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KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
The 2024-2025 calendar survey closes this afternoon. Thank you to everyone who participated.
Some thoughts regarding surveys; they are designed to gather data for help in bargaining potential options with the district. They are not votes in the sense of involving a binding agreement with the district.
In terms of the calendar, for example, we do not vote on them unless there is a change in the number of contractual days involved. And it is important to note that while the district does negotiate the calendar with us and values our input in a partnership model; in the end they can decide what the particular dates are within our 184 duty days
The information we receive from our members informs the direction we take during negotiations but the process remains a negotiation. Each side has a priority or a position that they would like to see, and sometimes a compromise needs to be made to come to a final result.
Our calendar survey is an opportunity for us to gauge some of our preferences for potential options. It does not mean that a majority voting for a particular option necessarily will result in that particular result because we are working with the district and they have their own preferences.
Our range of options is also presented, being mindful of the precedents that have been established with previous calendars. This is a reason why we do not survey options that include a start date after Labor Day or Fall Break options that are less than a full week at Thanksgiving or Winter Break stretching from two to three weeks. We have some “givens” in our calendar and until there is a clear disposition from both sides for a substantive change, they are likely to remain for the near future.
ABCFT will make the results of this 2024-2025 calendar survey public after negotiations have been concluded. Publishing the survey before negotiations are over could undermine our bargaining position at the table.
Reminder: ABCFT members can expect to see two separate checks as a result of our negotiating this year
We should receive our off-schedule check before the last day of school, June 9. Some sample math regarding this off-schedule payment; if you earned 100K and your off-schedule percentage is 3% then you would have a pre-tax check of $3,000.
Part of our salary agreement also includes a retro payment compensating us for the months that our new raise did not appear in our monthly paychecks. This will come in the form of a separate check which we can expect sometime in the summer. ABCFT is working with Human Resources and payroll so that we can share a more definite date as it becomes clear. Our raise was first reflected in our April paycheck. If you want to estimate your retro check, compare the difference between your March check and your April check and then factor that over the seven pay periods of our retroactive agreement.
Movie recommendation for May: the Mancillas family enjoys our revival/repertory/arthouse movies and this last month featured some winners. We saw Robert Altman’s Nashville (1975) at the New Beverly Cinema and this last weekend were able to see Straight Time (1978) at the Aero Theater in Santa Monica. Dustin Hoffman even made a surprise appearance to introduce the film. But for those who have yet to experience Sorcerer, it is playing May 17-21 at the New Beverly Cinema and it is a hidden gem. William Friedkin followed up The French Connection and The Exorcist with this underrated thriller from 1977. No big stars, no CGI, just four desperate men driving trucks loaded with nitroglycerin. The Mancillas family are clearly deep film nerds but my wife (proudly?) has a license plate frame that references Sorcerer; it’s that memorable. Maybe we’ll see you there!
In Unity,
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Climate Change Education for PreK-12 Students
This lesson plan collection serves as a great resource for educators to find a wide range of relevant preK-12 lessons on climate change or supporting young people as they continue to lead the conversation around the climate change crisis. What is the difference between weather and climate? How do they impact people and the planet? Are there things we do that can address climate change? Explore curated, free lesson plans, activities, and resources from educators and leaders in the field with these resources from Share My Lesson.
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.
We need to “frame tomorrow's challenges and find solutions.” Singapore Minister of Education
This week I was invited by AFT to attend the 13th Annual International Summit on the Teaching Profession (ISTP) in Washington DC as an observer. This conference was attended by the ministers of education and their national labor counterparts from 26 countries across the globe. Each country is assigned a limited number of observers. I was part of a contingent of about fifteen AFT representatives representing the United States. This international Summit was started during the tenure of Arnie Duncan, the Secretary of Education under President Obama when he realized that the policies in American education were not working.
I had the honor of attending an early ISTP conference in 2015 as an AFT Observer and there is a distinct difference between the topics that were discussed at that time in comparison to this year's ISTP conference. In 2015, the general topics of conversation were teacher evaluations, high-stakes testing, and “added value” scenarios. At the time, teachers were being criticized and scrutinized for their work in classrooms worldwide. Thankfully, there has been an evolution in thinking about the impact and importance of teachers and their impact on students in more ways than high-stakes testing. I remember that around that same time, the ABC Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources approached me about creating an evaluation system for teachers that used test scores as a part of their evaluation. I stopped this bad idea and direction before it got out of the meeting. ABCFT was never interested in tying test scores to evaluations, and I’m thankful that movement ended when Secretary Arnie Duncan left office the next year. I digress.
