KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
The ABCFT negotiating team met with the district team yesterday. We received their most recent proposal and presented a counterproposal of our own. The district requested that our next meeting take place after the next school board meeting so they have an opportunity to speak to our proposal in more detail during the closed session on November 7.
The ABCFT team acknowledged district finances, particularly those related to declining enrollment. Ray writes below as to his experience on the ad hoc committee and the potential impact of our continued decline in student enrollment. But we reiterated the need for ABCUSD to remain competitive with their salary schedules in order to attract and retain the best teaching and nursing talent available. We also stated again that when we are provided with ongoing dollars via this year’s COLA we need to take advantage of this opportunity for increased compensation. It cannot be the case that a good year means that we are asked to save for a rainy day at some point in the future and a down year means that there is nothing available at all. As one team member noted, “it is a rainy day right now!”
This was a powerful restatement of our energy and our purpose as we fight for you at the bargaining table. So the Shakeout didn’t end up being the only seismic event at the district yesterday. “What better place than here, what better time than now” indeed. We are scheduled to negotiate again on Tuesday, November 14.
In Unity,
KEEPING YOU INFORMED-CFT State Council By Tanya Golden
Last Saturday, ABCFT’s VP of Membership, Michael Hartshorn, VP At-Large, Catherine Pascual and myself attended CFT’s annual State Council in San Jose. Union leaders from across the state attended the State Council as delegates to conduct the business of CFT. Topics covered were the passing of CFT’s 2024 budget, legislative update, President Freitas State of the Union address, CFT officer reports, and local president’s reports. Democracy is at the heart of unionism so it’s vital for local union members provide guidance and input to our state affiliate, CFT.
During the Committee on Political Education (COPE) portion of the meeting, delegates had the opportunity to hear via Zoom from the three Democratic candidates who are also U.S. Representatives, Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff. They are all running to represent California in the 2024 United States Senate race. It was an exciting experience to listen to each of the candidates answer questions by CFT’s President, Jeff Freitas and select members covering topics such as special education, classified workers and retirees as well as their overall positions on public education and unions. After listening to their answers, it was clear to me that each of these candidates are loyal unionists and fully support and understand the important role of public education has in creating a promising future for each student and society as a whole. Delegates were surveyed for their opinion of each candidate, who they would vote for if the election was held today, and which candidate’s position and track record aligned with CFT’s values. CFT will take the participants feedback into consideration when deciding endorsements. We will keep you updated as the endorsement process continues.
SCHOOL FACILITIES AND DECLINING ENROLLMENT AD HOC COMMITTEE REPORT By Ray Gaer
On Wednesday, I attended the School Facilities and Declining Enrollment Committee meeting to discuss the criteria for consideration on what schools could be recommended to the school board for repurposing. This ad hoc committee only recommends to the board based on data points such as acreage, square footage, classrooms, capacity, current enrollment, capacity usage, local enrollment vs. school of choice, special programs, ethnic balance, transportation, location, and other factors.
The ABCUSD School Board would ultimately make the final decision on any possible school closing. Those decisions would happen around May 2024, and as I said, the committee is only looking at data points to make decisions. In the end, the school board may decide not to close any schools, but this school board desired to create this committee to have these committee discussions, which are open to the public.
This is the first meeting since we began meeting last April that had parents and community members in attendance. The committee chair, community member Mr. Krit Chauhan, and Deputy Superintendent/CFO Mr. Toan Nguyen used a large portion of the meeting explaining to those in attendance the process of identifying areas that will be used as the criteria for analysis.
My personal feeling is that the closing of any school is revolting and we have seen many local school districts take the current declining enrollment crisis as an opportunity to close community schools. What are the driving factors for closing a school? Financially, there is not an overwhelming amount of savings for the district. It was reported at the last committee meeting that there was only a savings of about $500k per site. When you consider that the ABCUSD budget is well over $230 million, then closing a school is not just a financial decision. The other major consideration is the impact of declining enrollment. By now, every teacher has seen and felt the impact of declining enrollment in your school or program. With fewer students, it becomes a challenge to avoid combination classes, harder to provide or maintain costly programs, and harder for staff to continue to be asked to do more duties as the number of staff members decreases. I would say this is a more important driver of why school districts are looking at repurposing or closing schools. It’s sickening to think about, but a reality of inflation, rising costs, and district competition for students.
Someone at the meeting stated that ABC would have more students if we just advertised all the great stuff we are doing in our schools. She is right, there is AMAZING work happening for students at every grade level and in every school. You can find an example of this if you watch the ABC School Board President’s weekly 30 in 30 School visit reports in the Monday Superintendents Newsletter. I watch every single three-minute video because of how informative they are, as they highlight the strengths and specialness of each school site or program.
Can’t we recruit more students from other school districts? Unfortunately, local school districts are all competing for the same students, and over the past five years, districts have become more cautious and are now denying transfer permits. Parents can still petition to leave their school district, but most districts have taken this hardline approach to maintain their own enrollment worries.
Sorry, I went on too long….more reports to come. In the meantime, here is the demographic work that the committee is studying. I’ll dive deeper into this report next week.
