KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Elections Update By Tanya Golden
There is no doubt May is a busy month as the close year comes to a close, 24 days remain, with state and AP testing, staffs planning for next year’s site budget, and teachers pushing to finish curriculum. Whew! Union elections also occur in May when school sites and programs vote for their union representatives for the upcoming school year. Every two years in May, ABCFT officer elections are held.
Site representatives are responsible for proctoring their site/program site rep election. Click on the links to learn about election procedures and timelines. You may have already received a notice from your rep soliciting nominations. If not, you will soon. Site rep nominations and elections window is the first three weeks of May. With May 19th being the deadline to have election results announced to the staff.
Members become a union rep for a myriad of reasons but many want to be actively involved in the union and ensure a strong collective member voice when they meet with their administrative PAL partner. Being a site rep can be rewarding as well as challenging but union reps play a vital role in the enforcement of the union contract and are the front line of union support for members. I encourage you to consider becoming a site rep. No experience is necessary. ABCFT offers new rep training and support throughout the year. Click here to learn about the roles and responsibilities of a union site representative.
The ABCFT officer election nomination process began March 31st. All nominees who accepted their nomination will appear on the ballot. The voting window for the officer election will open from May 8th to May 15th. Results will be announced May 16th. At yesterday’s Rep Council meeting, reps received a packet of candidate statements and timeline which should be posted on the union board. The candidate statements will also be available on the electronic ballot. Please take the time to participate in the election process and cast your vote.
Dear CFT Member,
Staffing shortages in our public schools have reached a moment of crisis and we need our elected leaders in Sacramento to take action.
Sign the petition: Urge CA lawmakers to support AB 938
CFT-sponsored AB 938 would increase funding for K-12 salaries by 50% over 7 years – giving our schools the chance to attract and retain the high quality staff that our students need to be successful.
A recent survey by CFT found that 56% of certificated and classified employees in TK-12 schools say they think about quitting their job and leaving education. And large majorities of students who reject teaching as a career say low pay is the number one reason they are looking elsewhere.
It’s time for California lawmakers to take the bold action our schools and our students deserve. It’s time to pay educators and classified professionals a wage that enables them to have a long and successful career dedicated to their students.
Please sign the petition today.
In Unity,
Jeff Freitas
CFT President
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Teacher Appreciation Week May 8-12
Click Kindred Spirits: Teacher-to-Teacher Appreciation for inspirational stories about colleague teacher appreciation and taking time to appreciate your own efforts.
ABCFT RETIREE REPORT
Since its inception in 2013, the ABCFT-R has been an active support to the ABCFT as well as ABCUSD in general. Care and concern hallmarks of the ABCFT-R (R stands for Retired) are recurring themes throughout the year. The Scholarship and the Community Outreach Committees typify key endeavors of this mission. This article focuses on the Community Outreach Committee.
For the 2022-2023 academic year, the Committee increased the donation to families by $25 making the support package $175 per family ($125 grocery gift card coupled with a $50 Target card). Thus far 18 ABC families received the support package- commonly referred to as the “Food Basket.” For example, last December the targeted schools included Aloha Headstart, Elliott, Furgeson, Niemes, Hawaiian, and the State Pre-School housed at Artesia High. Each selected family had an average of 5 children of different ages ranging from an infant to a sixteen-year-old. We plan to service another 6 families before the end of the year.
The dangerous question is to ask ourselves, “what difference can a handful of retired teachers do in the light of enormous needs that present themselves in our pre-Covid world to many ABC families?” Perhaps current ABCFT members can help frame the questions differently. What if we asked, “What can the four-member Outreach Committee, which are emboldened and geared to servicing needy ABC families, do with the indispensable support and collaboration of all the larger ABCFT, the Retired chapter, and other benefactors?”
