ABCFT YOUnionews for February 25, 2022
Tentative Agreement Ratification Vote Now Open
The ratification vote for the 2021-2022 Tentative Agreement on Salary Compensation is open for members to cast their vote until 4:00 p.m. on Monday, February 28, 2022. All ABCFT members can find the electronic ballot in their work email. Election results will be emailed Monday night.
Let your voice be heard by voting today!
MEMBER-ONLY 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.
Although NHW launched a powerful interest in black culture and representation, by the 1960s, during the civil rights movement, the most popular textbook for eighth-grade U.S. history courses only contained mention of two black people in the entirety of events that had transpired since the Civil War. This dearth of representation surrounding black contributions to society in our education system triggered a revolt against the traditional curriculum that eschewed the achievements of the Black Community. Responding to this, several institutions of higher education began advocating for an official Black History Month as a way to realize the ambitions that Woodson had initially fought for decades earlier. On the 50th anniversary of NHW’s first celebration, the U.S. officially designated February as Black History Month in 1976, and it has been celebrated each year since then.
Click here for additional ShareMyLesson Black History Month lessons and resources.
Click here for CFT provided Black History Month resources.
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.
As expected, a four-day week always manages to stuff five days' worth of work into four long days but with thanks, I can see the Friday light of day coming soon. I hope your Friday has gone well.
As you are well aware by now, the voting for the TA is upon us so I hope you will take a moment to cast your vote in the coming days. A thank you to those who have already cast their ballots. I want to give my thanks to the ABCFT site representatives for their decision this week to take the Tentative Agreement out for a vote by the membership. As your representatives, they had great insight into what questions you would be asking about the tentative agreement or the overall negotiation process. You are well represented.
Thank you all for being willing participants in this compensation process with your questions and your actions. I believe that an entirely new generation of teachers and nurses are learning about district budgets and how they are impacted by outside factors such as COLA’s and inflation. Many are learning about the differences between on-going versus off-schedule pay, one-time money vs ongoing funding, or the many variables at each district and how they impact salaries. These are no small topics to comprehend and they are totally foreign and different from how our own household budgets operate. I commend you for being engaged in this process and for asking clarifying questions along the way.
As I have said many times this week, your questions and comments are the driving force behind how and what information we provide for our members. For example, this week we had a few members write to us with excellent specific questions about the tentative agreement or the bargaining process. The ABCFT leadership took these member inquiries and took the opportunity to turn them into a teachable moment with our FAQ document. I hope the FAQ document and all of our negotiation updates have helped ABCFT members to become aware of how education finance works. We eventually all come to the same conclusion which is that education funding is messed up, period.
I do want to take a moment to reflect on the events of the past couple of weeks and some overarching thoughts that have struck me as being important. One important reflection point was the YOUnion rally at the District office and what it said about us as individuals and as a YOUnion. Not only was it fun, powerful, and empowering but it showed the deep connection that the teachers, nurses, classified employees feel for this district. We expend our lifeforce and work for this district and the ABC Community. Many of us have spent our entire career in ABC and we wholeheartedly believe that we are the best damn district around. Therefore, to have our entire sense of loyalty questioned seemed to energize people to take action. When we take action to protect what is important to us it is meaningful. The teachers and nurses of this district refuse to let their hard-earned reputation slip away without a fight. People fight for things that matter and that is exactly what many of you did with your actions and your words. Take pride in those efforts and for standing up for something you believe in.
During the board meeting that night there were a number of incredibly brave and elegant speakers that night. In last week’s YOUnionews we highlighted all of the in-person speakers as a way of thanking them for their bravery. However, we left one speaker out. It was the final speaker of the night Jamason Jolly who had the most impactful words on me and caused all of us there to instantly realize he was describing the inner turmoil we are all feeling as teachers. When Jolly said, “I am having a crisis of faith” it was heartbreaking to hear that from a mid-career teacher who has invested a good part of his working years into the education profession. To hear him say that was both devastating yet strangely reassuring that other people were also going through a similar inner turmoil. You can find his speech here or listen to it here.
