ABCFT YOUnionews for April 14, 2022
CERRITOS COLLEGE FACULTY UPDATE
Cerritos College currently has a 36% unrestricted reserve — $41.8 million — last year; $36 million more than is required by the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.
Norwalk, CA — April 14, 2022 — After more than fifteen months at the bargaining table, negotiations between the Cerritos College Faculty Association and Cerritos College administration have reached an impasse. Fed up with the slow pace of negotiations, and upset over the college district’s low salary offer despite growing reserves, faculty are planning a spirited rally at the college district headquarters on April 20.
CCFF union President, Dr. Lynn Wang is hopeful the rally will convince the Cerritos College administration to settle a contract that recognizes the contributions of all faculty to the success of the students and the college.
More from the Los Cerritos Newspaper Article here
CALL TO ACTION- YOUR UNION ACTIVIST VOICE IS NEEDED FOR
CERRITOS COLLEGE FACULTY
The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has officially declared that negotiations with the District and CCFF are at an impasse. The impasse was declared after more than fifteen (15) months of negotiations, having exchanged over sixty (60) proposals with the District over about 25 different bargaining sessions, shared by Lead Negotiator, Dr. April Bracamontes, a Tenured Communication Studies faculty.
Cerritos College Faculty have been working without a contract for a year, and have not seen pay increases since the ratification of their previous contract in 2018. While faculty have not seen changes in their pay, the college has watched their unspent reserves increase. Cerritos College currently has a 36% unrestricted reserve -- $41.8 million -- last year. $36 million more than is required by the CA Chancellor’s Office.
CCFF is looking to settle a contract that secures wages that reflect their experience and qualifications and to build toward a more equity-focused workplace. Unfortunately, our district is only interested in off schedule lump sum payments.
Please help support the faculty at Cerritos College by signing our digital petition https://tinyurl.com/
P.S. CCFF's union president is a proud graduate of the ABCUSD, Go Gladiators, class of 2004.
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Math & Stats Month
Elementary Math Lesson Plans & Resources
Looking for free elementary math worksheets and lesson plans? Use this curated collection as a starting point to access thousands of ways to engage elementary students with math essentials.
In April, celebrate Mathematics and Statistics Awareness Month with resources and activities on math, financial literacy and statistics. Aside from putting a focus on mathematical and statistical analysis during April, inspire your students to build a passion for math and its related subjects and find lessons like:
Read this blog, Making an Exponential Impact: My Favorite Math Lessons, for an introduction to some of the math resources featured in this collection. Also, for more advanced lesson plans, view the resources in our secondary grades math collection. Plus, see the video below from the U.S. Census Bureau on implementing statistics in schools and how you can prepare your students for a data-driven world: https://youtu.be/68QA3AXdyts
Looking for interactive and engaging graphs to use in your classroom? Check out this innovative, free collection from NY Times Learning Network "What's Going on in This Graph?"
ACADEMIC SERVICES UPDATE
This month’s academic service update is vital for all teachers. We hope that you will take a moment to look at this monthly report which discusses changes in academic services. This document provides the union with a means of giving the District feedback on the many programs or changes they are proposing at any one time. Without your feedback or questions on these changes, it is harder for ABCFT to slow down and modify the district’s neverending rollout of new projects. Please submit your comments and questions to the appropriate ABCFT liaison.
For Elementary curricular issues please email Kelley at Kelley.Forsythe@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
For Secondary curricular issues please email Rich at Richard.Saldana@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
Click Here For This Month’s Full Report
ABCFT PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer
Communication is a union’s most important tool for advocating for its members at the bargaining table. Every conversation with the membership is focused on the end result of negotiating for the future prosperity and wellbeing of ABCFT members. This weekly report aims to keep the membership informed about issues that impact their working/learning conditions and their mental well-being. Together we make the YOUnion.
“I’m done….put a fork in me.” I’m quoting me from today after a long day of negotiations preparation with the ABCFT negotiating team.
