KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
As we prepare to return to the bargaining table, here are some of the numbers the ABCFT negotiating team will be taking into consideration. The COLA provided by the state this year is a healthy 6.56%. There is an additional amount labeled as an enhancement (for COVID-related issues and recruit/retain hard-to-staff positions etc.) which is equivalent to 6.28%. These ongoing dollars are what we refer to as the base or unrestricted funding that is available to be bargained for compensation.
The state funds districts based on their respective Average Daily Attendance (ADA). During the COVID years, this formula was suspended to acknowledge the crisis conditions that we were all operating under. This was called a “hold harmless” model where districts were not penalized for understandable dips in attendance and enrollment. This is the year where we need to start dealing with the impact of declining enrollment. To help smooth out the impact, the state allows districts to spread out the declining enrollment over a three-year period rather than have a single devastating negative spike in the numbers. In 2018-29, ABCUSD had over 20,00 students enrolled, while our current numbers are just over 18,000. This loss of 2,000+ students is then calculated as a real number and spread out over the next three years in our projections. The good news, of course, is that if our district-wide enrollment improves in the next two years those cuts are mitigated. The downside is that if our enrollment continues to decline, then the drain on our funding will as well.
The real costs of declining enrollment is the single biggest factor in terms of money that is subtracted from our ongoing or base funding. Additional year-to-year expenses include the cost of our members advancing through the steps and columns on our salary schedule, any potential increase to health benefits, and the district contributions to our STRS pensions. The positive news regarding STRS contributions is that this is the last scheduled year for an increase, so we will not have to make any adjustments beginning in 2023-24. The overall fiscal forecast for next year is not as promising, but the real dollars that are available this year are significant. Declining enrollment is real, but so are the needs of our members. The ABCFT team recognizes how crucial it is to take advantage of every opportunity to improve our salary schedule.
ABCFT is committed to the principle that our members be fairly compensated, with the first quartile of Los Angeles county districts being our consistent goal. Remaining competitive with neighboring districts is one standard we use to maintain this ability to attract and retain the very best teachers and nurses. ABCUSD recognizes the need to remain competitive as well but the tension is in exactly how these priorities are defined and funded by a school board that has the final approval. I have referred to the concept of a moving target, and this remains the case, every raise that we achieve is a real win for our members, but then another district improves their salary scale, and we need to keep pace. The negotiating team is working to find innovative ways to increase our compensation and bring us more in line with the recent gains of other districts.
In Unity,
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES: Election 2022 By Tanya Golden
If you are a registered voter, you should have already received a ballot for California’s universal vote-by-mail system, which means you can cast your ballot at any time. You have options with returning your ballot too. If you mail your ballot, it must be postmarked on or before November 8th, the official election day. Or you may personally deliver your ballot to your local polling place or ballot drop-box. Or you can cast your vote in person, many polling places will be open 10 days before election day. Find your local polling place here.
If your ballot has not arrived yet, click here to register to vote or check if you are registered to vote. You’ll need to be registered within 14 days of an election in California. However, you can also register the same day of the election. To find early voting locations where you can complete the same-day election registration click here. Be sure to take advantage of the flexibility in casting your vote and let your voice be heard this election.
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Culturally Responsive Teaching
6 Ways to Make Teaching More Culturally Responsive
Over half of the students in our schools are from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds. However, still, 79 percent of our teachers are White, many of whom aren’t multilingual. To ensure that teachers are prepared to teach and support students whose cultural-linguistic backgrounds are different from theirs, many states have added requirements on teacher licensure, such as the need to have sheltered English immersion endorsement and/or complete relevant coursework. Even with these changes, teachers’ understanding of effectively implementing culturally responsive pedagogy in their classrooms may still be limited.
1. TAKE TIME TO SELF-REFLECT
2. CREATE A STUDENT-CENTERED CLASSROOM
3. RETHINK YOUR CLASSROOM LIBRARY
4. ENGAGE STUDENTS’ FAMILIES AND COMMUNITY
5. ADVANCE YOUR SKILLS CONTINUOUSLY
6. REFLECT CONSISTENTLY
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
October is Computer Learning Month
Digital Citizenship Week is Oct. 17-21
Use these digital literacy resources to help students foster their own well-being, identify misinformation and stay safe online.