To that end, we invite you to join our major fund-raising effort: a chance for two nights (3 days) at South Lake Tahoe (1 bedroom with sleeping for 6 + a kitchen). A $20 donation brings one chance to win, while $40 brings 3 chances to win. For $60, you receive 8 chances; for $100, chances to win rise to 12. The resort is a short shuttle to Heavenly Ski Resort or to the casino nightlife. Resort pictures and details can be found at www.laketahoevacationresort.com
Please make your checks payable to ABCFTR and mail to: ABCFTR, 19444 Norwalk Blvd. Cerritos, Ca. 90703. You may also send payments electronically with Zelle or Venmo to Richard Hathaway at rah53@aol.com. The winning ticket will be selected at ABCFTR’s June 9th general meeting. The winner does not need to be present to win. (Exact dates to be determined between the winner and the donor of the resort condo.)
Harvey Hoyo
MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH
Mental Health Webinars for the Community
Follow this link to find a flier for a long list of Mental Health webinars that are open to the public. You do not need to be a KP member to access them. There is a variety of topics: couples communication, parenting, teen classes, sobriety, stress, depression, and anxiety. The flier also has a link to Mental Health Resources. Flier
Living Health Webinar Series
KP’s Center for Healthy Living has a webinar series on Living Healthy. The May webinar is on Mindfulness. View recordings of past webinars on stress, heart health and eating well.
May 22, 2023, at 6pm
In a fast-paced world, staying in the present moment is easier said than done. In today's webinar you will explore the definition of mindfulness, the benefits to being in the present moment, and how to build this skill of awareness. Throughout the webinar, you will have the opportunity to practice various mindfulness activities. Open to public. Do not need to be a KP member.
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. This weekly report aims to keep members informed about issues impacting their working/learning conditions and their mental well-being. Our work as a Union is a larger conversation, and together we make the YOUnion.
“If we don’t have teachers, we don’t have education. If we don’t have education, we have nothing.” Finland Minister of Education at the International Summit on the Teaching Profession.
First, I’d like to wish you all a happy educator appreciation week. Take joy in being recognized for all your hard work and at the same time, thank your colleagues for their work. If we’ve learned anything in the past three years, it is that teachers and nurses are some of the most dedicated workers in the labor force. Without educators, we have no democratic foundation. Every day you expand the thoughts of your students with new ideas, new concepts, and the modeling of civility, As was written in the quote above, without educators we have nothing. That being said, it is an irony that Teacher Appreciation Week falls within Mental Health Awareness Month. As you are being celebrated, please make sure that you are addressing your own mental health and if you are in need of assistance, reach out to your mental health provider for resources.
Next week is an important event for the ABC Federation of Teachers as ABCFT members go to their email ballots to vote for union officer representatives. This two-year renewal process is vital for our organization and bookmarks changing leadership of the union. I can’t really comment on the current election but I can tell you what typically happens after an officer election. In June, the newly elected ABCFT officers will be sworn in at the site representative meeting, and from that point on they will begin to work together in earnest. An important part of building union power is the process of discussing member priorities and the direction of the union and how we will advocate for members going forward. This usually is accomplished by having a two-day retreat where we discuss the full breadth of the union. You can see the work of the current ABCFT Executive Board in our documents at the top of the YOUnionews (click here for the strategic plan).
ABCFT functions with the idea of meritocracy which is a term I found that nicely describes our current governing style. Here are some good quotes from a good article I found describing this type of leadership:
“An Idea Meritocracy is designed to produce the best possible decision under the circumstances by enabling the best thinking by all team members. It does this by creating a culture that promotes psychological safety, candor, confronting brutal facts, and permission to speak freely. An Idea Meritocracy is an environment in which the best idea wins. The best idea is determined by the quantity and quality of the data, not by positional power.
An Idea Meritocracy values collaboration, not competition; teams, not individuals; inquiry exploration and constructive data-driven debate, not “telling”; and learning more than “knowing.” Organizations with Idea Meritocracies recognize that the best ideas come from psychologically safe team environments that encourage transparency, open-mindedness, speaking up regardless of position, reflective listening, and a belief in the power of collective intelligence.”
