ABCFT YOUnionews for April 1, 2022
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
Yesterday Ray, Tanya, and myself attended the L.A. Labor Federation congress in Los Angeles. The L.A. Labor Federation is a group of over 300 affiliated union and labor organizations representing more than 800,000 members. This is yet another opportunity for solidarity and collective power of workers within our county. ABCFT is obviously a part of the our statewide California Federation of Teachers and our national American Federation of Teachers but the Labor Fed allows us to have a voice in business concerning the entire Los Angeles labor movement, including endorsements for crucial local elections.
This event was high energy and inspirational. As educators we understandably work with other teachers and nurses at the majority of conferences we attend but it was a positive to be reminded of the larger union family we are a part of. Los Angeles was described as a union town and education was well represented with brothers and sisters from UTLA and CFA but there were also firefighters, lighting technicians, musicians, hotel workers, medical workers, grocery workers, and tradespeople standing side by side to advocate for working people on our terms. As a speaker noted, “we may still have a long way to go but we have come a long way as well and we need to celebrate that.”
The negotiating team has two internal meetings scheduled during the next two weeks to continue work on our master contract proposal. We will be scheduling formal sessions with the district to follow and will continue to provide updates as to our progress.
Our spring break will come “late” this year, starting with a local holiday on April 15. I realize that this year has been particularly challenging (and am looking forward to not having to say that yet again!) and that all of our members and students can use the time to refresh and recharge their physical and emotional batteries for the stretch run to the end of our 2021-2022 school year.
I think the recent Progressive insurance ad campaign about Dr. Rick, the coach who helps people not to become just like their parents is very funny but hits a little too close to home. My mother taught elementary in ABCUSD for over 30 years and by nature she was a counter. That is, she would keep track of the number of days before various holidays or significant markers on the calendar. If I was to tell her that the week at work had been difficult she would reply with her big smile and optimistic tone that, “well, there are only so many days left until winter break” or “don’t worry, there are only X amount of days left until summer vacation.” Mom and I were wired differently in that regard, I didn’t keep a mental countdown to the year being done but rather tried to “run through the finish line” and woke up that first day off work in June with summer occurring as almost a pleasant surprise. But now I find myself ever more aware that there are less than 50 school days left in another tumultuous year and using that as a motivation to make every one of those days count even as I keep a daily track of the remaining total. So Mom, you won, I’m turning into you!
In Unity,
MEMBER VOICES - COPE Meeting
Do you want to get involved in local school board election as a COPE member activist or contributer?
The Committee on Political Education also known as COPE is a committee made up of ABCFT members who make voluntary contributions for the exclusive purpose of ensuring that teacher friendly school board candidates. ABCFT is preparing for the upcoming school board elections in November 2022 where there are three seats out of the seven up for election. An instrumental part of this board election preparation is having an active COPE. We hope you can find the time and let your voice be heard.
Click the link below to join your fellow ABCFT union members at this informational COPE meeting.
Register here for the ABCFT COPE virtual informational meeting
Tuesday, April 12th 3:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Reading Opens the World: New Webinars Start April 14
As part of the AFT’s new literacy campaign, Reading Opens the World, Share My Lesson’s community has expanded to feature even more downloadable, free resources for preK-12 teachers, schools and parents. We also have seven new, for-credit webinars scheduled on teaching literacy, starting April 14 and running into June. Bonus: If you’ve missed any prior webinars, you can watch them on demand for free.
This high-quality, free professional development series is open to all ABCFT union members.
Literacy and ELLs: Using Academic Language Instruction to Unlock Success | Register
Thursday, April 14, at 6 p.m. EDT Grades K-12
MAXimize Your Teaching: Active Learning Through Texts | Register
Thursday, April 21, at 6:30 p.m. EDT Grades 4-12
Strategies to Maximize Vocabulary Instruction | Register
Thursday, April 28, at 6:30 p.m. EDT Grades K-6
Crafting Linguistic Autobiographies to Build Cultural Knowledge | Register
Thursday, May 5, at 6 p.m. EDT Grades K-12
Kindergarten Readiness for All: Best Practices in Writing in Preschool | Register
Thursday, May 19, at 6 p.m. EDT Grades preK-3
Affirming Students Through a Language and Literacy Equity Audit | Register
Thursday, May 26, at 6 p.m. EDT Grades K-12
The Sound of Inclusion: Using Poetry to Teach Language Variation | Register
Thursday, June 2, at 6 p.m. EDT Grades 3-6
If you can’t make the time, register anyway to have the on-demand link emailed to you.