Computer Science
Computer Science and Digital Tools: Lesson Plans and Activities. Try this curated collection of engaging lessons and activities to develop and support preK-12 students’ use of digital tools.
ACADEMIC SERVICES UPDATE
This month’s academic service update is vital for all teachers. We hope 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 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 Catherine at Catherine.Pascual@abcusd.us if you have any questions or concerns.
Click Here For This Month’s Full Report
ABCFT PRESIDENT’S REPORT - Ray Gaer
Consistent and regular communication is a union’s most important tool for advocating for its members at the bargaining table. Every conversation with members is focused on the end result of negotiating for the future prosperity and well-being of ALL ABCFT members. The goal of this weekly report is to keep members informed about issues that impact their working/learning conditions and their mental well-being. Our work as a Union is a larger conversation, and together we make the YOUnion.
I hope that all of you had a good week and that you have some plans for a breather for the weekend. This week, I attended the annual Adult School Open House, Craft, and Fitness Fair, where teachers and students get to show and sell the crafts they have created in our adult school classrooms. Every year I try to make sure to attend this event because it celebrates the accomplishments of our adult school teachers and students. ABC has the fourth largest adult school program in the state of California, and it is a vital resource for adults of all ages to enhance or learn new skills that will help their careers or further their enjoyment of their craft hobbies.
Friday morning, I had the opportunity to join ABC’s interim Superintendent Toan Nguyen during his visits to Cerritos Elementary and Niemes Elementary. Thank you, teachers, for being so gracious as to have us walk through your classrooms, you are appreciated. This opportunity to walk around with Mr. Nguyen is significant because of its symbolic meaning. I can count on one hand the number of times over the last decade that I have had the opportunity to join the superintendent on a school tour. You would think with all this talk about the partnership that this would happen more often but it hasn’t in ABC. For me, having the opportunity to speak with the superintendent about what we are seeing in teachers' classrooms together speaks volumes about the attention both organizations spend on how to best support teachers and provide teachers with the tools needed to be successful in their classrooms. Our conversations are real and solution-driven. After the tension of the previous year between ABCFT and ABCUSD, I feel that it is important for you all to know that we should not take for granted the importance of having a teacher/nurse voice to give input into the direction of ABC. Besides, I had to see for myself the principal of Cerritos Elementary Craig Spratt eating dried bugs today after a successful fundraising campaign. In his words, “it didn’t taste like chicken,” but the students loved it. Click here for the video.
I wanted to point out some significant things that happened at the school board meeting last week that caught my attention. First, the school board approved the creation of a behavior support para educator position with extended hours and health benefits. This job creation and the compensation attached to it mark a significant change in the attitude of the school board concerning the recruitment and retention of this hard-to-staff area as behavioral challenges in your classrooms continue to provide distractions on top of any other challenges to your instruction. For me, this signals that the board is looking for long-term solutions that will impact students directly. A revolving door of paraeducators is not a good practice for building student-learning relationships so this move to secure employees who will invest in ABC is a welcome and significant step in steading our classrooms.
Lastly, I think that those of you who want to see a preliminary map of how the ABC Administration is planning on going forward should take a few minutes to watch the presentation by Assistant Superintendent of Academic Services Carol Castro as she presented before the school board. First, she reports about student data points, but then her team details changes we will begin to see going forward. I’ll circle back around at another time to discuss what is presente, but I wanted to provide those of you interested in seeing our direction. Slowly the pieces are coming together. You can find the video clip here.
Update: 222 teachers completed the Educators Thriving Survey. The first 200 will be notified by email of their stipend shortly.
HVAC unit update: Filters are changed every three months.
Thanks for all you do, I look forward to visiting with you in the near future. Have a good weekend!
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-----
Can Teachers ‘Quiet Quit?’
“Quiet quitting” has been riling some corners of the business world lately. But below the surface of the term and images, it may evoke of burned out—or, depending on your point of view, entitled—employees, the actual act of quiet quitting is not particularly new. Countless employees from multiple industries have long chosen to perform the duties that their job requires—and nothing more. But, generally speaking, that’s not how teachers work.
