supplied by DC schools
Legislation approved Tuesday by the D.C. Council requires public and private schools to stock period products in every girls’ and non-gender-specific bathroom in middle and high schools. Each elementary school in the city will also be required to make period products available in at least one school bathroom. The bill also specifies that any middle or high school that does not have any non-gender-specific restrooms must also make period products available in one boys’ room in the school, so that transgender students can access them as needed.
S.F. teachers plan sickout as schools struggle amid omicron surge
A group of San Francisco teachers has organized a “sickout” for today, saying they will skip school because they feel the district failed to adequately protect them during the pandemic. It’s unclear how many educators plan to participate in the labor action, which has not been organized by the teachers union, although nearly 500 people have signed an online petition supporting it. District officials would not say whether the sickout could force the closure of schools, only that they were “planning for several possible scenarios,” said spokeswoman Laura Dudnick. The scheduled action coincides with a scheduled bargaining session between San Francisco district officials and the teachers union over safety protocols. The scheduled sickout comes as schools are grappling with a surge in cases caused by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Examiner
Salinas releases four-phase plan to address racism
To address systemic problems brought to light by a racist doll incident at Salinas High School earlier this year, Salinas Union High School District has announced a four-phase plan to create a more inclusive and equitable space. In August, disturbing images and videos of Salinas High students abusing a Black baby doll named “Shaniqua” began circulating on social media. Reportedly altered to fit racial stereotypes, the doll became the popular subject of a now-deactivated Instagram account called “shaniqua.shs,” where Salinas High students were pictured posing with the racist toy. “Conversations surrounding race and racism at Salinas High School have been ongoing and evolving since the racist doll incident earlier this semester,” explained Salinas High School Principal Libby Duethman. “The work has been mentally and emotionally challenging for all involved, but it has also been productive in building the foundations for lasting change.” While the elements of the district’s new plan to address racism were not delved into with detail, Ms. Duethman explained that the district’s work is ongoing and will ultimately be embedded into every aspect of student life at Salinas High School, including conversations at home.
Oakdale school district won’t enforce state’s vaccine mandate
Oakdale Joint USD has said it will not be enforcing the state’s vaccine mandate for students and staff. The district said it is petitioning state officials to downgrade the vaccine requirement to a recommendation, and to allow local school districts to work with its health officials to determine independent COVID-19 safety guidelines. Officials added that many parents do not want to vaccinate their children, and that the district is having difficulty finding employees for both certificated and classified positions.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Study links educator mental health to effectiveness in classroom
Teachers’ mental health is closely linked to how effective they feel in the classroom, a new study of New Orleans educators has found. The new report is the second survey of teacher mental health released since the start of the pandemic by the Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative, a joint endeavor of Tulane University, NOLA Public Schools, the New Orleans Health Department and a number of social service agencies. Student learning loss was the top stressor cited by the teachers, followed closely by challenges related to hybrid and remote instruction. Teachers also reported rates of emotional distress that were similar to or higher than those of health care workers. On a five-point scale measuring the impact of a stressor on participants’ ability to teach, learning loss was the most reported challenge, with an average score of 2.32. The fourth-highest reported factor, at 1.88, was having less impact on students and families. Research on the relationship between teacher effectiveness and feelings of self-worth is scant, says social worker Teddy McGlynn-Wright, head of the initiative’s Training of Trainers effort. “But what we do know is that self-efficacy buffers against a lot of trauma impacts and burnout,” he says. “If teachers are feeling efficacious, if they feel like ‘I’m doing my job and doing it well,’ those are good signs in terms of their willingness to stay in the profession.”
----- LEGAL -----
Judge blocks vaccine mandate for Head Start program
President Biden cannot require teachers in the Head Start early education program to be vaccinated against COVID-19, a Louisiana federal judge ruled Saturday, handing a victory to 24 states that had sued the federal government. U.S. District Judge Terry Doughty wrote that the Biden administration unlawfully bypassed Congress when ordering workers in Head Start programs, which are federally funded initiatives that promote education for children under the age of 6 who are from low-income families, be vaccinated by Jan. 31, and also that students aged two years or older be masked when indoors or when in close contact outdoors. “This victory will help ensure that numerous Head Start programs will continue to operate rather than have to fire teachers and cut back services to children,” Alabama Attorney General Marshall said of the ruling, which affects Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Wyoming and West Virginia.
----- WORKFORCE ----
School bus driver shortage to be addressed by federal government
The U.S. Department of Transportation, in partnership with the U.S. Department of Education, has announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is giving states the option of waiving the portion of the commercial driver’s license (CDL) skills test that requires applicants to identify the “under the hood” engine components. U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona comments: “We’ve heard from educators and parents that labor shortages, particularly of bus drivers, are a roadblock to keeping kids in schools. Today’s announcement will give states the flexibility they need to help increase the pool of drivers, who are a key part of the school community, and get kids to school safely each day where students learn best. And American Rescue Plan funds can be used to hire these critical staff, including offering increased compensation or other incentives to recruit and retain staff.” The FMCSA waiver, which became effective Jan. 3, 2022, expires March 31, 2022.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
COVID boosters for those aged 12-15 approved by FDA
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has authorized the use of a Pfizer-BioNTech booster in children aged 12-to-15 years old, along with additional doses for 5-11 year-olds with certain immunocompromising conditions. The changes are subject to a recommendation from Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The FDA said it reached its decision after reviewing data from Israel, which included information on 6,300 people ages 12-15 who received a booster shot at least five months after their initial two-dose vaccination. The data showed no new cases of side effects such as myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart, and pericarditis, an inflammation of the saclike tissue surrounding the heart.