The topics for this year’s ISTP conference were entitled: Evaluating and enhancing the teaching profession; educating for global and cultural competence and civic engagement; and leveraging digital technologies to ensure equitable access and enhanced learning for all. What a remarkable difference in topics don’t you think? However, the backdrop and common topics for all of these conversations centered around the fact that there is a global teacher shortage. There are estimates that by 2030 there will be a shortage of 70 MILLION teachers around the world. This is an incredible shortfall and there were many discussions among the ministers and labor leaders about increasing pay and improving working conditions as a part of a larger solution.
I plan to continue over the next couple of weeks to provide some of the insights and information I was able to gather from this Summit. I think as educators, we need to see the broader picture. The challenges you face in your schools and classroom are not unique to ABC or the United States. Unfortunately, these challenges are global and leaders are looking for solutions because education systems are the foundation of democratic and culturally informed citizens.
In YOUnity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Landmark Legislation to Raise Educator & School Worker Wages to Transform California’s Education System Passes Key Committee
SACRAMENTO, CA – The Assembly Committee on Education today approved AB 938 by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) to raise educator and classified professional pay in all public schools by 50% over the next 7 years. The bill passed unanimously following a press conference where educators and classified professionals shared devastating stories of struggles educators are facing to do the work they love as the cost of living in California soars.
“AB 938 is a big and bold idea, but that is exactly what is necessary to tackle this problem. Because our teachers and classified professionals deserve a wage that enables them to build a long and successful career in our schools. And our students deserve educators who are not stressed and strained and at the end of their rope, but solid on their feet, focused, and working together to give them the education they deserve,” said Jeff Freitas, CFT President.
CFT members from across California met with their local representatives in support of the measure and provided testimony in the hearing.
Elena Royale, a special education teacher in San Francisco shared with the committee, “Our school has found it almost impossible to recruit teachers and paraprofessionals. In fact it has gotten so bad that we have two paraprofessionals teaching classes this year even though they don’t have credentials. To meet the letter of the law, one teaches in the library, with a credentialed librarian present in the room who is not directly involved in instruction. And in my school alone, because of intense pressure and the high cost of living, 11 staff are going to leave my school next year, about half of the entire school. Seeing incredible educators leaving is heartbreaking, but it is going to devastate our students right when skilled educators are needed most.”
“We need to pay our teachers and essential school staff what they deserve,” said Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi. “Schools across the state are facing a workforce shortage, with many teachers and school employees unable to afford to live in the communities they work in. Moreover, there is a growing wage gap between teachers and comparable college graduates in other fields. That is why I introduced AB 938, to set the goal of giving teachers and staff a 50 percent pay raise by 2030, to not only pay them what they deserve, but also to get more young people to aspire to become educators.”
“The teacher and staff shortage crisis has a direct impact on student achievement. Across the state, school districts continue to struggle to recruit and retain teachers in large part because they are not fairly compensated for the work, time, effort and emotional commitment they give their students each and every day. We commend the members of the committee for their support today,” added E. Toby Boyd, CTA President.
AB 938 now heads to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations.
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
Weingarten Sets Pandemic Record Straight as Republican Attacks Fall Flat
At Sham House Subcommittee Meeting, Union President Stands Up for America’s Teachers, Kids
WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten delivered a stirring defense of the nation’s educators at a hearing of the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic, debunking myths and hailing efforts to help kids and safely reopen schools amid a once-in-a-century pandemic.
In oral testimony, Weingarten, on behalf of the 1.7 million members of the AFT, highlighted the steps teachers and their union took to keep kids safe during COVID-19 and their ongoing work to support them socially, emotionally and academically.
“From the earliest days of COVID, the AFT knew that safety was the pathway to opening schools and keeping them open,” Weingarten told the committee. “We know that kids learn best in person, so opening schools safely—even as the pandemic surged—guided the AFT’s every action.”
The AFT was one of the first groups to release a detailed schools reopening plan in April 2020, and it advocated relentlessly to safely reopen schools for in-person learning.
Weingarten welcomed the subcommittee’s focus on kids’ learning. But instead of attacking teachers and vulnerable students, dwelling on politics and elevating culture wars, she urged lawmakers to focus on concrete solutions to help kids recover and thrive.
“Our priorities were to open schools safely; keep students, staff and families safe; focus on students’ social, emotional and academic well-being; and secure the resources to do all this.”
More than 1.1 million Americans have died of COVID-19, Weingarten noted, and Black children died at almost three times the rate of white children. At least 245,000 children in the United States have been orphaned. Thousands of AFT members were among the sick and the dead.