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.
“We have to understand the dynamics of where people come from.” Dr. Angela Davis at this week’s 2022 LA County Labor Federation Workers Congress.
Ruben Mancillas, Tanya Golden and myself represented ABCFT Local #2317 at the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor’s Worker Congress Convention which is attended by union representatives from all of the private and public sector unions throughout LA County. This is an important event for ABCFT representatives to attend because it provides networking opportunities and connection with other types of union organizations while also providing a perspective of how varied the populations are that are represented. The keynote speaker this year was Dr. Angela Davis who has been a long time advocate for worker rights and in her lifetime has highlighted the importance of the rights of women, queer and transgender people. In her talk she stated that “there can be no gains for worker without a fight against racism” and that fighting for the rights of transgender people has a direct reflection of the rights and protections of all people. Her message of hope was centered around her observation that she felt like she was able to bear witness to this “time of potential change” on behalf of all the activists who have passed on but gave the essence of their life to the fight for civil rights and worker rights. She said this is the moment of change that we need to seize.
Last week’s YOUnionews was uncharacteristically pointed and critical of some of our board members and was a good indication of the distress that is being felt across the district at some of the pressures we are all feeling. My words toward board member Brad Beach were unusually critical as I found myself caught up in a tornado of frustration that has consumed many of us.
Cut to Saturday night as I’m sitting at home binge watching the Parenthood series and I received a text from Board member Beach who expressed his concern about my message and provided the suggestion of us having a meeting to discuss this further. The rest of the night I reflected on his text and looked back on my YOUnionews message to reassess what I had written. My message had one gigantic flaw. I always talk about treating people with dignity and understanding other people’s reality before making sweeping conclusions….I had broken my own golden rule. How did I get here and better yet how would I ever repair my relationship with Mr. Beach whom I’ve always had a good relationship with over his tenure on the board? It was time to do the right thing so I agreed to meet with him this week and he graciously accepted my invitation.
There are legalities and privacy laws that don’t allow me to share the details of our conversation last Wednesday but I will say that Mr. Beach is just as frustrated as many of us are about the behaviors of students and parents. Because there are Brown Act rules that limit when and how board members can speak to the district or one another there are limitations as to the cohesiveness of any school board. Board members are feeling their own version of frustration with an escalating student/parent behavior crisis and their frustration manifests itself in different ways and sometimes publicly. How can we as a district work together to address concerns in a proactive manner before situations escalate to a pivotal point where stakeholders begin pointing fingers at each other? This is our greatest opportunity and collective responsibility.
Mr. Beach is at heart a strong advocate for student safety and communication and after talking with him I have a better understanding of the events that led up to his board report that spoke to a concern about potential violence at Cerritos High School. Nobody in education wants a tragedy to happen, especially on their watch. I know exactly what this kind of responsibility feels like as I have feared for every single member and their families throughout this pandemic. Mr. Beach and I share the desire to provide maximum safety when possible.
In the end, it is my hope that Mr. Beach and I have been able to repair our relationship and that over time we can reestablish our trust and a working relationship. As I always say, we are the models of behavior so I think that it is important that members see that I live by those words even if it means I need to say sorry or to rethink my actions. Regret is when you hurt others without giving pause for dignity and then you never make amends. Working with individuals who are impacted with different dynamics and understanding their realities is a foundational skill of leadership and as teachers we do this basic leadership skill on a daily basis with our students. Hearing Dr. Angela Davis restate this exact message on Thursday was an affirmation that we must all seek to understand each other's dynamic realities so we can better help to find empathy and dignity.
I never stop learning and growing.
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-----
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona Calls on States, Districts, Higher Ed Institutions to Address Nationwide Teacher Shortage and Bolster Student Recovery with American Rescue Plan Funds
Today, U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona will issue a nationwide call to action for states, higher education leaders, and schools to tap federal resources and work together to address the teacher shortage and aid student recovery. Today’s announcement builds on President Biden’s call in the State of the Union encouraging leaders to use American Rescue Plan funds to address this critical challenge schools and districts across the country are facing. The call to action coincides with Secretary Cardona’s participation in the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching’s Summit on Improvement in Education in San Diego.