What Jolly said that night was reflective of what educators are feeling across the country. Teachers, nurses, and administrators alike are having a crisis of faith and this is a pivotal moment in our history as a county and as a world. From a crisis comes clarity of purpose. This negotiation process has provided clarity of purpose for ABCFT members. WE WILL FIGHT TOGETHER FOR WHAT IS IMPORTANT. My hope is that as a country there are similar awakening moments happening that continue to awaken a new generation of guiding innovative leaders that will transform not only education but will find new ways to bring out the best in humanity along the way. Together, we will continue to provide HOPE by providing our student's actions and words that show that there are things in this world worth protecting and growing, that is our HOPE.
In YOUnity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
ABC Federation of Teachers wins a new contract following ‘Work to Rule’ campaign and massive rally at district headquarters
This Tuesday nearly 400 teachers with the ABC Federation of Teachers rallied and spoke out in front of the ABC Unified School District in Cerritos to demand a fair wage. The teachers, who have not had a salary increase since 2019, began a ‘Work to Rule’ campaign last week to protest inadequate movement by representatives of the ABC Unified School District at the bargaining table. A ‘Work to Rule’ campaign involves teachers and school workers only working their contractually-obligated work hours.
The incredible turnout at the spirited rally and the solid ‘Work to Rule’ campaign paid off for the teachers. On Wednesday they were able to settle a tentative agreement that includes a fair wage increase that recognizes the sacrifices teachers have made over the course of the pandemic.
Great work everyone!
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
AFT President Randi Weingarten Calls Biden Pick for Supreme Court Historic, Urges Swift Confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson
WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten issued the following statement after President Joe Biden announced the nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson for associate justice of the Supreme Court:
“The work of the Supreme Court impacts all of our daily lives. In nominating Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to the bench, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris have chosen an experienced, exceptionally qualified jurist who is devoted to the rule of law, the Constitution, and our country’s rich history of democracy and freedom. Her life story is the story of America.
“During her 8 1/2 years as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Judge Jackson presided over civil and criminal trials. She wrote nearly 600 opinions and was rated ‘unanimously qualified’ for the nomination by the American Bar Association. Judge Jackson has demonstrated an impressive judicial record and a particular understanding of the laws affecting working people. As the daughter of Florida public school teachers, a proud public school graduate and a former law clerk of Justice Stephen Breyer, Judge Jackson is uniquely qualified to serve on the bench and has been confirmed by the Senate several times already. She has deep experience across the judicial system: She comes from a family of police officers, worked as a public defender, and has been called ‘an unwavering voice for justice and fairness.’ We need justices on the Supreme Court who have a demonstrated commitment to equal justice under the law and who will ensure that our rights are protected, and Judge Jackson’s judicial record upholds that ideal.
“Our country is eager for a Supreme Court justice who will not pick and choose whose rights they care about—a justice who will put justice first. Progress does not always move quickly, but with this nomination, we take an important step forward in building a court that looks more like America and serves us all.”
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
HUNDREDS of teachers and nurses rallied at last Tuesday’s ABCUSD Board Meeting.
They have worked two years without a contract, negotiations are still ongoing. Photo by Tammye McDuff.
February 18, 2022
By Tammye McDuff
The ABC Teachers Federation held a rally at the District offices, this past Tuesday. Hundreds of teachers showed their solidarity with a march and picket signs, while passing vehicles honked their horns and 18-wheelers blasted their bull horn stacks.
Even Mother Nature seemed to add support with well-placed thunder and lighting.
Read the rest of this article here.
----- NATIONAL TEACHER UNION NEWS -----
NEA President highlights pandemic toll on teachers
National Education Association (NEA) President Becky Pringle speaks to NPR about school staffing issues, and the burnout that has more teachers thinking about leaving their jobs. The NEA recently surveyed its members, and found that more than half are planning to leave their jobs, due to additional workloads, responsibilities, and parental expectations. "You know, all of us are exhausted. Our parents are exhausted. Our kids are not just exhausted. They're fearful about their future," Ms. Pringle said. "But what's different here is we are actually being blamed and attacked, physically attacked, let alone verbally attacked, our families threatened. What - in what other space is that happening? So in addition to the stress, there is fear and this - that weight of the divisiveness within your community that is making it even harder to continue to educate our students."