Educator mental health 'closely tied' to pandemic classroom effectiveness
Teachers’ mental health is closely linked to how effective they feel in the classroom, a new study of New Orleans educators has found. The new report is the second survey of teacher mental health released since the start of the pandemic by the Trauma-Informed Schools Learning Collaborative, a joint endeavor of Tulane University, NOLA Public Schools, the New Orleans Health Department and a number of social service agencies. Student learning loss was the top stressor cited by the teachers, followed closely by challenges related to hybrid and remote instruction. Teachers also reported rates of emotional distress that were similar to or higher than those of health care workers. On a five-point scale measuring the impact of a stressor on participants’ ability to teach, learning loss was the most reported challenge, with an average score of 2.32. The fourth-highest reported factor, at 1.88, was having less impact on students and families. Research on the relationship between teacher effectiveness and feelings of self-worth is scant, says social worker Teddy McGlynn-Wright, head of the initiative’s Training of Trainers effort. “But what we do know is that self-efficacy buffers against a lot of trauma impacts and burnout,” he says. “If teachers are feeling efficacious, if they feel like ‘I’m doing my job and doing it well,’ those are good signs in terms of their willingness to stay in the profession.”
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Gender identities update for data systems
The U.S. Department of Education is currently seeking comment on a proposal that would allow districts that collect data on nonbinary students to report such information to the federal government—a change that would represent a significant departure from current practice, in which the department requires students to be labeled either male or female. Although a clear national picture is not yet available, there are some clues about where the K-12 sector is headed when it comes to collecting data on an expanded range of student gender identities. In 2019, for example, popular ed-tech company Clever added a new gender option to its platform, which helps schools and software providers more easily share student information. Two years later, at least 1,000 of the districts using Clever now count at least one student who identifies their gender as “X,” meaning other or anything that is not strictly male or female, rather than “M” or “F.” At least eight student information systems that integrate with Clever are also on board with the change. “I think having gender values in our systems that reflect students’ identities is critical,” said Dan Carroll, Clever’s co-founder and chief technology officer. And PowerSchool, one of the most widely used student information systems in the world, already offers district users the option to customize fields related to gender and legal and preferred names, including providing gender-neutral options.
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
Four UC campuses extend remote instruction through January
Amid a worsening Omicron surge, four University of California campuses announced Thursday that they are extending remote instruction to the end of January. Campuses at Irvine, Davis, Santa Cruz and San Diego, whose winter quarters began January 3rd, said that rising positivity rates for coronavirus infections had compelled them to exercise extra caution and push back the start of in-person instruction to January 31st. Davis had planned to return to campus on Monday, while Irvine, Santa Cruz and San Diego had announced a January 18th start. Earlier Thursday, Cal State Long Beach on Thursday joined at least eight other California State University campuses in the 23-campus system that have announced delays to in-person classes. A number of community colleges throughout the state, including Pasadena City College, will also move classes online for the first two weeks of their semester, while others retain a mostly hybrid schedule.
----- INTERNATIONAL -----
WHO: current wave of pandemic school disruptions yet to crest
World Health Organization officials have warned that the latest wave of the pandemic, which has disrupted schools across the world as much as last winter's high-water mark, has still not crested. In the last seven days, infection rates have risen 71% worldwide, and doubled in the Americas, driven by the combined spread of the Delta and Omicron variants. By the most recent estimates from UNESCO, the current pandemic wave has led to education disruptions affecting nearly 37.7m children worldwide, about 2.4% of all students enrolled, and shuttered schools nationwide in six countries, including Uganda, Belize, and the Philippines. Dr. Maria Van Kerhove, the WHO’s technical lead on COVID-19, stressed that public habits around mitigation have relaxed of late, and education is needed to refresh people on how to use strategies like masking and social distancing effectively. For example, while many school districts do require universal masking, “When you put a mask on your face,” Kerhove said, “you need to have clean hands [and] it needs to cover your nose and your mouth. Wearing a mask below your nose, wearing a mask off of your ear, wearing a mask below your chin is useless, and it gives you a false sense of security that you have something on that is protecting [you]. It will not.”
----- OTHER -----
School attendance 'can be addressed by texting parents' - report
Texting parents can be an effective and inexpensive way to communicate the importance of student attendance, according to a report and toolkit issued last month by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES), but to succeed district leaders should evaluate their needs and resources as well as understand the IT infrastructure required to meet their goals. IES's 99-page toolkit's recommendations include timelines and considerations for management, costs, vendor agreements and system capacities for texting parents of elementary-aged students. Two approaches are suggested: Basic, including automated, same-day notifications to parents whose children were absent that day; and Intensified, with messages providing more detailed information to parents about their child's attendance. Intensified messages could also be weekly automated texts asking parents to set goals for perfect attendance for the upcoming week.
NTA Life Insurance - An ABCFT Sponsor
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 online. 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 online.
Please contact Leann Blaisdell at any time either by phone or email.
562-822-5004
Leann.Blaisdell@horacemann.
Click here to schedule an appointment
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