By using this governing style, ABCFT has navigated some of the most difficult educational transitions and crisis situations ever experienced by educators. As the leader of ABCFT this is the governing style that I have fostered during my tenure and in my opinion, this is the historical style of leadership that has been pervasive throughout the history of the ABC Federation of Teachers. Best ideas rising to the top as the voices of all our members are represented in our structures. In this way, all members are represented and your collective voices become the governing direction of your YOUnion.
I know that next week the testing period moves into high gear. You are not defined by a test and neither are your students. The working relationships you have forged with your students and parents are what make public education a force of democratic ideals. Democracy is founded on voice and the free expression of ideas. Your work throughout the year is vital to the success and health of the United States. Thank you for your service!
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-----
Los Angeles Schools calendar debate divides opinion
Changing the length of winter vacation in at Los Angeles Unified from three weeks to two is dividing the community. Students would have the same number of school days without losing so much learning momentum, but the school board's recent decision to alter winter break and - all it affects - has provoked outrage and legal action, highlighting the important question of when children should be in school, how effectively time is used and how much say parents and teachers should have over it. For some, the three-week winter pause has provided an opportunity to recharge and spend time with family. For others, the extra week brings on child-care hassles, potential learning loss and an extended period without pay for low-wage, hourly school workers. In L.A., parents are also separately still complaining about the mid-August start time, when the weather is the hottest and many families want to extend summer activities and travel.
Los Angeles Times
----- FOCUS ON TEACHING AND LEARNING -----
Veteran teachers: Why some stay in tough classrooms
It’s an old story: New teachers in California start their careers at schools with many low-income students, spend a few years, then transfer to more affluent communities. It’s a pattern that leaves these schools with fewer experienced teachers.
At these schools, teachers confront towering obstacles before they can even get to instruction. Students living in poverty are more likely to come to school hungry and without enough sleep. They might not have permanent housing. Students living in those conditions are more likely to be behind grade level in reading and math and less likely to graduate high school and attend college.
“It’s kind of impossible,” said Esther Honda, an eighth-grade social studies teacher at San Francisco’s Willie L. Brown Jr. Middle School, where 60% of students qualify for free or reduced-price meals. “But I think I have enough years under my belt to know how to deal with impossible.”
Many teachers at schools like Willie Brown leave in search of less stressful classrooms. The turnover draining high-poverty schools of experienced educators is both a cause and an effect of the perennial achievement gap in public education — students from low-income families score lower on standardized tests than their higher-income peers. Research shows that teacher quality plays the most critical role in a student’s success. But the working conditions at high-poverty schools can lead to an exodus of effective educators.
https://calmatters.org/education/k-12-education/2023/05/high-poverty-schools/
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
National debt ceiling debate casts long shadow over school finances
Billions of dollars in cuts for federal education spending are hanging in the balance as the nation is bracing to potentially hit its debt ceiling next month. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the federal government could run out of money as early as June 1 and congressional lawmakers are sparring over whether to just raise the debt ceiling, or to also cut federal spending. Many school district leaders worry that losing federal funding will only exacerbate the pain of other funding challenges, from volatile state aid to uneven property tax collections. A 22% across-the-board cut equating to about $4bn, which has been touted by Republicans, would be roughly equivalent to cutting 60,000 teachers and support personnel from schools across America, according to a U.S. Department of Education fact sheet published last week. Also, inflation triggers increased federal spending each year to continue funding existing services, but the current debt ceiling proposal would cap annual federal spending increases at 1%, thus limiting appropriators’ future ability to invest additional funds in services for K-12 students. “Schools are struggling right now in general with student and parent behavior, increase in student mental health concerns, and what I would characterize as a staffing crisis that is only expected to get worse,” says Brooke Olsen-Farrell, superintendent of the Slate Valley district in Vermont. “Certainly, a cut of 22% could be catastrophic for schools and the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
Affirmative action repeal could negatively impact teacher diversity
Anna Merod explores how, if the U.S. Supreme Court repeals race-conscious admissions, some experts fear a worsening of the already disproportionate representation of teachers of color in K-12 schools. "Efforts to improve representation between teachers and students of color will be further challenged if affirmative action is struck down," says Monika Williams Shealey, board chair of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education. Such a decision will add another barrier for prospective teachers of color on top of roadblocks they already face like state certification tests." The most recent available data finds teacher preparation program enrollees were underrepresented across multiple racial backgrounds compared to the K-12 student population in the 2018-19 school year, according to the U.S. Department of Education. Among K-12 students, 15% were Black compared to 9.6% of teacher preparation enrollees. The representation gap widened between Hispanic or Latino students and teacher candidates, at 27.5% of K-12 students compared to 14.6% of teacher candidates. There were also more Asian students (5.2%) than teacher candidates (3%), and more students of two or more races (4%) than teacher candidates with a similar background (2.7%). At 61.4%, White teacher candidates significantly overrepresented White students, who made up 46.7% of the K-12 student population. Should the conservative-majority Supreme Court rule to cease considering race in higher ed admissions, as is expected by legal experts, it will end decades of legal precedent. A decision expected in late June.