Rise in union protests could sway school district decisions
Teacher protests and other pushback related to district and board decisions are on the rise in districts across the nation after a hiatus during COVID-19 school shutdowns. In some districts, teachers and staff are staging walkouts, sickouts and strikes related to wages, benefits and contract negotiations, while others are seeing backlash from decisions related to COVID-19 health and safety policies. In New York, the United Federation of Teachers joined a lawsuit against New York City, its board of education, and its housing authority on Wednesday after the city’s education department sent termination notices to more than 700 union members for not getting vaccinated. Last month in Chicago, a disagreement between the city and its union on COVID-19 safety protocols led to teachers insisting on remote learning days. In the end, the district was forced to cancel four days of classes. Current protests and strikes — while not as high-profile or large-scale as those in 2018-19 during the #RedforEd movement — will still be influential, said Brad Marianno, assistant professor of educational policy and leadership at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. “In a tight teacher labor market, it's challenging for school districts to not move towards teachers' union positions in a dispute,” Marianno said. “For one, there's little public appetite for any schooling disruptions after COVID-19 related disruptions. And two, there's no one to replace teachers with.”
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
States failing to meet student needs, claims report
A state-by-state review of education policies that support students’ social, emotional, and academic development has found that states are falling short on collecting data to measure and disseminate the impact of their policies publicly. The Education Trust, in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), looked at policies around school discipline; wraparound services; educator diversity; professional development; rigorous and culturally sustaining curriculum; and student, family, and community engagement. Only California met benchmarks for data collection around discipline—including publicly reporting district-level data on offenses and punishments, the number of students who have been expelled more than once, and breaking down the data by race and gender as well as English learner, socioeconomic, and disability status. When it comes to wraparound services that help students and families get health care, housing, and other social and academic supports, the research group found that 12 states require districts to assess the needs and strengths of students and school systems to identify both gaps and available supports in community services. “States have a long way to go when actually reporting on discipline rates, when reporting on survey data about community and family engagement,” said Sarah Mehrotra, a data and policy analyst for The Education Trust. “Parents are hungry for this data. And states across the board need to do a better job reporting this out.”
FCC school funding spending extension granted
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has announced extra time for schools and libraries to spend funds recently awarded to them through the Emergency Connectivity Fund for expanding Internet access during COVID-19. The fund allocated $7.1bn for school broadband through the American Rescue Plan, allowing schools and libraries to purchase hot spots, routers and other devices needed for virtual learning. The service delivery deadline has been extended by 12 months to June 30th 2023, following a petition by the Schools, Health and Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, the American Library Association, the Consortium for School Networking and the State Educational Technology Directors Association. “We’ve been hearing from applicants that the upcoming June 30, 2022, deadline would have imposed a severe hardship on schools and libraries who might have seen their funding go to waste due to supply chain delays and other factors beyond their control," said John Windhausen Jr., executive director of the SHLB Coalition. “Today’s order shows that their team has been listening, and it will free schools and libraries to make the biggest impact with their ECF dollars.”
Federal Communications Commission Government Technology
Public schools face greater challenges than private
Nationally representative data from the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) suggests that public schools were at a disadvantage in many areas when compared to private schools during the first phase of coronavirus shutdowns. While 58% of private school principals said their students could get internet service in spring 2020, only 4% of public school principals reported the same. Private school teachers were almost twice as likely (61% versus 32%) as public school teachers to say they had real-time interactions with a majority of their students. Sixty-three percent of private school teachers reported real-time instruction that allowed students to ask questions through a video or audio call, compared to 47% of public school teachers. A slightly higher percentage of private schools used paper materials during distance learning than public schools (48% versus 41%). “Principals around the country took extraordinary measures to get their students online during the pandemic,” NCES Commissioner Peggy Carr said, calling the pandemic an “unprecedented time.” Yet despite the work principals put in to get students connected, there were also disparities between the employee experiences of public and private school teachers: Private school teachers were more than twice as likely as those in public schools to strongly agree they had the support and resources they needed to be effective, at 37% and 17%, respectively.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California voters strongly support school mask and vaccine mandates
Nearly two-thirds of California voters, including a majority of parents, support mask and vaccine mandates in K-12 schools, according to a poll conducted this month by the Institute of Governmental Studies at UC Berkeley. The results of the early February poll of nearly 9,000 California voters suggest continued broad public support for policies aimed at reducing the spread of the coronavirus in schools, even as protests against mask and vaccine mandates garner public attention in school districts across the state. Among parents of school-age children, 61% approved when asked whether they supported California’s requirement that “students, teachers, and staff in K-12 public schools wear masks while in school this year.” Thirty-seven percent disapproved. A smaller majority of parents, 55%, approved of California’s plan to add COVID-19 to the list of vaccines required for schoolchildren once the COVID-19 inoculations are fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration; 42% disapproved. Nonparents showed even stronger support, with two-thirds in favor of mask and vaccine mandates for schools. “People really want the schools to get back to where they were,” said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Berkeley IGS Poll. “But the desire to open schools is tempered with these feelings that these precautions should still be in place.”
