KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
The ABCUSD school board voted 6-0 to approve our tentative agreement during their meeting on Tuesday night.
The raise should begin to be reflected in our April paychecks. The retro check and any off schedule payments will be distributed in the summer with more concrete dates to be shared as soon as we get more information.
Thank you to the unity of our members that made this master contract and salary agreement possible.
What comes next? The ABCFT negotiating team will be preparing to bargain salary and benefits for the 2023-2024 school year. We will also be discussing the calendar for the 2024-2025 school year.
A reminder that this summer will feel “short” due to our first day back with students being August 14. Everyone will have the opportunity to participate in two voluntary days of PL available on August 8 and 9 at a rate of $474 per day. Beginning the school year earlier will allow for the first semester to end at the beginning of winter break and the last day for teachers will be May 31, 2024. As you may have already worked out, the 2023-2024 school year will occur during a ten-month calendar however, we will continue to receive our checks over an eleven-month period.
In Unity,
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Registration is Open for the 2023 Virtual Conference
Registration is now open for the AFT Share My Lesson annual virtual conference, to be held March 21-23! Featuring 30+ free, for-credit sessions, this professional development event is one not to miss for preK-16 teachers, school staff, and parents. Sessions will run each day from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. EDT and will span the curriculum, including dedicated sessions on diversity, equity and inclusion, and social-emotional learning and mental health. You'll learn professional strategies and tactics to continue to foster the emotional and scholastic development of students in a post-pandemic environment.
WIN A TRIP
Want to win a trip to Washington, D.C.? By joining us for our virtual conference, you’ll have a chance to win one of three trips to Washington, D.C., for the AFT TEACH conference this summer. Enter now.
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.
The big news is that we have a new contract and payroll is already working to make changes to the April checks. My apologies for us not getting the word out about the approval from the school board right away. I’ve been fighting an illness all week and Tanya caught the bug too so we are both working the best we can. Whatever is out there among the kids is going around. Thank you Ruben for your write-up this week and the reminder about next year's PL days.
We will have more content next week. Until that time please be safe this weekend, stay dry, and stay warm.
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
Randi’s latest NYT column is attached. Her focus this month is on book bans, censorship and threats to public education and democracy.
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Funding concerns shadow governors' 'higher teacher salaries' rhetoric
Governors across the nation are calling for higher teaching salaries to help support school staff. Many governors discussed the issue during their State of the State addresses this year, according to the Education Commission of the States, which tracks education policy across the nation. In Tennessee, for example, Republican Gov. Bill Lee has proposed legislation that would see minimum salaries for teachers jump from $41,000 to $50,000 over four years. In Missouri, Republican Gov. Mike Parson has advocated for a program to temporarily boost teacher salaries, while in Oklahoma Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt’s proposal would see $50m put toward merit raises rather than an increase to all public school teacher salaries. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont announced last week that he would introduce federal legislation to set a nationwide salary floor of $60,000 for educators, funded through changes to the estate tax. Michael Hansen, a senior fellow in the Brown Center on Education Policy at the Brookings Institution, says colleagues are however “genuinely concerned” about the impact of the looming fiscal cliff amid an uncertain economic future. He suggests modest or temporary raises could be a more prudent approach.
Other states responding to Florida’s AP African American Studies ban
Following Florida’s ban of the pilot version of the College Board’s advanced placement African American Studies course, at least seven other states have taken action on the course. While some Republican-led states are questioning whether the course is in compliance with laws that restrict lessons about race and racism, others are emphasizing the importance of the course, demanding that it not be watered down to cater to Florida, and expanding access to it. In four Republican-led states, the departments of education decided to review the course to determine if it complies with their restrictions on lessons about race and racism; another state passed a bill that would ban the course if it interfered with state law. All five states - Arkansas, North Dakota, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia - are among the 18 states that have passed “anti-CRT” laws. Meanwhile, Illinois and New Jersey, both of which are Democrat-led states, are emphasizing the need for AP African American Studies, or have warned the College Board—the organization that developed the course—that if it censors content, they will not accept the course.