National debt ceiling debate casts long shadow over school finances
Billions of dollars in cuts for federal education spending are hanging in the balance as the nation is bracing to potentially hit its debt ceiling next month. U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said this week that the federal government could run out of money as early as June 1 and congressional lawmakers are sparring over whether to just raise the debt ceiling, or to also cut federal spending. Many school district leaders worry that losing federal funding will only exacerbate the pain of other funding challenges, from volatile state aid to uneven property tax collections. A 22% across-the-board cut equating to about $4bn, which has been touted by Republicans, would be roughly equivalent to cutting 60,000 teachers and support personnel from schools across America, according to a U.S. Department of Education fact sheet published last week. Also, inflation triggers increased federal spending each year to continue funding existing services, but the current debt ceiling proposal would cap annual federal spending increases at 1%, thus limiting appropriators’ future ability to invest additional funds in services for K-12 students. “Schools are struggling right now in general with student and parent behavior, increase in student mental health concerns, and what I would characterize as a staffing crisis that is only expected to get worse,” says Brooke Olsen-Farrell, superintendent of the Slate Valley district in Vermont. “Certainly, a cut of 22% could be catastrophic for schools and the straw that breaks the camel’s back.”
----- STATE NEWS -----
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 prepandemic 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.
Tony Thurmond will mediate negotiations between Oakland teachers and the district
tate Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond will formally mediate the negotiations to end the teacher strike that began this morning in Oakland Unified, according to officials at the California Department of Education.
Oakland Unified and the Oakland Education Association, its teachers union, have been negotiating a new three-year contract since October. The teachers union is asking for pay raises and a list of what the union describes as “common good” items, such as improved environmental health in classrooms, increased school safety and culturally relevant curriculum.
Thurmond and a team from the California Department of Education informally attempted to broker an agreement during a visit to Oakland Monday and Tuesday.
Wednesday morning Thurmond offered to officially mediate discussions with both parties, by afternoon they agreed, according to CDE officials.
“We are disappointed that the parties could not find an agreement in time to avert a strike,” he said in a prepared statement. “We observed how hard both sides worked and will start immediately working with the parties in a formal mediation capacity. Our goal is to help the parties reach an agreement and to end the strike so that students can return to class as quickly as possible.”
Thurmond successfully mediated a similar strike in Oakland in 2019, according to the news release.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Oakland teachers set to strike today (Thursday)
Public school educators in Oakland are set to go on strike this morning, after contract negotiations between the district and the educators' union failed to yield a deal, school and union officials said late Wednesday. Oakland Unified School District schools still will be open to the district's roughly 34,000 students Thursday, though because the teachers are striking “it will not be a typical school day,” the district said in a news release. The strike – the second in four years in the district – includes teachers, counselors and others represented by the Oakland Education Association, which told CNN last month it was seeking competitive pay that would bring salaries up to the county median. The strike comes with just three weeks left in the district's school year. The last Oakland educators' strike, in 2019, lasted seven days.