State bill aims to crack down on public meeting disruption
California school boards, city councils and boards of supervisors would have clearer authority to remove disruptive participants from their meetings under a bill introduced Thursday in the Legislature that aims to protect local officials from harassment and verbal abuse. Senate Bill 1100 would modify the Brown Act, a 1953 state law that requires an opportunity for public input during meetings to increase accessibility and transparency in local government. It clarifies "willfully interrupting” to mean “intentionally engaging in behavior during a meeting of a legislative body that substantially impairs or renders infeasible the orderly conduct of the meeting.” The bill would also require officials to issue a warning to participants to “curtail their disruptive behavior” before removing them or clearing a room. A number of districts have been forced to end school board meetings due to what California School Boards Assn. Chief Executive Vernon M. Billy has called “dangerous and outrageous conduct committed against school trustees." State Sen. Dave Cortese (D-San Jose), co-author of the bill, said he carefully crafted SB 1100 to pass constitutional muster with regard to the 1st Amendment but acknowledged the bill might need to be amended as it moves through committee hearings.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Whittier looks within to fill superintendent vacancy
Whittier Union High School District’s Board of Education has kept up a tradition of hiring its leaders from within, choosing Monica Oviedo, a 25-year educator who has spent her whole career in the district, as its new superintendent. She will succeed Martin Plourde, who in December announced his retirement, effective June 30th, after serving as superintendent for six years of the district serving 11,000 students in the greater Whittier area. Ms. Oviedo "is the best qualified and trained superintendent we have had since I’ve been on the board going back to 1991,” board member Ralph Pacheco said. “We were looking for someone who understands the environment we’ve created for our employees and students.”
LAUSD’s new superintendent outlines four-year action plan
Alberto Carvalho, Los Angeles USD's new superintendent, spoke of focusing on academics, attendance and opportunities for students during his first press conference since taking over the nation’s second-largest school district this week. After addressing "the elephant in the room," promising an announcement soon about the district's mask mandate, he said he will soon release a plan for what he intends to accomplish his in first 100 days as leader. The action plan will lay the foundation for a future strategic plan, one which he hopes will reflect five years’ worth of work in four years since, he said, the district needs to accelerate student learning. “It will not be easy,” Carvalho said about the work ahead. “We will partner with collective bargaining entities. We’ll be respectful, and we’ll dignify and honor their strong contributions. But at the end of the day, we will focus our attention on what children need in this community.” In addition to reviewing student attendance patterns and disaggregated data on proficiency rates and social-emotional wellbeing, broken down by zip codes, Carvalho said that in his first 100 days on the job, he intends to go on listening tours to hear from stakeholders, start to develop a multi-year strategic plan, and begin planning for future budgets when COVID-19 relief dollars from the federal government run dry. He also wants to review the district’s Student Equity Needs Index, which ranks a school’s needs based on challenges facing its student population and is used to determine school funding, as well as evaluating technology decisions the district has made through an equity lens.
Los Angeles Daily News Los Angeles Times
----- CLASSROOM -----
Recess more important than ever, experts say
Experts have noticed a gradual movement where schools are focusing more on free playtime, as education leaders prioritize students’ well-being and social-emotional development along with their academic success. Between 2002 to 2015, the No Child Left Behind law caused schools and districts to shift away from recess, academics say, and focus more on preparing students to perform well on standardized tests. "Recess benefits not just academics, but also students’ mental health and social-emotional learning," asserts Kate Holmes, senior manager at Springboard to Active Schools, an initiative of the National Network of Public Health Institutes and Health Resources in Action. "Recess can also be a trauma-informed free play practice to help students manage their emotions," says Michelle Carter, director of educational content and programs at the Society of Health and Physical Educators.