Weingarten debunked false claims about the union’s routine consultation—alongside more than 50 other groups—with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in February 2021.
“We—along with parents, administrators and health officials—needed clear, science-based guidance to keep students and staff safe in school,” she told the committee. “It made sense to consult with the CDC. And it was not only appropriate for the CDC to confer with educators, it would be irresponsible not to.”
That guidance, as well as the American Rescue Plan and the work done by governors, education officials, parents, educators and their unions, formed the pathway for schools to reopen: the nation went from 46 percent of schools were open for in-person instruction in January 2021 compared with close to 97 percent by May 2021.
Throughout the pandemic, teachers consistently expressed a preference for in-person learning, because they knew that remote instruction was only ever a supplement, not a substitute, for face-to-face instruction. The AFT was laser focused on the guardrails needed to return to brick-and-mortar classrooms, and Weingarten was one of the first education leaders to push for summer school to combat learning loss in an April 2020 op-ed with former U.S. Education Secretary John King.
“We spent $5 million on a nationwide back-to-school campaign to support everything from developing reopening plans, back-to-school fairs, door-to-door visits with parents and kids to encourage families to return to in-person learning. We were fighting for better ventilation. For COVID testing. For the tools we needed.”
The same was true for parents, Weingarten testified. Polls in the first year of the pandemic showed that parents wanted safety measures in place and polls today show that a large majority of parents believe schools acted appropriately in pivoting to remote and hybrid learning and back to in-person.
“Teachers want what students need. Let’s work together to help kids recover and leap ahead academically, physically and emotionally,” Weingarten concluded. We can do it … by expanding community schools that help kids and support families … [and] with more experiential learning and career-connected learning that is really engaging for kids. Help us address educator burnout and shortages. Together, we can overcome the effects of this unprecedented pandemic.”
Weingarten’s full submitted testimony can be read here.
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
House Republicans grill Weingarten on pandemic school closures
Republican lawmakers on the Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic pressed American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten during a hearing Wednesday on the exact role the union had in influencing school reopening guidance from the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention (CDC). Ultimately, Republicans set to make AFT out to be a political organization that had unprecedented access to edit CDC guidance. “But the concern I have is when the White House comes and says that there was no political input that what we constantly see is an organization that, you're not an education organization, while though you have education, you're not a medical organization, you're a political organization and that you are weighing in on the guidance,” Rep. Michael Cloud (R-Texas) said. Weingarten pushed back on claims that the AFT made line-by-line edits to the guidance and emphasized that the union wanted children back in school as soon as possible. Weingarten was called before the panel after a public records request showed AFT had the opportunity to give proposals and suggestions to the CDC's “Operational Strategy for K-12 Through Phased Mitigation” guidance during the pandemic. Notably, the AFT had pressed for language in the guidance about giving special accommodations to teachers at high risk for COVID-19 and language saying the guidance might have to change if a new variant affected transmission rates, and this accommodation was the only one fully accepted by the CDC.
Teachers Union President Randi Weingarten testifies before Congress on Covid-19 school closures
Amid a national reckoning of pandemic learning loss, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten testified before the House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic on Wednesday on the impact of school closures during the height of the public health crisis.
The subcommittee’s Republican chairman, U.S. Rep. Brad Wenstrup of Ohio, hailed the work of teachers but grilled Weingarten on the consultations between the teachers union and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, questioning why the AFT pushed for “closure triggers” for schools given the low risk of school vs. community transmission. He stressed the need for clarifying the process that led to prolonged school closures given their grim impact on youth mental health and academic outcomes.
“We’re investigating the decision-making process behind school closures and the effects it had so that we can do better in the future,” said Wenstrup during a contentious hearing that veered from issues of Covid lockdowns to school shootings and book banning.