No long message to wade through today, okay. The road to Spring Break was long and sometimes bumpy but we all made it to our Spring Break pit stop to refuel and get some new tires in preparation for the last laps before the checkered flag (the Irwindale racing season has begun again so apologies for the racing references). I’m sure all of you are ready to finish this school year so you can finally take some time for yourself and your families. Sometimes in a race, it's not important that you didn’t finish at the front of the pack but more importantly that you crossed the finish line in one piece. That’s how I’m feeling this year. I”m ready to rest after being on the hamster wheel for so long.
When you come back from break we will fill our YOUnionews with the latest negotiations update on the progress of master contract negotiations, the status of a virtual option for students for next year, and an update on the latest school board meeting. Furthermore, I’m anticipating that Tanya and I will finally have time to do site visitations to meet face to face with members over the last six weeks of school. Prior to the pandemic, the ABCFT leadership made great efforts to make sure that we visited school sites regularly but the lack of time and the complications of the pandemic have made it a challenge to get out to the sites or to visit programs. My favorite part of being in my position is when I get to visit sites and I get to put faces to the emails or it’s even more exciting, to talk to members I don’t know. That’s the plan when I return from break.
Cheers to you and all you do! Have a happy and safe Spring Break (and Easter for those who observe).
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-----
States ranked over handling of pandemic
New York, New Jersey and California failed in their handling of the COVID-19 pandemic because of stringent lockdowns and policies, while Florida was among the best-performing states in the country, a new study has found. The report, published by the Committee To Unleash Prosperity, graded states by comparing COVID-19 outcomes based on the number of deaths, the economy and impact on education. Overall, the bottom 10 on the study’s “report card” were dominated by states that had the most severe pandemic lockdowns and were among the last to finally reopen schools. “Shutting down their economies and schools was by far the biggest mistake governors and state officials made during COVID, particularly in blue states,” says Stephen Moore, one of the study’s authors. New Jersey, California, Illinois and Washington, DC. were among the worst-performing states.
----- AFTERMATH - Sac City Strike Update -----
Missed education during Sacramento teacher strike could cost $46m, says district
The eight-day strike carried out by Sacramento City USD teachers could cost schools more than $46m unless leaders can strike a deal to make up for the lost learning time, district officials announced Friday. In a bulletin to parents, the district said that students missed out on about 2,400 minutes of learning as a result of the labor dispute that shuttered classrooms. State education laws require schools to provide 180 days of instruction and a minimum number of minutes based on grade level. Failure to make up the shortages will result in what the district said would amount to “significant financial penalties.” The district could extend the school year past its scheduled last day of school on June 16 or add instructional minutes to its school days. Additionally, the district could apply for a waiver from the California Department of Education.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
States urge Biden to keep gender identity out of Title IX overhaul
Fifteen Republican state attorneys general have written to Catherine Lhamon, assistant secretary of education for civil rights, to drop plans to redefine biological sex to include gender identity under Title IX, the federal civil rights statute governing gender equality in education, warning that they would take legal action to protect state laws on parental rights in the classroom and in interscholastic sports. AGs from states including Alabama, Idaho, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas argue that the anticipated notice of proposed rulemaking would “plainly exceed the department’s rulemaking under Title IX," which they say refers only to "biological sex" and not gender self-identification. The letter also said Ms. Lhamon should recuse herself from the proceedings, saying that she had a conflict of interest stemming from her work on the issue in the Obama administration’s Office for Civil Rights. The Republicans cited the office’s hotly disputed 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter, which “compelled schools to adopt the lowest standard of proof for proving sexual harassment and sexual assault claims,” prompting hundreds of student lawsuits over denials of due process.
Schools avoid mask mandates, despite Omicron BA.2 surge
Many school districts in cities with rising COVID cases say they aren’t considering reinstating mask mandates on grounds that children aren’t getting very sick, and that vaccination rates are doing enough to protect both students and teachers from serious disease. New York City and Philadelphia, as well as more than a dozen counties nationwide deemed a high-level threat by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say they have no plans to remask students, despite the emergence of the new BA.2 variant, which is spreading throughout much of the country. The CDC on April 6th reported 26,595 new cases on a seven-day moving average, up from 24,811 such cases on March 29th. However, the variant hasn't led to a surge in new hospitalizations. The CDC on April 5th reported 1,405 new hospital admissions on a seven-day moving average, compared with 21,525 such admissions on January 15th. As of April 7th, only 19 of the 500 largest districts in the nation still required masks, including Detroit and Hawaii, according to Burbio. A small number of schools have reinstated masking policies amid increases in new cases, including some in California and New Jersey. South Brunswick, New Jersey, instituted a districtwide mandate for masks in schools on April 4th following an outbreak there.