Teachers are known for going above and beyond expectations—giving of themselves, their time, and even their own money. It’s not unusual for teachers to skip going to the bathroom or eating lunch during the school day. They devote chunks of their evenings and weekends to lesson planning, grading, and responding to student needs and parent inquiries. They also regularly buy supplies to outfit their classrooms—in a 2021 member survey from the Association of American Educators, around 32 percent of respondents said they spent between $500 and $700 on out-of-pocket expenses for their classrooms annually; nearly 9 percent spent $1,000 or more.
But the longevity and fairness of teachers’ commitment-at-all-costs attitude has come into question. Teachers’ job satisfaction levels have plummeted to all-time lows, according to the Merrimack College Teacher Survey conducted earlier this year by the EdWeek Research Center. The same survey found that 44 percent of teachers said they’re likely to quit and find a different job within the next two years.
So far, a mass exodus of teachers has not materialized, even as individual schools and districts have had to deal with high turnover and staff shortages. In a nationwide EdWeek Research Center survey from July 27 through Aug. 8, district and school leaders reported that a median of 7 percent of teachers had resigned or retired within the past year. But just because teachers haven’t officially quit doesn’t mean they are satisfied or might not be looking for ways to manage their work-related stress.
“I think it’s still coming,” Sharkey said, referring to an uptick in teacher resignations. “If you’re exhausting the people who are staying, you’re just buying some time.”
The “quiet quitting” trend—made viral this summer by TikTok videos with tips on how to keep your job from taking over your life—has gotten tons of attention across industries, especially as labor markets continue to challenge employers. In schools—especially those with unionized teachers—quiet quitting may sound a lot like the “work to rule” concept when employees stick to official working rules and hours exactly to the letter.
Topics of discussion are:
Setting boundaries
Acknowledging a need for help
Building a positive work culture from the top
https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/can-teachers-quiet-quit/2022/10
----- COVID BOOSTER NEWS -----
Few Americans got COVID boosters last week
Almost 3.3m people in the United States have received updated COVID-19 booster shots over the past week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. Approximately 14.8m Americans had received the shot as of October 12, the first six weeks of the booster being available, which is just 6.9% of the people aged 12 or older who are eligible for the vaccine. The shots are being administered at a slower pace than last year, when over 20m people received their third shot in the first six weeks of that vaccination campaign. U.S. health regulators this week authorized the use of Omicron-tailored COVID-19 booster shots from Moderna and Pfizer in children as young as five, a move that's expected to expand the government's fall vaccination campaign.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Young immigrants face challenges in public schools
Sophia Rodriguez, an assistant professor in urban education at the University of Maryland at College Park, whose research examines how school and policy contexts welcome and include Latino/x immigrant youths and how community-school partnerships increase access to resources and opportunities for immigrant-origin youths, explores the challenges faced by young immigrants in the nation's public schools. Long-term research from multiple sources confirms several major educational challenges, she asserts, including complicated school enrollment processes, lack of resources or misallocation, and fears of immigration enforcement and in local communities.
Schools' spending on teachers examined
Phyllis Jordan and Bella DiMarco of FutureEd, a think tank at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy, examine the COVID relief spending plans of 5,000 districts and charter organizations - and the challenges presented by the short window for allocating the money. Seven significant spending trends emerge from the analysis. Adding instructional staff is a major priority, with about 60% of districts and charter organizations planning to use federal relief to hire new teachers or pay current staffers more to expand instruction. Reducing class sizes to provide more intensive support to students who fell behind during the pandemic is also a common strategy among the 100 largest districts. Several districts - New York City; Long Beach, California; Washoe County, Nevada; and Shelby County, Georgia, among them - focused these efforts on the primary grades. Two Florida districts, Volusia County Schools and Lee County Schools, are taking a different tack by offering stipends to teachers who have larger classes. About 20% of school districts in the national sample and 47% of the largest districts are using federal money to recruit and retain teachers. Houston ISD in Texas for example has offered $5,000 bonuses to teachers who agree to stay on the payroll for at least three years. At least 33 of the top 100 districts are earmarking federal money to pay teachers stipends for additional hours, a significant trend given unions’ traditional commitment to restricting the scope of teachers’ work. The Los Angeles Unified School District, for instance, budgeted $122m for three extra days of professional development and four additional days of learning for students this school year. Philadelphia is using its COVID relief money to give teachers 120 minutes a week to coordinate planning with colleagues teaching the same grade. Professional development has also emerged as one of the most popular uses of federal COVID aid nationally, with about 43% of districts and charters nationwide planning investments and about 15% spending on social-emotional training and materials.