“I have always known that a well-prepared, well-supported, well-compensated, and diverse educator workforce is the foundation for student success. Educator vacancies and other staff shortages represent a real challenge as our schools work to recover, falling hardest on students of color, students in rural communities, students from low-income backgrounds, students with disabilities, and multilingual learners. That’s why I’m proud that the American Rescue Plan has equipped states, school districts, and colleges and universities that prepare our educators with unprecedented financial resources to help overcome this challenge,” said Secretary Cardona. “Today, I am calling on states, districts, and institutions of higher education to use ARP funds to address the teacher shortage and increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the teaching profession. My team will continue to advise state and local leaders on how they can seize this moment; put COVID relief dollars to work in our schools; and achieve a lasting, equitable recovery for our students.”
To coincide with the Secretary’s call to action, the Department released a fact sheet providing concrete examples of how states, districts, and schools are already taking up the call to use federal COVID dollars to strengthen the teacher pipeline, get more educators in the classroom, and accelerate student recovery. Districts and higher education institutions are partnering to create and expand residency programs, offer paraprofessional internships, get college students in the classroom more quickly, and more. Because of these partnerships, students across the country can spend more time working with qualified educators and addressing the academic impact of COVID-19. To view the Department of Education fact sheet, click HERE.
Secretary Cardona, a former teacher himself, is calling on school and state leaders to work together to level-up the teacher pipeline and get more qualified adults in the classroom immediately across the country. In order to accelerate student recovery, he is urging states and schools to use funds provided by the American Rescue Plan and other federal COVID-19 relief funds to scale up educator preparation programs (EPPs) at institutions of higher education and look for dynamic and innovative ways to provide hands-on learning for prospective teachers or paraprofessionals in a classroom environment.
In his speech, Secretary Cardona will issue a call to action with clear deliverables for states, districts, and institutions of higher education. Using Higher Education Emergency Relief Funds (HEERF), Governor’s Emergency Education Relief (GEER), and Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds these groups can create bold and innovative paths to the teaching profession.
To increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession in the fall and beyond, Secretary Cardona is calling on states to commit to:
Establish teaching as a Registered Apprenticeship. The U.S. Department of Labor has approved standards that create an easy pathway for states to establish and use apprenticeship funding to support teaching residencies, allowing teacher apprentices to earn a good wage while learning the skills – on-the-job and through higher education partners and their integrated coursework – necessary to provide a quality education to our nation’s students. Registered Apprenticeship is an effective “earn and learn” model with a long history of establishing career pathways in various industries by providing structured, paid on-the-job learning experiences combined with job-related technical instruction with a mentor that leads to a nationally recognized credential. To learn more about Registered Apprenticeships, visit apprenticeship.gov.
Invest in evidence-based teacher residency programs. States can provide grant funding to increase the number of partnerships between and districts that support teaching residencies.
Establish or expand loan forgiveness or service scholarship programs. These programs can also include a commitment to teach in a high-need area for a minimum number of years.
Increase teacher compensation. Provide a competitive and livable wage, including increasing starting salaries and salary caps for teachers.
To increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession in the fall and beyond, Secretary Cardona is calling on districts to commit to:
Increase the number of partnerships between EPPs and districts that support teaching residencies and schools. Teacher residents, as part of their clinical experience, can serve in schools as substitutes, paraprofessionals, or tutors as their academic schedules allow and as they complete requirements for teacher certification.
Increase the availability of qualified teacher residents to support educators, students, and staff. Districts can partner with institutions of higher education to provide additional supports to educators and students through the use of teaching candidates.
To increase the number of teacher candidates prepared to enter the profession in the fall and beyond, Secretary Cardona is calling on institutions of higher education and EPPs to commit to:
Increase the number of teaching residency programs and program capacity. Teacher residents, as part of their clinical experiences, can serve in schools as substitute teachers, paraprofessionals, or tutors as their academic schedules allow and as they complete requirements for teacher certification. An institution could use its HEERF institutional funds to expand its teacher training programs in response to the pandemic through such measures as hiring additional faculty and staff; providing stipends, scholarships, or other students aid; and creating additional course offerings.
Work with states to establish teaching as a Registered Apprenticeship. The U.S. Department of Labor has approved standards that create an easy pathway for states to establish and use apprenticeship funding to support teaching residencies. As previously described, Registered Apprenticeship is an effective “earn and learn” model with a long history of establishing career pathways in various industries by providing structured, paid on-the-job learning experiences combined with job-related technical instruction with a mentor that leads to a nationally recognized credential. To learn more about Registered Apprenticeships, visit apprenticeship.gov.