Florida home schoolers snub school voucher expansion bill
After reviewing the specifics of the Florida legislature's newest plan for more school vouchers, many local home-schooling organizations appear to be against the proposals. The concern focuses on the requirements the legislation (HB1 and SB202) would impose on home schooling families who accept the state money. The bills would provide accounts to 10,000 home schoolers the first year, growing the number in subsequent years. Families would receive the equivalent of what the state allots per student in a public school and could use it for expenses such as tutoring, college courses and instructional materials. But to qualify, the students would have to annually take a national norm-referenced test and meet with a "choice" navigator. “We want home education programs to be treated separately and not be confused with families that choose to take the education savings account,” says T.J. Schmidt, senior counsel for the Home School Legal Defense Association. "Many parents do not want to submit to those requirements, and do not intend to take any money tied to them," agrees Brenda Dickinson of Florida's Home Education Foundation. “We're not trying to remove home schoolers from getting ESAs,” she stresses. “What we want is a separation between the parents that take money and those who choose not to take money.” Lawmakers have signaled they are open to considering amendments in line with their goal of expanding education options, without regard to income status.
----- STATE NEWS -----
Practicalities undermine California's investment in teacher residency programs
California has invested more than $350m over the past five years to fund teacher residency programs as part of a multipronged approach to end the state’s enduring teacher shortage. The residency programs are struggling to fill their rosters however, because teacher candidates can’t afford to live on the small stipends often provided. Residents work alongside an experienced teacher-mentor for a year of clinical training, while completing required coursework in a university preparation program — a time commitment that often precludes them from taking a part-time job. Annual enrollment in the residency partnerships funded by the state’s residency grant program is between 300 and 350 residents collectively, with most programs having fewer than 15 residents each year, according to Andrew Brannegan of WestEd, which is serving as the external evaluator of the state program. In 2021-22 the program had 317 residents, instead of the 500 administrators predicted. Instead of choosing residencies, many teacher candidates are opting for internships, which allow them to earn a full salary as the primary teacher in the classroom but don’t offer the intense one-on-one training with a veteran teacher that comes with residencies. Administrators in school districts also tend to champion the internship model, making it difficult for residency programs to get traction in some districts.
Districts can't require COVID-19 vaccines, California Supreme Court affirms
The state Supreme Court has rejected a challenge to a ruling that said school districts in California cannot require their students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 because only the state government can issue such a mandate. The case involved San Diego Unified, the state's second-largest district with more than 121,000 students, which first proposed in September 2021 to require students 16 and older to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to attend classes, sports and other in-person events. Its order would have allowed exemptions for medical reasons but not for religious or personal objections. Other school districts that have proposed vaccine mandates include Oakland and Los Angeles, which both planned them to take effect last year but backed off while facing legal challenges. Piedmont Unified in the East Bay required students 12 and over to show proof of vaccinations by mid-November 2021, but withdrew its order two months later after a judge halted enforcement in response to an anti-vaccine group's lawsuit.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Orange Unified accused of 'ambush' after firing superintendent
Firing the former superintendent of Orange Unified and immediately hiring an interim superintendent to replace her at the same meeting in January may have violated the state’s open meeting laws, which require elected bodies to take action only at public meetings - without prior private discussions. Both actions were pushed through by a newly-empowered conservative school board majority in the 27,000 student district that includes the city of Orange and parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. Orange Unified has become the latest education battleground, particularly intense in politically “purple” areas of California, like Orange County, over “parental rights,” school choice, Covid school closures and classroom instruction about race and gender. The board will meet today in special session to name an acting superintendent.
Orange Unified accused of 'full ambush' to fire superintendent; did it violate state's open meeting law?
Firing the former superintendent of Orange Unified and immediately hiring an interim superintendent to replace her at the same meeting in January may have violated the state’s open meeting law.
Both actions were rammed through by a newly empowered conservative school board majority in the 27,000 student district that includes the city of Orange and parts of Anaheim, Garden Grove and Santa Ana. They may have violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires that elected bodies take action only at public meetings, without prior private discussions, open meeting advocates said.
Ocean View Schools mull school consolidations
Facing its largest decline in student enrollment seen in 40 years, the Ocean View School District is looking at consolidating campuses, with up to four affected by initial recommendations from the district’s leadership. Meetings will be held this week and next for families at the four schools to outline the issues facing the district and arguments why combing some schools would allow for more programs and opportunities for students, but officials said they also want to hear suggestions from the community at those meetings and that input will be part of the decision making. Superintendent Michael Conroy and his executive staff last week gave the school board their recommendation to consider repurposing Spring View Middle School as an elementary school, with its students moved to other campuses, and that Circle View, Village View and Golden View elementary schools be closed and their students relocated. The district has 6,809 students enrolled this school year, which is down by about 2,600 students from just 10 years ago.