Education Dept. opens grant program to address teacher shortage
The U.S. Department of Education has announced that its Supporting Effective Educator Development (SEED) grant program is now accepting applications for efforts that increase the pipeline of highly effective educators. The SEED program will award $65m to support the implementation of evidence-based practices that prepare, develop, or enhance the skills of educators. These grants also will enable recipients to develop, expand, and evaluate practices that can serve as models that can be sustained, replicated, and scaled. This program is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s broader commitment to supporting targeted efforts that will provide comprehensive, high-quality pathways into the profession, such as residency and Grow Your Own programs, and evidence-based professional development all focused on building and supporting a more diverse educator pipeline and combating the teacher shortage nationally.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California public school enrollment drops below 6 million mark
We just aren’t sure where they’ve gone.”
That comment from Barrett Snider of Capitol Advisors — a lobbying firm for school districts — came in response to sobering data released Monday by the state Department of Education: For the first time since the start of the century, fewer than 6 million students are attending California’s public schools, CalMatters’ Joe Hong reports.
Statewide enrollment this year fell by more than 110,000 students to about 5.89 million, a 1.8% decline from last year — on top of the 2.6% drop notched during the first year of the pandemic.
https://calmatters.org/
https://us11.campaign-archive.
California public school enrollment has dropped by 110k
California public school enrollment has dropped for the fifth year in a row — a decline of more than 110,000 students — as K-12 campuses struggle against pandemic disruptions and a shrinking population of school-age kids amid wide concerns that the decrease is so large that educators can’t account for the missing children. California enrollment stood at 5,892,240 when measured in the fall of 2021, a 1.8% decline, according to state data released Monday. It is the first time since 2000 that the state’s K-12 population has dipped below 6m, with large urban districts accounting for one-third of the drop. Charter school enrollment also is down for the first time since at least 2014. “The declining enrollment trend is long term, and it’s accelerating,” said Troy Flint, spokesman for the California School Boards Association. “That’s a huge concern for most of the districts across the state.” In the last year, the state saw a greater loss of white students, with a decline of 4.9%, compared with 3.6% fewer Black students, 1.9% fewer Asian Americans and 0.9% fewer Hispanic/Latino students. A law passed during the pandemic will ensure that districts continue to receive consistent revenue this year despite enrollment declines, but they could face deep cuts in future funding. Several factors probably contributed to the falling numbers, experts said, although it is hard to pinpoint answers from preliminary state data. Some students entered private schools, which saw an increase in enrollment. Home schooling also increased as families either did not want to comply with pandemic safety measures such as masking or were concerned about the health risks posed by in-person learning. Another potential factor is that more families may have moved out of California than expected, either because of rising housing costs or flexibility with remote work, amid other reasons.
The Daily Press. San Diego Union-Tribune
Short-term fixes won’t really solve California’s teacher shortage
State-funded teacher training programs continue to chip away at the dire teacher shortage in California, but they might not be enough to deal with the urgent, short-term needs. A January report by the Learning Policy Institute found that some of the state’s largest districts had 10% of vacancies still unfilled at the start of the new school year. One district had a quarter of its vacancies unfilled. And not all districts are feeling the benefits of the state money. More remote, rural districts don’t have enough applicants for state grants, nor do they have four-year universities nearby to train educators.
https://calmatters.org/
----- DISTRICTS -----
Concerns over proposal to restrict discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity
Activists and educators are voicing concerns about the introduction of Ohio House Bill 616 this week, a proposal that closely resembles the newly-signed Florida law restricting schoolteachers from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity with students. Ohio's version would ban discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity through third grade in all public and most private schools. Unlike Florida's law, the proposed Ohio legislation also prohibits instruction, teacher training or materials on "divisive or inherently racist concepts," including the 1619 Project, critical race theory , equity, inclusion, diversity and other ideas.