Thousands of teachers on strike in Oakland
Over 3,000 teachers and other Oakland Unified School District workers went on strike Thursday, claiming that the district had failed to bargain in good faith on a new contract that asks for higher pay for employees and more resources for students. The California district’s 80 schools remained open for the roughly 34,000 students, and office staff were tapped to “educate and supervise” students. The teachers' union, the Oakland Education Association, called the strike late Wednesday, demanding higher wages, smaller classes, more guidance counselors, improved services for students with disabilities, additional mental health help for students still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic, and support for Historically Black Community Schools. “Oakland’s teachers are the lowest paid in the Bay Area and have not had a new contract since prior to the pandemic,” the union said in a statement. “Meanwhile, rising inflation and a steep rise in the cost of rent in the fast-gentrifying city is making it impossible for educators — especially new teachers at the bottom of the salary scale making $52,905 per year — to afford rent.” For her part, district Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell said the breakdown in negotiations comes from the union expecting the district to solve societal issues that should be addressed by everyone in the community. “OEA’s vision of the common good is about us, the district, attempting to singularly solve complex societal realities, such as homelessness, that go far beyond the scope of what public schools can and should do alone,” she lamented.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Most principals attribute staffing challenges to lack of applicants
Over half of K-12 school principals reported a lack of teaching staff between 2020 and 2022, according to survey results released Wednesday by RAND Corp., and nearly three-quarters attributed their increased vacancies to fewer people applying for jobs as opposed to more teaching positions being added. For the 2021-22 school year specifically, top barriers to filling positions included low compensation, underqualified candidates and a slow district hiring process. Adding to their staffing woes in 2021-22, 86% of principals said they lacked enough substitute teachers. Principals were also more likely to chalk up higher teaching vacancies to an increase in staff resignations, fewer people accepting job offers, and more teachers opting for early retirement. Notably, principals at schools that served mostly White students were much less likely to say they faced these barriers, and the report noted that schools that traditionally serve students of color and those from low-income backgrounds tend to be more likely to employ underqualified candidates and report challenges with the pace of hiring cycles. “The data do suggest that principals largely did not consider Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funding the reason why vacancies had risen,” comments George Zuo, associate economist for RAND. Around a quarter of principals didn’t see vacancies increase, “and only 16% of the remaining principals pointed to an expansion in hiring.”
Most educators 'happy at work,' survey says
Eighty percent of school and district leaders are satisfied with their job, according to the results of a recent survey conducted by the EdWeek Research Center. While 24% of respondents said they plan to leave their current leadership job in 2023 or 2024, and of those, 41% said they plan to retire, 70% of respondents said it’s either "not at all likely" or "not too likely" that they will leave the education profession in the next two years. Eighteen percent of respondents in rural areas said they plan to leave their positions, compared to 27% in suburban districts and 33% in urban districts. Nearly all respondents said they feel they are respected and seen as a professional by others within their school (93%), by students’ parents (90%), and by the general public (87%). Nearly two-thirds said they’d still advise their younger self to pursue a career in education leadership.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Eighth-graders' poor history and civics scores underline access concerns
Eighth-graders’ test scores in U.S. history and civics fell to the lowest levels on record last year, according to fresh data from the Education Department. Only 13% of eighth-graders met proficiency standards for U.S. history, meaning they could explain major themes, periods, events, people, ideas and turning points in the country’s history. In the first release of U.S. history and civics scores since the start of the pandemic, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, known as the Nation’s Report Card, showed a decline in students’ knowledge that reversed gains made since the 1990s. The average score in 2022 for eighth-grade students in U.S. history was 258 out of a possible 500, five points lower compared with 2018, and one point lower than the average U.S. history score in 1994, the first year the test was given. The average civics score for eighth-grade students in 2022 was 150 out of a possible 300, two points lower compared with 2018 and identical to the average score in 1998, the first year that test was given. Federal education officials said the test scores released show that access to rigorous U.S. history and civics coursework is still a major issue in American schools. Only about half of eighth-graders reported taking a class mainly focused on civics or U.S. government in 2022, according to officials, about the same as five years ago.