----- VOUCHER REALITIES -----
School voucher expansions will 'fundamentally change public schools'
In March, Florida became the latest state to dramatically broaden access to public money for private schooling. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation making vouchers, worth about $8,500 each, eventually available to all K-12 students, regardless of family income or whether a child has ever attended public school. The vouchers would also be available to home-schooled students, while education savings accounts (ESAs) could be used to pay for expenses beyond tuition. "Over the past three years, the percentage of state-formula funding redirected from public to private education has risen from 3% to 10%," says NorÃn Dollard, senior policy analyst and KIDS COUNT director at the Florida Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and policy organization. Next year, that could reach 30%, or $4bn, according to calculations by Dollard and Mary McKillip of the Education Law Center. “I don’t think I am being overly dramatic in saying it will fundamentally change public schools to have such a huge amount of funds diverted to private schools,” Dollard warns. This year, states including Iowa, Utah and Arkansas have adopted universal school vouchers, which can be used like coupons for tuition, or ESAs, which put money into accounts or onto debit cards for parents to use for school costs. Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account, which was offered starting last fall, has enrolled more than 50,000 students, many of whom were already attending private schools. Legislatures in about 30 states are considering related moves.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
States' special education responsibilities eating into schools' wider budgets
While the federal government requires districts to educate students with disabilities regardless of how much it costs, it foots only a "sliver" of the bill. To fill the vacuum, states and districts share the disproportionate cost burden of supporting a complex population of vulnerable students who depend on these resources for their development. Those expenses, which often grow at unpredictable rates, end up competing with districts’ other priorities. Some states provide a significant share of those funds, while others predominantly pass the costs to local taxpayers. Debates are currently running in states including Kansas, Massachusetts, Nebraska, and Washington over how to more effectively ensure that the costs of those services don’t come at the expense of other crucial spending priorities. "The outcome of these debates holds high stakes not just for students with special needs, but for the students who attend schools alongside them," comments Susan Book, who helped co-found the advocacy group Save Our Schools North Carolina. In Pennsylvania for example, according to data compiled by the advocacy group PA Schools Work, the cost of providing special education services increased 18 times faster than the aid the state offered to cover those costs between 2008 and 2017. Connecticut’s funding model, meanwhile, pays only when a district’s special education expenses exceed the cost to educate an average student by a factor of 4.5. Nationwide, according to federal data, the number of students who qualify for special education services has swelled from 3.7m, or 8.3% of the overall student population, in 1976 - the year after President Ford signed the Education for All Handicapped Children Act into law - to 7.2m (14.5%) in 2020.
Cardona snubs proposed Republican cuts to education
U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona has rubbished House Speaker Kevin McCarthy's Republican budget proposal, which he claims will significantly tighten funding for America's schools. On a call with reporters Tuesday, Cardona said such cuts would hurt students and student loan borrowers in part by eliminating loan forgiveness, "pulling 60,000 educators and support staff from schools" and "derailing the response to the youth mental health crisis in this country." The Education Department said in a news release separately that the budget cuts would affect the most disadvantaged students, including those who live in rural and low-income areas, those who are enrolled in special education programs, and those who need mental health support. "The proposal would cut approximately $4bn in funding for schools serving low-income children, impacting an estimated 26m students and reducing program funding to its lowest level in almost a decade — a cut equivalent to removing more than 60,000 teachers and specialized instructional support personnel from classrooms," the release reads.
----- STATE NEWS -----
CA bill would boost teacher salaries by 50% over seven years
An education finance bill by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi (D-Torrance) to increase wages for teachers and school employees, was approved on Thursday by the Assembly Committee on Education. It now goes to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations for funding. Once funded, the bill will establish a new local control funding formula target grade span-adjusted base grant funding levels for school districts, charter schools, and county offices of education. The Legislature will fully fund the LCFF target base grants over seven years, with full implementation in the 2030–31 fiscal year, in order to increase salaries for classified and certificated staff working at school sites in school districts, county offices of education and charter schools by 50% by the 2030–31 fiscal year. “We need real solutions to keep educators and classified professionals in our schools and attract new and diverse talent to the field,” said Jeff Freitas, president of California Federation of Teachers, one of the state’s two major teacher unions, in a statement. A statement from California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd said the potential funding increase would help address the staffing crunch, which “has a direct impact on student achievement.”
----- DISTRICTS -----
Palos Verdes Peninsula teachers demonstrate against contract impasse
Teachers took to the streets in front of Palos Verdes Peninsula USD schools earlier this week to criticize an impasse in contract negotiations and publicize a virtual meeting they will host this evening. The Palos Verdes Faculty Association has been in discussions with the district over salaries and benefits since July 1st 2021. At the heart of the impasse is a disagreement over pay and benefits, with the PVFA saying the district has not put a competitive offer on the table compared to other local school districts. The union wants a 12% salary increase for the current school year, followed by a 6% increase for 2023-24. The district, though, has proposed salary increases of 6% and 4%, respectively.
Oakland teachers vote to authorize strike
The Oakland Education Association (OEA) has announced that 87% of its members have voted on whether to take strike action, with 88% of them choosing to authorize a strike. “We have taken the vote, but we really want to avoid a strike and we’re asking them to come to the table and bargain in good faith,” said Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, second vice president of the OEA. If teachers end up walking out this spring, it will be the third time in just over a year, with a wildcat strike at the end of March resulting in 400 teachers missing school for a day and a districtwide one-day strike a year ago this month over the board’s decision to close schools. The union has demanded an initial 23% raise and is also asking for more school counselors, social workers and smaller class sizes. The district has proposed a 22% raise next year, with a one-time $3,000 payment to cover back pay.
