ABCFT YOUnionews for March 18, 2022
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
It’s official! We now have a salary agreement for 2021-2022. Late Tuesday night the ABCUSD school board voted 6-0 to approve ABCFT’s tentative agreement. We can now expect the 5% on schedule increase to appear on our April paychecks with additional compensation items to follow in the coming months.
Our salary agreement was a non-controversial component of a sometimes contentious board meeting. It was a different scene than just a month ago when ABCFT members were gathered together outside with a unified voice to advocate for fair compensation but make no mistake, your presence that night and engagement throughout the work to rule campaign were crucial in achieving our successful result. I want to publicly acknowledge the “yes” votes our agreement received from the following board members: Apodaca, Beach, Nishii, Rios, Tse, and Yoo. Board Clerk Eugenio was present at the meeting until approximately 10:10 p.m. but was suddenly taken ill and left before being able to cast a vote regarding our agreement. We wish him a speedy and full recovery.
As Ray noted in his comments to the board, this agreement is only one element of a longer-term vision regarding the shared commitment to recruiting and retaining the highest quality personnel for ABCUSD. Maintaining competitive compensation schedules is one of the most concrete ways to demonstrate this ongoing commitment. Our current master contract negotiations are the next step in this process. The negotiating team is meeting next week to work on a comprehensive proposal to present to the district during our next formal scheduled session. One highlight of Tuesday’s meeting (at least to this chief negotiator’s ears!) was when Board President Yoo questioned Chief Financial Officer Nguyen as to our current stipend rates for coaches. She noted how many hours coaches may work during a given season and how important these roles were to support student activities and achievement. Board President Yoo even asked Mr. Nguyen, if he were to factor in the amount of stipend and the number of hours required to meet the many requirements of the position, what would the hourly rate actually be? I was aware of the difficult position Mr. Nguyen was placed in, he was tasked with clarifying the current agreement and not with negotiating adjustments live and on the spot but I did appreciate his public acknowledgment that such stipends are, to use his own words, “low.”
Duly noted.
So the work continues but witnessing this last step of our salary agreement being approved was well worth staying up until 11:30 p.m. ABCFT activist Lori Eulberg was there with Ray, Tanya, and me all the way until that final gavel. Seeing our agreement turn from tentative into a binding one that will bring more money into our member's paychecks in less than a month’s time was very gratifying indeed. Let’s remember to celebrate the solidarity that made this accomplishment possible.
In Unity,
SPOTLIGHT ON MEMBERS - TEACHER LEADERS PROGRAM By Tanya Golden
Each year AFT President, Randi Weingarten has a national call with teacher leaders to hear stories and answer questions from the local unions. This year, ABCFT Teacher Leader and TOSA at Kennedy Elementary, Linda Baas shared her inspirational story about ABCFT titled, "How our union fights for us." with Randi and over 130 teacher leaders from across the country.
The annual call gives teacher leaders an opportunity to share their stories of persistence, resilience, advocacy, and YOUnion activism. The common theme was the power of organizing within unions which address issues such as teaching and learning conditions, safety, and compensation. The stories ranged from fascinating to horrific. When a local from Texas shared how collective bargaining is prohibited and against the law and teachers in Baltimore conducted a sick out in response to school riots and decades-long inequities in school funding, I think you understand why I describe these stories as horrific. Yet, these stories demonstrate no matter how difficult the challenges or how much sweat and tears are required, educators continue to do the right thing for their students, community, and fellow teachers. The Texas local was able to get an increase in their salary due to their work with the community and school board. The Baltimore local is working toward safer schools and fixing the funding inequities. The teacher leaders program helps locals recruit teachers to not only identify education-related issues but how to advocate strategically for change. A teacher leader quoted late Congressperson, John Lewis, “Get in good trouble.”