----- LEGAL -----
Record number of civil rights complaints filed
The Education Department received a record-breaking number of civil rights complaints last fiscal year, with people filing nearly 19,000 complaints in the nation’s universities, colleges and public schools. The 18,804 complaints entered between October 2021 and September 2022, are the most ever filed in a single fiscal year in the nearly six-decade history of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. At least part of the increase can be chalked up to one unnamed person, who filed more than 7,000 complaints last fiscal year alleging sex discrimination in schools, but even without that person’s complaints there were about 11,000 that came from other individuals and organizations, including a steep rise in the number of complaints over the treatment of LGBTQ students and staff members. Catherine E. Lhamon, the Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, noted that the number of complaints regarding sexual orientation and gender identity jumped from 80 in fiscal 2020 to 463 in 2022. It is unclear why the number rose so sharply, but may represent a growing awareness of the complaint process or a newfound urgency to tackle civil rights violations.
No-bid school construction contracts dismantled
The California Supreme Court has issued a unanimous decision in a case dealing with how local school officials evade competitive bidding on construction projects, which had been percolating for more than a decade. In 2004, the staff of the State Allocation Board, which parcels out school construction money, had described how "lease-leaseback" rules were being distorted, questioned the legality, and declared “the integrity of the use of general obligation bonds…must be above reproach,” and suggested that the lease-leaseback law be clarified. “Lease-leaseback” arrangements have been common for years, providing a way for school systems to build new facilities without borrowing money themselves. Typically, the “leaseback” runs for several decades, after which the district becomes the owner. Officialdom has previously ignored such warnings but now the Supreme Court is telling school officials and contractors to play fair or suffer the consequences.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Regulating social media for young users 'complex and challenging'
A rising number of state and federal lawmakers are crafting legislation that would restrict young kids’ access to social media and institute other protections for young social media users. Many policy experts worry however that the bills, which are all in the name of improving kids' mental health, will be difficult to enforce and may even have unintended consequences. Taken together, bills filed in at least nine states and at the federal level generally have three primary goals; compel social media companies to verify users’ ages, bar social media companies from using algorithms to recommend content to young users, and restrict minors from using social media either through age requirements, parental permission requirements, or curfews and time limits. A bipartisan group of senators has even introduced a bill that would bar all children younger than 13 from having social media accounts. In a parallel effort, a growing number of school districts are suing social media companies over the harm they say these platforms are doing to kids’ mental well-being. “This is all new territory for Congress: how do you protect the First Amendment? How do you keep kids’ autonomy online?” says Allison Ivie, the government relations representative for the Eating Disorders Coalition for Research, Policy and Action, which has been tracking this issue closely. "The impact on schools may be limited," cautions Jeffrey Carpenter, a professor of education at Elon University who studies social media in education, who stresses that social media is only one factor contributing to the mental health problems of today’s youth. Kelly Vaillancourt Strobach, director of policy and advocacy for the National Association of School Psychologists, also notes that social media isn’t always bad - it can provide a safe space for some children.
Teens want more mental health supports in school
Teens aged 13-18 feel that their mental health, motivation, relationships with friends and overall happiness have improved since the early months of the pandemic. According to a survey conducted by Morning Consult, a business intelligence company, and EdChoice, a nonprofit that advocates for school choice, Black teens, Hispanic teens, teens from urban areas and adolescent boys were somewhat more likely to report feeling better than other groups. LGBTQ students, adolescent girls, and those living in rural areas were least likely to say they were thriving. Fewer students (28%) than parents (52%) said they were worried about a violent intruder entering their school. Notably, around half of teens reported they feel supported by their schools when it comes to academics and their future, but only one-third of survey respondents said they feel supported by their schools in terms of mental health.
----- 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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