More than 33% of kids who started school in pandemic require 'intensive' reading help
More than one in three children in kindergarten through grade 3 have little chance of reading on grade level by the end of the school year without major and systemic interventions, according to a new study by the testing group Amplify. Based on data from more than 400,000 students in kindergarten through 5th grades who participated in the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills, which Amplify administers, the research shows that though students have begun to recover lost academic ground in the last year, big holes remain in students’ fundamental reading skills. “We’re seeing some rebound now, which is good,” said Paul Gazzero, Amplify’s director of data science. However, Black and Hispanic students, who had lower average reading scores compared to white students before the pandemic, fell even further behind on average during school disruptions, he said. “When students start getting to grades 3 and 4 and 5, those compounding effects will really be prevalent, and it takes more time and more resources to actually close the gap,” said Susan Lambert, the chief academic officer for elementary humanities for Amplify. “We really want to focus hard and heavy on those early grades now, so that in the future those students aren’t feeling the impacts over time.”
----- LEGAL -----
Teachers tackle Black History Month under new restrictions
In February, public-school teachers traditionally shape lessons around Black History Month. But this year, educators in several states are handling their classes a bit more gingerly. Since January 2021, 37 states have introduced measures to limit how race and discrimination can be taught in public school classrooms, and 14 have imposed laws or rules to enforce these restrictions. “This legislation is very nebulous,” said Grace Leatherman, the executive director of the National Council for History Education. “There is certainly a chilling effect.” Some teachers say the laws seem like politicized distractions, removed from the reality of modern classrooms where lesson plans adapt to students’ needs and curiosities. Some educators say that the vagueness of the new rules puts the burden on them to avoid any misinterpretation that could cost them their jobs. “We’ll know it’s wrong when they pull our license,” said Terry López Burlingame, who teaches at a rural K-8 school in Gilmanton, New Hampshire. “That’s how vague it is.” Although she removed her “Black Lives Matter” sign after her state passed a law against teaching that people of any particular race or gender were “inherently racist, sexist, or oppressive,” Ms. López Burlingame said she did not shy away from discussing the history lessons that often accompany her Spanish lessons, including slavery across Latin America. But she still harbors some fear that her students’ parents could report her to local officials if she says something they don’t like. “When kids ask me questions, I pause longer than normal to think about how I am going to respond,” she said. “If I say the wrong thing, those kids will go home to their parents, who will do what they are doing all this year: going bonkers.”
Supreme Court rejects New York teachers' bid to block city vaccine mandate
The Supreme Court on Friday rejected an emergency request that it consider an appeal by a group of New York City teachers seeking to block a vaccine mandate. The plaintiffs in the case had argued that the city's vaccination requirement amounted to religious discrimination because it unfairly denied applications and did not offer exemptions for employees with unorthodox religious beliefs. Justice Sotomayor, who oversees cases in the Second Circuit, which includes New York, Connecticut and Vermont, had already rejected a challenge to the city's vaccine mandate, last October, when the mandate went into effect for public schoolteachers. Notably, about 95% of the city's 370,000 workers, including many teachers and other Education Department staff members, had received at least one vaccine dose as of Friday, up from 84% when the policy was announced in October.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Palm Springs teachers to be offered $10K signing bonuses
Palm Springs USD is hosting several recruitment fairs in the coming weeks to bolster its staff before the next school year - and is offering $7,000 employment incentives for teachers who sign on to teach math or science and $10,000 incentives for speech language pathologists, school nurses and teachers who sign on to teach special education. A teacher recruitment fair will take place Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the district's offices at 150 District Center Drive in Palm Springs. Teacher salaries range from $57,618 to $103,734.
----- CHILD DEVELOPMENT ----
California child care workers struggle to make ends meet
The median hourly pay for a California child care worker in 2019 was $13.43, according to data from the Center for the Study of Child Care Employment at the University of California Berkeley, leaving many staff in the sector struggling to make ends meet. About a third of all child care workers are on some kind of public assistance, the study found. “I would say we expected, knowing what we know about low wages, that their economic well-being would not look great,” said Anna Powell, a senior research and policy associate at the center, who worked on a new report about the state of the child care workforce. “However, what I was really not prepared for was the outpouring of frustration. And even in some cases, despair. Educators were telling us about their precarious financial situation. They feel trapped in this cycle of low pay. They feel overlooked and forgotten.” If child care workers are beaten down by the grim realities of poverty, from hunger to stress, advocates say, they are less likely to be nurturing to the children in their care. “People do not live siloed lives,” said Jhumpa Bhattacharya, vice president of programs and strategy at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, a research and advocacy group. “It’s natural for the stress we are feeling at home to impact how we show up at work. We are asking child care workers to be superheroes when we expect them to be at the top of their game caring for our children while they are stressed about keeping the lights on and having food on the table for their own families.”