New RAND survey suggests upcoming superintendent exodus
More than a quarter of America’s superintendents plan to leave their posts imminently, with hundreds more unsure they want to keep balancing pandemic-era 67-hour work weeks and staffing challenges, a new RAND survey of over 350 district leaders has found. While RAND’s early look at 2021 departure rates suggests the “big quit” has yet to play out among superintendents, an emerging trend raised concern: Urban school district superintendents are leaving in higher numbers than their suburban and rural counterparts. About 18% of urban superintendents left their position between spring and fall 2021, compared to about 13% of suburban and rural leaders. It is indicative of a persistent pattern that urban schools and districts experience higher teacher and staff turnover. In a previous survey, RAND found urban districts were more likely to face significant challenges like enrollment declines.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Positive student-teacher relationships boost instructional quality
Positive student-teacher relationships not only help students but benefit teachers in an interesting way — by leading them to use more challenging instructional techniques, which in turn improves students' academic achievement, according to research from the University of Missouri. Using "prosocial classroom behaviors" like showing kindness and compassion increased teachers' motivation and confidence, research from the University of Missouri shows. It also led teachers to use more challenging instructional techniques that make lessons interesting and relevant to students, said Christi Bergin, a research professor at Mizzou and co-author of the study, which will be published in the journal Learning and Instruction. Understanding prosocial behaviors' positive influences on teaching practices could support improved student outcomes, as well as help prevent teacher burnout and stem the tide of teacher shortages, Bergin added.
Thousands of teachers trained in LGBTQ+ inclusion in 2021
More than 16,000 educators last year took part in professional development trainings to foster a more LGBTQ+ and gender-inclusive learning environment for their students, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation (HRCF), the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), said Tuesday. Educators in 37 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Taiwan had participated in training offered through the Welcoming Schools program, impacting nearly 4m students. The initiative, launched in Boston in 2004 and adopted by the HRC in 2006, provides resources to schools nationwide to “embrace family diversity, create LGBTQ+ and gender inclusive schools, prevent bias-based bullying, and support transgender and non-binary students.” Resources include lessons on gender, a catalog of LGBTQ+ definitions and a list of children’s books with transgender, nonbinary and gender-expansive characters. Welcoming Schools also provides educators with anti-bullying resources, like how to appropriately respond when students say “that’s so gay” or make other anti-LGBTQ+ comments.
----- LEGAL -----
SCOTUS to hear arguments over school coach's prayer ritual
On April 25th, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Kennedy v. Bremerton School District, a First Amendment case on the constitutionality of a Texas football coach's decision to pray following football games. The case could have implications for how districts nationwide manage staff. A major question that has surfaced about the case is whether the coach, Joseph Kennedy, involved students in his routine post-game prayers. According to the petition, Mr. Kennedy initially prayed "quietly and alone." "After several games, some BHS [Bremerton High School] players asked him what he was doing and whether they could join him," the petition says, adding that some players ultimately elected to gather near Mr. Kennedy after the games, and the number "ultimately grew to include most of the team, although the participants often varied." Photographs included in court documents confirm Mr. Kennedy and students kneeling with their heads bowed in a circle. While the petitioner in this case, Mr. Kennedy, says students chose to join, the respondent in the case, the school district, argues some instances were coercive. Bremerton will rely on the 2006 case Garcetti v. Ceballos, in which the Supreme Court decided that speech by a public official is only protected by the First Amendment if it is engaged in as a private citizen and not as part of the employee's public duties. The district will also argue that, regardless of whether Mr. Kennedy's speech was private or public, it eventually resulted in a protest the district has a right to control.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Pandemic curtails infant speech development
Amid the stress and disruption of the pandemic, parents and caregivers have had less time and energy to engage their babies and toddlers in conversation, and the lack of talk already shows in their language skills, according to new studies from Rhode Island Hospital and the nonprofit LENA Foundation. By a year into the pandemic, the average cognitive performance of children ages three months to three years was the lowest it had been since the researchers had begun to measure it in 2010. For toddlers ages 16 months or younger, expressive and receptive language scores fell from about 90 points on a scale of 140 in 2020 to 60 in 2021 on normalized assessments of verbal skills. Moreover, neuroimaging data show babies born during the pandemic have had slower growth in white matter, the communication channels of the brain, compared to infants born in the years before the pandemic. “It’s not that they start off low and they’ll slowly get back to [normal], but [they] actually seem to be decreasing as time is going on, which means that the cumulative impact of the COVID environment seems to be getting worse,” said Sean Deoni, the director of the Advanced Baby Imaging Lab at the INSPIRE Center of Rhode Island Hospital. “And this seems to be across the brain, impacting not just motor systems or later cognitive systems, but almost every neurodevelopmental system. So that’s alarming.”