NBC Bay Area CBS Bay Area San Francisco Chronicle
----- CLASSROOM -----
Some districts ditching homework for ‘equitable grading’
The Clark County School District in Nevada, the nation’s fifth-largest school system, has joined dozens of districts in California, Iowa, Virginia and other states in moving toward “equitable grading.” Leaders in the 305,000-student Clark County district said the new approach was about making grades "a more accurate reflection of a student’s progress and giving opportunities to all learners." Equitable grading still typically awards As through Fs, but the criteria are overhauled. Homework, in-class discussions and other practice work, called formative assessments, are weighted at between 10% and 30%. The bulk of a grade is earned through what are known as summative assessments, such as tests or essays. Extra credit is banned, as is grading for behavior, which includes habits such as attendance. The scale starts at 49% or 50% rather than zero, meant to keep a student’s grade from sinking so low from a few missed assignments that they feel they can’t recover and give up. A pre pandemic study by Crescendo Group showed a decrease in Ds and Fs under equitable grading, shadowed by a decrease in the number of As awarded. Many districts using equitable grading are being trained by Joe Feldman, an Oakland, Calif.-based former teacher and administrator who wrote a 2018 book on grading for equity. The book’s concepts build on research into mastery- or standards-based learning. Albuquerque Public Schools for example last year signed a $687,500 contract for Mr. Feldman’s Crescendo Education Group to help support 200 teachers in a two-year pilot.
----- LEGAL -----
Teachers sue over Escondido USD's transgender policies
Two teachers from Rincon Middle School filed a lawsuit on Thursday in San Diego federal court, challenging Escondido USD's policies on what information officials may share with parents of transgender and gender-nonconforming students. Elizabeth Mirabelli and Lori Ann West allege that a prohibition on teachers discussing students’ gender identities with their parents is unconstitutional. The complaint states teachers are required to use “any pronouns or a gender-specific name requested by the student during school, while reverting to biological pronouns and legal names when speaking with parents in order to actively hide information about their child’s gender identity from them.”
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
CDC survey shows teen girls at higher risk of suicide
Results of the Center for Disease Control’s 2021 national Youth Risk Behavior Survey released Thursday provide a jarring look at the urgent state of teen physical and mental health.
A third of female students said they have considered suicide in the past year, 24% had made a suicide plan, and more than 13% said they’ve attempted suicide, Politico reported.
The survey, which is conducted biennially, also found that 1 in 5 high school students had witnessed violence in their communities, and 3.5% said they carried a gun, according to Politico. About 9% of students said they had been forced into sex at some point in their life.
The survey also showed two important shifts in high school student demographics, Politico reported: a rise in the number of responded identified as being part of a racial or ethnic minority group, from 48.9% in 2019 to more than 49% in 2021, and a rise in the number of students identified as LGBQ+ from 11% in 2019 to about 25% in 2021.
https://edsource.org/cdc-survey-shows-teen-girls-at-higher-risk-of-suicide
----- OTHER -----
NTA Life Insurance - An ABCFT Sponsor
Years ago ABCFT started a working relationship with National Teachers Associates Life Insurance Company. Throughout our partnership, NTA has been supportive of ABCFT activities by sponsorship and prizes for our various events. This organization specializes in providing insurance for educators across the nation. We have been provided both data and member testimonials about how pleased they have been with the NTA products and the opportunity to look at alternatives to the district insurance choice.
To All Members of the ABC Federation of Teachers,
National Teacher Associates (NTA) is committed in our efforts to helping educators through tough times. It’s what we do. After all…in our eyes, you are the heart and soul of our communities.
Protecting you and your families has been our goal for over 45 years. Despite the current global pandemic, we are not about to slow down now. We know that many of you have had our programs for years and sometimes forget the intricacies of how they work. NTA wants to help facilitate any possible claims for now and in the future. Fortunately, all claims and reviews can be done by phone and online. I personally want to offer my services to guide you in the right direction with your NTA benefits.
We also apologize for not being able to finish the open enrollment for those of you who wanted to get our protection. We are still able to help by extending our enrollment window for the near future. Again, this can be done over the phone, email, or online.
Please contact Leann Blaisdell at any time either by phone or email.
562-822-5004
Leann.Blaisdell@horacemann.com
Click here to schedule an appointment
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