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Report into students' social, emotional, and academic development released
A state-by-state review of education policies that support students’ social, emotional, and academic development has found that states are falling short on collecting data to measure and disseminate the impact of their policies publicly. The Education Trust, in partnership with the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL), looked at policies around school discipline; wraparound services; educator diversity; professional development; rigorous and culturally sustaining curriculum; and student, family, and community engagement. Only California met benchmarks for data collection around discipline—including publicly reporting district-level data on offenses and punishments, the number of students who have been expelled more than once, and breaking down the data by race and gender as well as English learner, socioeconomic, and disability status. When it comes to wraparound services that help students and families get health care, housing, and other social and academic supports, the research group found that 12 states require districts to assess the needs and strengths of students and school systems to identify both gaps and available supports in community services. “States have a long way to go when actually reporting on discipline rates, when reporting on survey data about community and family engagement,” said Sarah Mehrotra, a data and policy analyst for The Education Trust. “Parents are hungry for this data. And states across the board need to do a better job reporting this out.”
New research examines impact of unmasking in schools
A pair of new research papers on the efficacy of school masking policies aim to deliver a clear, quantitative look at just how many cases dropping them might trigger, helping school leaders set customized benchmarks for the end of mandates based on their community’s expressed goals. “Instead of saying, ‘Well, you know, masks off, people get sick. Masks on, fewer people get sick,’ [officials can understand] what exactly the magnitude of these outcomes are,” said John Giardina, the lead author of one of the papers and a Harvard University Ph.D student. His study, which was peer-reviewed and published Feb. 14 in JAMA Network, uses simulation modeling to identify the COVID transmission levels at which virus spread would stay in control even when classrooms are mask-optional. School leaders can select from three possible objectives: Avoiding all in-school transmission (which Giardina acknowledges may be an unrealistic standard), keeping the average additional cases due to unmasking below a specified level, such as five per month, or keeping the average additional hospitalizations under a threshold, such as three per 100,000 people per month. Then, based on the share of students who have been inoculated with COVID vaccines, they can find the appropriate community transmission level for unmasking. A second study, from Duke University’s ABC Science Collaborative, corroborates Giardina’s findings, adding a second tool for school leaders to use in their decision making. The paper, which the authors call a “blueprint” for navigating school policy this spring, draws on data from 61 school districts with varying mask rules, using the figures to project the implications of mask-optional versus mask-required policies in a hypothetical 10,000-student school system. “The short version is that masking clearly works,” said Danny Benjamin, professor of pediatrics at Duke and co-chair of the Collaborative.
U.S. Senate rejects Cruz push to ban COVID vaccine mandates in schools
The U.S. Senate granted a demand from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) Thursday night for a vote to block local school boards from requiring COVID-19 vaccines, but then promptly rejected his proposal. Cruz and a handful of Republican allies had threatened to force a government shutdown if they didn’t get floor votes aimed at ending vaccine mandates. Cruz’s proposal to cut off federal funds for school districts failed on a vote of 44 in favor, 49 against, after a brief debate that saw Democrats and Republicans swap their traditional stances on the extent of federal power to overrule local government, particularly during a public health crisis. “These petty tyrants have no right to force parents to vaccinate children with a new and untested vaccine,” Cruz argued. “And let me be clear, I’m vaccinated. I’m pro-vaccine, but I believe in individual choice. If you want to be vaccinated, fantastic. But it ought to be your choice in consultation with your doctor.” Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) accused Cruz of attempting a “massive federal overreach that would disempower school boards and states and take funding away from their children’s education.” Kaine noted that student vaccine mandates are hardly novel, and said it would be “unprecedented” for Congress to “force local school boards and state superintendents of instruction to not have a vaccine mandate.”
----- 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.com
Click here to schedule an appointment
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