Establish or expand loan forgiveness or service scholarship programs. These programs can also include a commitment to teach in a high need area for a minimum number of years.
----- STRIKE WATCH - Sacramento City Teachers Association -----
Sac City schools remain closed as teachers continue strike
As negotiations with the SCTA and SEIU unions continue, Sacramento City USD schools will remain closed today. California State Superintendent Tony Thurmond has asked district officials and union leaders to return to the table to resolve the strike. The Sacramento City Teachers Association and school district leaders have been negotiating a contract since early 2019. They also have been bargaining over COVID-related issues for about two years, reaching an impasse in December. The unions have complained of staffing shortages that have left hundreds of students without a full-time teacher or substitute each day. They say 600 students are on a waiting list for independent study and are getting no instruction. The district has offered teachers an ongoing 2% salary increase starting in the 2021-22 school year, a 2% bonus for this school year and 1% bonuses for both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 school years, according to the district. They also are offering increased pay for substitutes and nurses and three additional paid professional development days.
EdSource CBS Sacramento The Sacramento Bee
Striking teachers, staff rally outside Sac City Unified district offices
Sacramento USD schools closed Wednesday morning as teachers and school staff went on strike and stood at picket lines at about 80 campuses across the city, the second such action since 2019. SEIU, which represents classified employees, went on strike in solidarity with teachers over health and safety protocols during the pandemic and staffing shortages which have left hundreds of students without a full-time teacher. “Ironically we are walking out to make sure every student has a teacher in the classroom,” said Sacramento City Teachers Association President David Fisher. Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who helped break a stalemate between teachers and the district in 2017, urged both sides to “do everything possible to end this strike immediately,” saying students have missed enough school and their education and mental health are at sake. In a statement Wednesday morning, Steinberg said that the parties needed to “commit to some form of working together” to keep the strike from affecting students. “Unless and until the leaders who possess real power commit to some form of working together, nothing will change, and our city’s children will bear the brunt,” he said. “Many will say, it’s impossible for the two sides to come to a resolution. The distrust and dislike is too deep. Friends don’t need to make peace. Adversaries must.”
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Forty percent of parents believe masks at school harmed their kids
A significant percentage of parents whose children wore masks in school during the last year believe it harmed their education, social interactions and mental health, according to a POLITICO-Harvard survey. More than four in 10 believe mask-wearing harmed their children’s overall scholastic experience, compared to 11% who said it helped. Nearly half of parents said masks made no difference. Forty-six percent of parents said mask-wearing hurt their child’s social learning and interactions, and 39% told pollsters it affected their child’s mental and emotional health. The survey of 478 parents whose children attend school in person, conducted from March 1st to March 7th, also found parents are split over whether a mask is needed to keep their children safe from COVID and variants such as Omicron. Relatedly, NPR speaks to students across the nation about their views on masking.
GAO: Over 1m students failed to attend class last year
An estimated 1.1m K-12 students registered for the 2020-21 school year but never attended class, a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report claims. Based on a nationally representative Gallup survey, nearly half of public school teachers said they had at least one student who enrolled but remained “unaccounted for,” the GAO report found. Three out of four of those teachers said they had more students unaccounted for by the end of the 2020-21 school year than in previous years. Rules vary widely from state to state on how schools identify students who leave school - particularly the rising number who have been home-schooled since the pandemic, but the GAO findings align with other data suggesting school enrollment itself dropped by more than a million students nationwide last year. “It’s pretty sobering,” said Hedy Chang, the founder and executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that works to combat chronic absenteeism. Missing students could lead to higher dropout rates and lower district budgets in years to come. While teachers across all kinds and grades of schools reported missing students, some of the most-vulnerable students and under-resourced schools seemed hardest hit. The GAO found that 50%-60% of teachers in high-poverty schools reported having students unaccounted for, compared to less than a third of teachers in schools where 20% or fewer students were from low-income families. Teachers in schools serving a majority of students of color were also 11 percentage points more likely to have students who never showed up, 56% versus 45% of teachers in majority-white schools. The Gallup survey, conducted in June and July 2021, included more than 2,860 public school K-12 teachers in general education and core subjects like English/language arts, math, science, social studies, and world languages.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California schools prepare to spot COVID cases
California's 7m students and school employees are getting free at-home COVID-19 tests to help prevent outbreaks at their school when they return from spring break. The state has shipped or delivered more than 14.3 million antigen tests, enough for two tests per person, to counties and school districts as part of a massive push to limit infections and avoid classroom closures after the break, Gov. Gavin Newsom's office announced Saturday. The strategy is part of the state's “endemic” approach to the coronavirus, emphasizing prevention and quick reaction to outbreaks over mandated masking and business shutdowns. “California is focused on keeping schools open and students safe, and we’re not letting our guard down,” Newsom said in a statement. “We know that COVID-19 is still present in our communities, but the SMARTER Plan is how we keep people safe and continue moving the state forward," he said, referring to the state's acronym for a strategy that calls for shots, masks, awareness, readiness, and testing.