At the end of the meeting, Randi summed up the work of educators and unions; teachers fight for what is unseen and local unions fight inequities every day. Randi did highlight the work of ABCFT by identifying our union as a legacy local since ABCFT is a leader in labor administration partnership of collaboration for the past 20 plus years. She acknowledged the hard work it takes to show union power but first a local has to build their muscles. Then flex their muscles when action is needed. Just as ABCFT members did during the YOUnity work to rule campaign and the successful ratification of the salary compensation tentative agreement.
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
2022 Share My Lesson Virtual Conference March 21-24
Join AFT’s Share My Lesson for our annual virtual conference. You’ll be in good company with preK-16 educators, specialized instructional support personnel, paraprofessionals, support staff, parents and caregivers from around the world on March 21-24. This is the virtual professional development conference that you can attend in your PJs, in the comfort of your own home!
Schedule and Topic Overview
At the 2022 Virtual Conference, we’re showcasing top-notch presenters who will provide you with the valuable content you need to inspire your students and make them curious about topics ranging from civic education, social-emotional learning, anti-racism, literacy, STEM, culturally responsive teaching and more.
Register now to reserve your spot for live sessions or access to recorded sessions featuring presenters like ADL, American Psychological Association, Barbara Blackburn, WETA’s ColorÃn Colorado, Girl Rising, Library of Congress, National Constitution Center, National Indian Education Association, NewsGuard, Next Gen Personal Finance, Random House, TeachRock and USC Shoah Foundation.
Keynote: The State of Public Education 2022
March 21 at 6 p.m. EDT | PreK-12
AFT President Randi Weingarten
Join this special welcome session for an important update on the state of public education and help us kick off the 2022 Virtual Conference. It’s also the last day to enter the self-care giveaway.
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.
Tanya, Ruben, and I are attending the CFT leadership conference this Thursday through Saturday. We are collaborating with colleagues from across the state and attending workshops that support the work of the local unions. The EC/TK-12 Council will also meet. One item on their agenda is to review and approve a resolution addressing educator recruitment and retention. The resolution identifies the unprecedented shortage of all genres of education employees in California and the nation. If approved the resolution will be sent to the AFT Convention in July where delegates will debate and potentially approve the resolution.
Ruben’s negotiating update above gives a brief board report but the best news for this week is that our YOUnity, activism, and persistence have finally paid off with a much-deserved salary increase.
Hopefully, your March Madness this month is confined to enjoying watching the NCAA basketball tournament.
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
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Education Secretary marks ARP anniversary
The American Rescue Plan (ARP) was signed into law by President Biden on March 11th 2021, and in a statement last week, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona highlighted its impacts on America's schools. "When President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan into law, the Department of Education went straight to work delivering an unprecedented $130bn to help schools safely reopen and welcome nearly 100% of America's K-12 students back into the classroom for in-person learning," he said. "Today, the Department is advising state and local leaders on how they can continue leveraging American Rescue Plan funds to establish new summer and afterschool programs; grow and strengthen a talented and diverse educator workforce; and invest in tutors, counselors, and other school staff who can lessen the burden on teachers and help tend to our children's social, emotional, and mental health needs. From kindergarten to high school to college and careers, our North Star remains clear: a robust and equitable recovery that ensures every student is able to succeed and pursue their dreams." The White House also issued a fact sheet to celebrate the impact ARP funds are having in classrooms, noting that before it was signed into law 46% of America's P-12 schools were open for full-time, in-person learning; a figure that today stands at over 99%. Additionally, local governments added more than 279,000 education jobs in 2021, the best calendar year of jobs growth since records began in 1956, and added an additional nearly 46,000 jobs in the first two months of 2022.