Biden’s Title IX plan vulnerable following legal ruling
Legal experts have cautioned that a new federal court ruling striking down pro-LGBTQ employment policies from the Biden administration could impact similar guidance from the U.S. Department of Education and its regulatory proposal on Title IX. On October 1, District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk in Texas threw out guidance documents from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission stating that employers should allow transgender workers to access restrooms and facilities aligned with their gender identity. Attacks on one’s gender expression or use of pronouns could also constitute discrimination, the guidance said. Already, another federal judge in July blocked the Education Department from enforcing in 20 states its guidance that Title IX extends to gay and transgender students. Those states had sued last year, arguing the agency overstepped its authority.
----- STATE NEWS -----
Voters asked to approve arts and music funding for California schools
A measure on the November ballot in California could boost school funding for music and arts education by about $1bn, a move that proponents say will create more equitable classrooms and lead to a more diverse workforce in the state's entertainment industry. The proposal would not raise taxes but would require the state to set aside an amount for arts education that equals 1% of the total funding provided to schools each year to be used toward courses such as music, dance, theater, photography and graphic design. The proposal would give more to schools depending on how many students live in low-income households and would require that 80% of spending at larger schools be used to employ teachers, with the rest going toward training and materials. Despite a record high state budget, only one in five public schools in California have a full-time arts and music program at present.
----- DISTRICTS -----
L.A. students can seek limited academic support during vacation
Los Angeles parents who want their children to receive extra academic help can send them to school on the first two weekdays of winter and spring break, a revised learning plan that won teacher union support. Superintendent Alberto Carvalho and several school board members criticized the United Teachers Los Angeles labor group however. The district had originally announced the school year would be expanded by four days, from 180 to 184, with the extra learning days woven into the calendar at strategic points around mid-semester to enable struggling students to have an opportunity to do better in class, but the union filed a labor complaint. The district set aside $122m to pay for the four days, as well as for three additional teacher training days just before the start of the school year. “Frankly, it is disheartening,” Carvalho laments. “And I want to tell the board that I sincerely apologize to you and the community for the fact that we tried to do something that was in the best interest of students.”
Los Angeles Times
Districts receive high marks for supporting LGBTQ students
Civil rights group Equality California has published its second annual report card grading school districts' efforts to support LGBTQ students. The group asked more than 340 unified school districts in California to respond to its survey and about a third responded. Based on their responses, Oceanside Unified and San Diego Unified are two of the 19 districts rated the highest by Equality California for having extensive policies and programs to create LGBTQ inclusion for students. Educators and civil rights activists say such efforts are crucial considering that many LGBTQ students face stigma and harassment for their sexual or gender identities and, as a result, worse mental health.
Los Angeles Schools expanding girls' flag football league
The Los Angeles Girls Flag Football League of Champions is expanding this winter. Co-sponsored by the Rams and Chargers, and involving programs from both the Southern and City Sections, the league is expanding to 16 teams from its original eight last season. The schools participating are Crenshaw High, Gardena Serra High, Inglewood, Hamilton, Hawthorne, King/Drew, Lawndale, Lawndale Leuzinger, Long Beach Poly, Inglewood Morningside, last season's champions Redondo Union, Rise Kohyang, Santee, Sierra Vista, Playa del Rey St. Bernard and YULA High.