How California school enrollment has changed over time
For two decades, K-12 enrollment in California was stable, hovering at 6.1m-6.2m students, although strong regional variations have always been present. Sharp declines in coastal counties, including the rural north and urban Los Angeles and Orange County, where housing prices outpaced incomes, were balanced by sharp increases inland, as families moved east to bigger lots and cheaper homes. Enrollments rose between 16.6% and 26.2% in “Superior California,” which includes the Sacramento area and its exurbs, the Inland Empire and the northern and southern San Joaquin Valley regions. In 2020-21, the first full year of the pandemic, enrollment fell by 160,000 students statewide, primarily among the youngest students, as parents in many districts didn’t enroll kindergartners and first graders.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Largest raise 'in years' for Mississippi teachers
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has signed a bill authorizing the largest pay raise in a generation for the state’s public school teachers. Teachers will receive average increase of about $5,100, an increase of more than 10% over their current pay. The average teacher salary in Mississippi during the 2019-20 academic year was $46,843, according to the Southern Regional Education Board, which lagged the average of $55,205 for teachers in the 16 states of the regional organization. The national average was $64,133
Record pay raises proposed for senior teachers in Alabama
Alabama lawmakers on Wednesday advanced record pay raises for experienced public school teachers in an effort to keep educators in their classrooms. The Senate Finance and Taxation Education Committee voted to raise minimum salaries for teachers with nine or more years' experience, resulting in pay increases ranging from 5% to 21% over their current salaries. It would also provide a 1% raise each year and do away with the current salary cap after 27 years' experience. “This is truly historic,” says Amy Marlowe, executive director of the Alabama Education Association. The full Senate is expected to vote on the proposal later today.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Report suggests 'invisible tax' levied against Black male educators
Black men have a "calling" to the teaching profession that is rooted in wanting to help Black boys navigate life, said Sharif El-Mekki, founder and CEO of of the Center for Black Educator Development, during a panel discussion Wednesday on the Black male educator experience. Yet despite the importance of Black educator representation for Black students and their academic success, Black educators report taking on more responsibility — due to their race — for roles such as "school liaisons" to families or color and disciplining students of color, according to a new report from panel host DonorsChoose, a nonprofit through which private donors support teacher-posted classroom projects. The result is an "invisible tax" on Black educators and points to a need for increased and ongoing professional development for all teachers, said Travis Bristol, associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Graduate School of Education, during the panel discussion. The DonorsChoose report found that, compared to their counterparts, Black male educators spend more hours counseling students outside of regular class time: While Black male teachers spend an average of 5.4 hours on this per week, White male educators spend 2.5 hours. Moreover, the report found Black teachers three times more likely than other teachers of color to say they were expected to discipline students of color and about twice as likely to report being expected to do extra mentoring of students of color. Some said they are also expected to teach colleagues about racism and to teach students about racism.
Teachers turn to side hustles to earn extra money
More than half of all K-12 teachers in the United States earn income from sources other than their base teaching salary, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. U.S. teachers with supplemental income made an average of $4,400 beyond their base teaching salary in 2017-18, the most recent time period when this data was collected by NCES. Inadequate pay is a long-standing issue for teachers, says Nick Kauzlarich of the Economic Policy Institute, whose research reveals that public K–12 teachers are paid nearly 20% less than college-educated, non-teaching peers.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
How schools can address student mental health issues
Entering the third year of the COVID pandemic, students and educators continue to feel overwhelmed, anxious and despondent. The American Academy of Pediatrics has declared the state of children’s mental health to be a “national emergency.” In addition to social isolation, it notes that more than 140,000 children have lost a caregiver, with youth of color disproportionately impacted. At the same time, principals are themselves feeling besieged; a National Association of Secondary School Principals survey found that 42% of principals had accelerated their plans to leave the profession. With teachers, students, and families in crisis, some principals find their jobs have become unrecognizable. Addressing these crises requires new priorities. Education Week sets out eight strategies district and school leaders can use to bolster a sense of community and facilitate healing.