Supporting students through Ramadan fasting
The Los Angeles Times examines how schools can support Muslim students as they fast through Ramadan. In Muslim countries, or Islamic schools in the U.S., entire schedules shift to accommodate Ramadan. But the holy month can be trickier to navigate in settings where peers and others may not understand Islam. Muslim dieticians say care is needed with kids who are fasting. “The last thing we want is for them to be losing weight when they should be growing,” said Sumiya Khan, a registered dietitian and co-founder of Sanctuary Kitchen. But at the same time, kids are resilient and they can gain a lot from participating in spiritual traditions, said Shamila Malik, a registered dietitian at Fresenius Medical Care North America. Much of the health advice for adults also applies to kids. Balanced and nutritious meals — with a focus on protein, fiber, complex carbs and healthy fats — will give them more sustained energy and avoid sugar crashes. Khan recommends supplementing their Ramadan diet with multivitamins, “just to give a little bit of insurance.” Hydration during the times they can have water is crucial.
Many low-income students struggling with mental health issues
Educators working in low-income schools say 53% of students struggle with mental health issues, according to a new survey from educational nonprofit First Book and Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s On Our Sleeves alliance. Amid a problem "worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic," researchers said, just 20% of the 967 educators surveyed feel prepared to support those struggling students. The survey, conducted between December 13 and January 21, surveyed educators serving students up to age 18 nationwide. "These disparities for low-income communities or racially and ethnically diverse communities, they've existed before the pandemic, and the pandemic made them worse," says Ariana Hoet, clinical director of On Our Sleeves and a Nationwide Children's pediatric psychologist. "We have to try to make these changes at the individual school level or the systemic level to help address students' mental health."
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Addressing racial bias in AI-powered technologies
Schools are embracing education technologies that use artificial intelligence for everything from teaching math to optimizing bus routes. However, while such innovations can help save money, personalize student learning, and free teachers from rote administrative tasks, there is also a very real risk that the data and design processes those products rely on have been skewed by racial bias. “If you’re not breaking data down by subpopulations to really understand where harm might be caused, you’re perpetuating racist systems and structures that have been in place for centuries,” said Sierra Noakes, the Edtech Marketplace Project Director at the nonprofit Digital Promise. The group has teamed up with fellow nonprofit Edtech Equity Project to offer a new product certification called Prioritizing Racial Equity in AI Design. The idea is to provide both schools and companies with a common language and process for evaluating whether the makers of education technology tools are taking steps to identify and question their own biases and assumptions, ensure the data used to train their AI systems aren't tainted by bias, and to offer educators and families more visibility into how their products actually work and the risks they might pose.
----- INTERNATIONAL -----
Majority of U.K. teachers say their school has trans pupils
New research reveals that 79% of teachers in secondary education in the U.K. say their school has students who identify as transgender or nonbinary. The YouGov poll, commissioned by the human rights organisation Sex Matters, also found that 85% of teachers reported having more students in that category now than three years ago. Nearly 20% said their school would not inform parents if a student changed their gender identity at school and had not told their parents, while 31% said they would tell parents after getting the student's permission, and only 5% said their school would inform parents without the student's consent. The survey also found teachers were evenly divided over whether their schools provided clear guidance on what to do if a student identified as trans or non-binary, with 40% saying their school did provide clear guidance, compared with 41% who said they did not. Helen Joyce, director of advocacy for Sex Matters, said: "The steep rise in trans identification creates a clear need for official guidance. The Department for Education, Ofsted and the Equality and Human Rights Commission should work together to create it."
----- 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