Boston teachers' contract improvements approved
The Boston School Committee has unanimously approved a $141.6m three-year contract with the Boston Teachers Union. The contract, which union members ratified earlier this month, includes money for new hires to help integrate students with special learning needs into general classroom settings, a 9.5% pay raise for educators over the course of the contract, and 12 weeks of paid parental leave for all union members. Other provisions in the contract include rigid caps on class sizes, allowing educators more time to obtain new licenses, and reducing the amount of time a member is required to have been working in the district before they are entitled to paid parental leave.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Southern states pushed to ease job requirements amid teacher shortages
As schools across the South grapple with teacher shortages, many are being pushed to accept candidates without formal training. By 2030, as many as 16m K-12 students in the region may be taught by an unprepared or inexperienced teacher. A Southern Regional Education Board analysis of 2019-20 data in 11 states found roughly 4% of teachers were uncertified or teaching with an emergency certification. In addition, 10% were teaching "out of field" in a subject they didn’t study. In Texas, reliance on uncertified new hires ballooned over the last decade. In the 2011-12 school year, fewer than 7% of the state's new teachers (roughly 1,600) didn't have a certification. By last year, about 8,400 of the state's nearly 43,000 new hires were uncertified. Trustees in Dallas leaned into a state program that allows districts to bypass certification requirements, often to hire industry professionals for career-related classes. The school system has hired 335 teachers through the exemption as of mid-September. "It's about the passion, not about the paper," says Robert Abel, Dallas ISD's human capital management chief.
----- CHILD DEVELOPMENT ----
Many early childhood educators suffering burnout
Almost half (45%) of early childhood educators in the United States are experiencing high levels of burnout and stress, according to a fresh survey by early childhood education resource provider Teaching Strategies. Roughly the same percentage (43%) also say staffing shortages are affecting their stress levels and mental health challenges are partly why they're considering a career change. Teaching Strategies CEO John Olsen comments: “The findings confirm what we have suspected: If we are to retain passionate educators, we must not only fairly compensate them for their critical work but we must make high-quality, flexible opportunities for professional growth more accessible. As the field looks to retain amazing educators, we can’t return to business as usual.” Notably, only 8% of early childhood educators say they’re planning to leave in the next year.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
E-cigarettes remain a big issue for schools, report indicates
About 2.55m middle and high school students in the U.S. currently use e-cigarettes. Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) looked at responses from the 2022 National Youth Tobacco Survey, conducted between January 18 and May 31, and found that 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students reported using e-cigarettes within the previous 30 days. Of those, 42.3% reported using them frequently, and 27.6% of them reported daily use. The study, published Thursday in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, noted: “Puff Bar was the most commonly reported brand used in the past 30 days by both middle and high school students (29.7%), followed by Vuse (23.6%), JUUL (22.0%), SMOK (13.5%), NJOY (8.3%), Hyde (7.3%), and blu (6.5%).”
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
School cyberattacks can have 'lasting, expensive repercussions'
Cybersecurity experts are warning that the repercussions of an attack on school technology infrastructure can be "strong, long-lasting and expensive." Uncertainties over stolen data in the Los Angeles Unified School District for example will likely persist well into the future, they say, not just for the school system but also for those whose personal information was published on the dark web. A 2020 attack on the Baltimore schools has resulted in more than $8m in costs for example, including $900,000 for the repair of the student information system, $860,000 for investigation, $50,000 for public relations and $11,500 for ransomware negotiation services. Major problems persist with pension and health insurance payments for retirees too. Repercussions also include potential litigation against a school district for not properly safeguarding data. Jeremy Kirk, executive editor for security and technology for Information Security Media Group, comments: "Unfortunately reversing a data breach is like putting toothpaste back in the tube."
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
Latino enrollment in four-year schools hits all time high
Hispanic student enrollment at four-year colleges and universities has reached an all-time high. A new Pew Research Center analysis of the most recent U.S. population survey data found that between 2000 and 2020 the number of Latinos enrolled in a four-year institution increased by 287%, jumping from 620,000 to 2.4m. Overall student enrollment at four-year institutions in the U.S. has risen by 50% during the same time period. Between 2019 and 2020 the number of Latino students enrolled in a four-year college or university spiked by 140,000 students (6%) the analysis found.
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