Nearly half of LAUSD students have been chronically absent this year
Nearly half of Los Angeles Unified students, more than 200,000 children, have been chronically absent this school year, meaning they have missed at least 9% of the academic year, the Los Angeles Times reports. In the three years just before the pandemic the district’s chronic absentee rate, already considered high, averaged about 19%. This school year it has been about 46%. For Black students the chronic absence rate is nearly 57%, for Latinos, 49%, and for homeless students, 68%. “We thought we were going to go back to normal this year and it just hasn’t happened at all,” said Erica Peterson, national education manager for School Innovations & Achievement, a company that works with districts to track and improve attendance. “It is going to take a long time to right the ship.” Experts say that one of the best ways to increase attendance is to ensure students feel connected to their teachers and safe and supported on campus, something that’s even more important at a time in which many students have suffered from isolation and trauma. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho is planning to launch an “I Attend LAUSD” program, which would create a team of trained counselors whose primary responsibility is preventing chronic absence by identifying and supporting at-risk students . The framework for the program should be ready by this summer, he added.
More than a third of students had poor mental health during pandemic
An analysis published Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that examined adolescent behaviors and experiences in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, found that 37% of students reported experiencing poor mental health either most of the time or always during the pandemic, with more than 31% of students reporting being in such a state during the past 30 days. More than 44% students also reported feeling persistently sad or hopeless within the past year, with nearly 20% saying they’d seriously considered attempting suicide and 9% attempting suicide in that time period. Notably, feeling connected with others at school appeared to be a significant factor in whether students reported experiencing poor mental health. The study found approximately 47% of youth surveyed reported feeling close to people at their school. Among those students, 28% reported poor mental health during the pandemic compared with 45% who did not agree that they felt close to others at school. “These data echo a cry for help,” Dr. Debra Houry, the CDC’s acting principal deputy director, said in a statement. “The COVID-19 pandemic has created traumatic stressors that have the potential to further erode students’ mental well-being. Our research shows that surrounding youth with the proper support can reverse these trends and help our youth now and in the future.”
----- INTERNATIONAL -----
400m children in schools still closed amid pandemic, UNICEF warns
The United Nations' children's fund has warned that roughly 400m children across 23 countries are attending schools that are still at least partially closed due to the pandemic. UNICEF says some areas still lack sufficient access to vaccines and are unable to mitigate the virus. The U.N. agency also says many of the children are at risk of dropping out and others have failed to develop basic math and reading skills. “This rising inequality in access to learning means that education risks becoming the greatest divider, not the greatest equalizer. When the world fails to educate its children, we all suffer,” laments UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell.
----- OTHER -----
Is it time for schools to invest in the metaverse?
Technology advocates say that school districts could get left behind if they don’t integrate related tech into curricula to facilitate virtual trips, AR projections and more. Kathy Hirsh-Pasek, a psychology professor at Temple University and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, imagines infinite possibilities for learning opportunities. “It will enable us to visit places we’ve never visited before,” she said. “To learn French while we’re sitting in a French cafe. To go visit places in South Africa that we might have only heard about or seen on a Google map. Imagine if you could jump into the Google map. Imagine if you could go back and forth on a timeline and now really go back to the future.” Ms. Hirsh-Pasek co-authored a Brookings Institution report on education and the metaverse in February that defines the metaverse as a “third space” combining the virtual and living worlds. “The metaverse of the future is likely to fully support augmented and virtual reality, artificial intelligence, and the connectivity to link all worlds,” the report said. Cost and isolation are the biggest risks she foresees districts facing as they consider integrating the metaverse into classrooms. Virtual reality glasses currently available to immerse students into the metaverse are usually very expensive, she said, although costs will likely go down over time. In addition, the technology could take students away from developing personal connections with others if not facilitated well. The idea of the metaverse is not new, it’s just been waiting for the technology and infrastructure to catch up, said Michael Young, an associate professor at the University of Connecticut’s Neag School of Education with expertise in cognition, instruction and learning technology. He envisions a classroom transforming into an interactive augmented reality projection where students have special gloves that allow them to move around the universe. It’s just a matter of when the hardware for the technology will be developed and widely available, he added.
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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