U.S. Department of Education The White House
Federal government to end child nutrition waivers
The $1.5trn omnibus spending bill heading to President Joe Biden's desk for approval does not include waivers that give schools flexibility in preparing and distributing food to students, a huge concern for school nutrition and child development nationwide. During the pandemic, Congress authorized the federal Department of Agriculture to grant waivers that covered rising food prices caused by supply chain issues. Those waivers, which allowed all K-12 students, rather than only those eligible for free and reduced-price meals, to get free school breakfast and lunch no matter their family’s income from March 2020 through the 2021-22 school year, are now set to expire on June 30. Without the waivers, to qualify for free meals during the upcoming school year, a family of three must earn less than roughly $30,000, and only communities where at least 50% of children are eligible for free meals can offer food over the summer. The Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) has signaled its disappointment that the extension of the child nutrition waivers was not included. "These waivers have been critical in supporting nutrition operations so that children have access to school, afterschool, and summer meals throughout the pandemic, and they are still needed to help schools and families recover from and respond to the economic, health, and educational fallout," a statement read. The School Nutrition Association, which represents more than 50,000 administrators who provide meals to students, plans to meet with the Department of Agriculture this week to ask if the federal department considers these waivers to carry no added costs, and if that means states can then allow schools to give students meals that they can eat outside of school under these waivers.
----- STATE NEWS -----
Gov. Newsom signs law to stop UC Berkeley enrollment cuts
Gov. Gavin Newsom signed legislation Monday that will rescue UC Berkeley from a court-ordered enrollment freeze and steep admission cuts and allow the university to resume plans to enroll more than 5,000 California first-year students. The court order over housing issues had threatened cuts and a major enrollment reconfiguration for first-year and transfer students, many of whom would have been forced online or given deferred admission offers. “I’m grateful to the Legislature for moving quickly on this critical issue — it sends a clear signal that California won’t let lawsuits get in the way of the education and dreams of thousands of students, our future leaders and innovators,” said Newsom, who had expressed support for UC Berkeley. The legislation, passed unanimously by California lawmakers earlier Monday, will give the state’s public colleges and universities 18 months to complete any court-ordered environmental review before being subject to a mandatory reduction or freeze in campus population.
San Francisco Mayor replaces ousted school board members
Three weeks after a decisive vote to recall members of the San Francisco USD school board, the city’s mayor filled the vacated positions on Friday with a slate of parents who she said would tend to the “urgent needs” of the city’s public school students. The commissioners, Ann Hsu, Lainie Motamedi and Lisa Weissman-Ward, come from varied professional and ethnic backgrounds, but they share disappointment with the running of the school district, where all three women have children attending classes. Many residents in the district, including Chinese Americans and Black residents, had argued for representation on the board. “These are three very strong, capable women,” Mayor London Breed said of her choices at the swearing-in ceremony for the new board members, or commissioners. The new commissioners, she added, “are willing to ignore the politics to focus on our kids.”
----- DISTRICTS -----
S.F. teachers stage overnight sit-in at school district office
Around 20 teachers and union members brought sleeping bags, pillows and snacks to spend Monday night at San Francisco USD's headquarters, to protest a problem with the district’s new paycheck system. Educators have been dealing with uncertainty in pay since the district transitioned to a new payroll system in January, they said. Some people have received partial paychecks or no paycheck at all. Other educators have been experiencing issues with their medical insurance being canceled as well as improper deductions on their paychecks. Superintendent Vincent Matthews met with the members of the sit-in in the SFUSD building to apologize for the problems. He was handed a box of letters from educators explaining how their lives have been affected by lack of payments. “Anyone who has had a delay in their check, there is no way that that should have happened,” he told the crowd of 20 educators. “I hold myself accountable. And I want to apologize to our employees… there's no way our system should do that. And in that way, we have failed you.” Mr. Matthews said he has reassigned the head of payroll to work full time in an effort to prioritize COVID leave and the missing checks, and that all missing payments should be made in the upcoming weeks.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Ruling on race teaching passed by Georgia Senate
The Georgia Senate on Friday passed a bill that prohibits teaching certain concepts related to race and ethnicity in state schools and agencies. The bill, which passed along party lines with Republicans in support of the measure and Democrats against it, now moves to the Georgia state House for consideration. The text of the bill defines nine "divisive concepts" that would not be allowed to be taught if it becomes law. Among them are the ideas that one race or ethnicity is inherently superior to another; the concept that the United States and Georgia are "fundamentally or systemically racist"; and the practice of teachers making students feel demeaned or guilty because of their races, skin colors or ethnicities. A similar bill, House Bill 1084, known as the "Protect Students First Act," has already passed the Georgia House.