Long Beach Unified hit by cyberattack
Student data from the Long Beach Unified School District has been stolen by a hacker and posted online. “Our school district recently learned about an incident in which an individual gained access to a list containing student identification numbers, names and their corresponding LBUSD-provided email addresses,” the district, which has about 67,500 students, wrote to parents and students in an email. “Please know that LBUSD’s network remains secure.” The district’s technology and information services branch coordinated with multiple federal, state and local agencies, including law enforcement, to ensure that the more sensitive personal information hadn’t been compromised.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Universal school meals improve attendance for youngest students
Kindergarten students in schools with universal free school meals turn in better attendance records than their peers without, according to a recent Syracuse University study analyzing the link between free school meals and students’ health and academic performance. Kindergarten attendance increased by 1.8 days per school year and chronic absenteeism dropped by 5.4 percentage points among those getting free school meals compared to those who didn't, according to the study of New York City kindergarteners, which indicates that leaders should rely on chronic absenteeism and student income data to ensure the highest-need schools can offer free school meals. Notably, the chronic absenteeism disparity did drop over time, from a 5.4 percentage point difference in kindergarten to a 2.2 percentage point gap in second grade. Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, a nonprofit that addresses absenteeism issues, suggests that understanding the impact on school attendance is especially critical now as kindergarten chronic absenteeism rates are at an all-time high nationwide. “Offering universal free meals might be even more important for addressing the still continued consequences of the pandemic, which have truly resulted in extraordinarily high levels of chronic absence in every state that we’ve looked at,” she says.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Few black males in education workforce
Black men currently account for less than 2% of the U.S. public school teacher workforce, according to the National Center for Education Statistics’ National Teacher and Principal Survey and Dr. Travis J. Bristol of the University of California, Berkeley. This trend has been attributed to the lack of mentorship or misalignment in certain educational environments.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Educators lack resources to address worsening mental health crisis
School leaders lack resources to properly address student mental health and behavioral concerns, according to two surveys released Thursday by EAB, an education research and consulting firm. While a large majority of superintendents (81%) agree student behavioral concerns have deepened since the pandemic and an even greater portion (92%) indicate the student mental health crisis is worse than in 2019, most (79%) also say they don’t have the staff to focus on the problem, a survey of almost 200 superintendents in 37 states found. Nearly two-thirds of superintendents (63%) cited budget concerns as another barrier. In a separate survey, administrators and student support staff, 84% said students are developmentally behind in self-regulation and relationship building compared to pre-pandemic levels and that incidents of physical violence have more than doubled since COVID-19. Almost 60% said pressure to boost academic outcomes leaves them with little time to address the situation. Ben Court, EAB senior director of K-12 research, comments: “While most feel more confident and energized than they did a year ago, persistent funding concerns and staffing headaches have led many district leaders to question whether making progress on their priorities is possible in today’s environment.”
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
L.A. Unified data breach includes student records, investigation claims
Detailed and highly sensitive mental health records of hundreds — and likely thousands — of former Los Angeles Unified School District students were published online after the district fell victim to a huge ransomware attack last year, an investigation by The 74 claims. The student psychological evaluations offer a startling degree of personally identifiable information about students who received special education services, including their detailed medical histories, academic performance and disciplinary records. Cybersecurity experts say that a lack of transparency by the district highlights a gap in existing federal privacy laws. Rules that pertain to sensitive health records maintained by hospitals and health insurers, which are protected by stringent data breach notification policies, differ from those that apply to education records kept by schools — even when the files themselves are virtually identical. Under existing federal privacy rules, school districts are not required to notify the public when students' personal information, including medical records, is exposed. Jack Kelanic, the district's senior administrator for IT infrastructure, said this week: “This is an ongoing investigation in partnership with forensic and cybersecurity experts where arduous, painstaking efforts are taking place to comb through the data, review individual pieces, determine what information was accessed, locate the impacted individuals and notify them of resources to protect themselves. The aftermath of a cyberattack is a multi-layered, dynamic process in which real-time updates often alter the direction of an investigation.”
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