----- WORKFORCE ----
TEA announces creation of Teacher Vacancy Task Force
The Texas Education Agency has announced the creation of a Teacher Vacancy Task Force that will bring together superintendents, teachers, human resource officers and other stakeholders from districts across the state. The announcement comes on the heels of a March 7th letter sent by Gov. Greg Abbott to TEA Commissioner Mike Morath calling for the creation of the task force. According to a TEA press release announcing the creation of the task force, population growth in Texas and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic have been contributing factors to the staffing shortages. School districts across the state have struggled to fill vacancies and retain teachers, and a study conducted by the Charles Butt Foundation found that 68% of teachers surveyed considered leaving the profession in 2021, compared to 58% in 2020. Some primary goals of the task force will be to understand the challenges districts are facing related to teacher vacancies; develop recommendations for regulatory or other policy changes for TEA; and provide feedback on TEA initiatives designed to help impact vacancies. The group will also share best practices for addressing critical teacher vacancy and shortage areas, and explore opportunities for certification, placement and hiring flexibilities.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
The 10 most affordable U.S. cities with the best schools
A new analysis by real estate platform Dwellics has ranked the top 100 most affordable cities with the best schools, based on data on more than 50,000 U.S. cities considering taxes, child care and housing costs, cost of living index, average teacher salary, number of blue-ribbon schools, among others. Solon, Ohio placed first, with a score of 99.99, followed by Blacksburg, Virginia; Wyoming, Ohio; Madeira, Ohio; Ann Arbor, Michigan; West Point, Virginia; Short Pump, Virginia; Granville, Ohio; Oakwood, Ohio; and Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania. No cities from Florida made the Top 100. The highest-ranking city in Texas was Frisco, at 24 with a score of 88.31, followed by Sugar Land at 31, and Lucas at 73. The only California city in the listing was Folsom at 25, with a score of 88.11.
Over 2.5m students were current users of tobacco products in 2021
About one in eight U.S. high school students, a total of more than 2m, said they had used tobacco products in the previous 30 days, the vast majority being e-cigarettes, according to results from the 2021 National Youth Tobacco Survey. For middle-schoolers, that number was 1 in 25, or 470,000 total. About 11% of high schoolers reported vaping in the past 30 days. For cigarettes, this was just under 2% - a number Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, described in a statement Thursday as "historically low." "While these results may be impacted by the pandemic and changes in how the survey was conducted, the low youth smoking rates also continue a remarkable long-term trend," said Mr. Myers, who was not involved in the report. Nevertheless, he warned that a return to school could bring the "real risk of a resurgence in youth tobacco use" and urged policymakers to ensure that flavored products, known to be popular among young people, be removed from the market.
Report finds schools in L.A. County's youth justice system lacking
Poor and inconsistent teaching plus student apathy were among the findings of a citizens review of the education offered to youth held in Los Angeles juvenile facilities. A recently released report described a setting that did little to foster learning and where students were more interested in getting a high school diploma than in learning. “The attitude of most students was either apathetic or antagonistic towards learning activities,” the authors wrote in the 14-page report. “Most teachers seemed to believe that this minimal work was the best that could be reasonably expected of these students,” concludes a recently released report on the findings of a citizens review. Commissioners conducting the review “attribute student resistance primarily to the carceral setting, poor quality and inconsistency of classroom instruction, and the failure to integrate the non-teacher credentialed adults in classrooms into instructional planning,” the report added. The commissioners also said the “accepted norm” was for students to do nothing unless offered some reward like credits toward graduation, and even then the awarded credits “are far too generous in comparison to the amount of content they master.”
----- OTHER -----
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