ABC Demographic Report from January 2023
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 that could impact your classroom. 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 Megan at Megan.Mitchell@abcusd.us
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. This weekly report informs members about issues impacting their working/learning conditions and mental well-being. Our work as a Union is a larger conversation and united, we make the YOUnion.
“What has been challenging is that we have a mix of drivers attempting to navigate several paths at one time (District initiatives), and when working together, they tend to cross in front of each other, becoming bumper cars at times, making forward progress even more challenging.” - an ABC Teacher in reaction to my Presidents Report last week.
I think the above quote really speaks to the need for clear communication and coordination between programs and participants. I think one of ABCFT’s most important tasks is to help make everyone aware of when things are going well, when things are going off the rails and everything in between. These vital conversations are why the YOUnionew is important, it’s why site representatives are important, its why the ABCFT executive board is important, and why EVERY member's voice is important. Our collective voice provides teacher/nurse input in most of the decisions we make as a school district and it is the secret ingredient of why ABC is a lighthouse district. How ABCFT site representatives collaborate with school site/program administrators is a big part of that success story.
I recently got a call from a past coworker who is a principal in another school district. In our conversation, he lamented that the site representatives at his school were resistant to meeting with the principal on a regular schedule and that they didn’t see any reason to talk with the principal. In ABC, we strive to use communication to work on solutions to problems that interfere with our teaching and things that are so frustrating that they deplete our spirit to teach. I know that not everyone feels like they can have a conversation with their administrator but I can guarantee that there is an expectation in ABC that every principal and ABCFT site representative meet regularly. You cannot work to solve challenging problems unless you take the time to meet. So, a BIG SHOUT OUT to ABCFT Site Representatives for all of their solution-driven work. They’ve got your back.
This Friday, the ABCFT Executive Board will have a day-long retreat to revise the ABCFT Strategic Plan. I’m sure that sounds exciting to everyone but for this group of dedicated unionists, signed on to the team to dig deep into the planning process for the ABC Federation of Teachers. The Executive Board will be revising the 2020-2023 document and amending it to meet the newest areas of growth or need for the membership. Member representation and voice are the major driving force for almost every decision made on behalf of the ABCFT Membership. The process for forging the strategic plan is a multi-month process of revision and input. Your site representatives are also major contributors to the final version of this guiding document.
The school board meeting this week had a few interesting moments that I believe are important and that I will discuss in full detail in next week’s YOUnionews. I feel like the YOUnionews has been pretty robust over the past few weeks, so I’ll cut it short so we can all start planning our weekend.
You are appreciated!
In YOUnity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
Key CFT-sponsored legislation signed into law by Governor Newsom, while other critical bills vetoed
The first year of the 2023-24 legislative session has come to an end. This term we were successful in getting eleven bills through the California Legislature and on to the Governor’s desk.
Among the CFT-sponsored or co-sponsored bills signed into law by the Governor are AB 5 (Zbur), which requires the Department of Education to develop and school districts to implement training for secondary teachers to better support LGBTQ+ students; AB 800 (Ortega), establishing the Workplace Readiness Week in all public high schools to teach students their labor rights; and AB 897 (McCarty), which establishes permanent status for adult education teachers after a two-year probationary period.
Unfortunately, Governor Newsom vetoed important legislation sponsored or co-sponsored by CFT, including AB 504 (Reyes), which would have allowed public sector workers to honor the picket lines of other striking public sector workers; AB 811 (Fong), which would have allowed community college students to repeat certain classes; and AB 1699 (McCarty), which would have provided classified employees with the right of first refusal for new positions or vacancies.
In addition to the bills above, CFT-sponsored AB 938 (Muratsuchi), which calls for a 50% increase in LCFF funding for TK-12 schools with the intention of raising education worker salaries, has passed the State Assembly and will be considered by the State Senate in the coming calendar year.
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
10/15/23
AI is a) powerful, b) perilous or c) both
Educators are confronting a juggernaut that is swiftly revolutionizing education and society: generative AI.
It’s a head-spinning time to be an educator in the United States. From the difficulties of teaching during a pandemic to getting caught in the crosshairs of culture wars to doing everything in their power to help students recover and thrive academically and emotionally—all while being underpaid and often in inadequate learning and teaching conditions—teachers have gone from one challenge to the next. Now, educators are confronting a juggernaut that is swiftly revolutionizing education and society: generative AI. And they are largely figuring it out without any guidance, including from their schools and districts. The AFT is advocating for policies that will help maximize the benefits and limit the perils of AI, and we are offering educators tools and guidance to prepare their students for this new world.
https://www.aft.org/column/ai-powerful-b-perilous-or-c-both
The AFT is partnering with AI identification platform GPTZero and strengthening our collaboration with NewsGuard, an anti-misinformation tool, to promote media and news literacy in classrooms and assist educators in using AI effectively. https://www.aft.org/column/ai-powerful-b-perilous-or-c-both
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
Fresno teachers could strike for the first time in decade
Teachers in Fresno USD, the third largest school district in California, are voting on whether to strike due to disagreements on class size, teacher pay, and benefits. The last strike occurred 45 years ago in 1978. Barbara Mendes, a retired Fresno teacher, Nancy Richardson, former Fresno school board president, discuss the potential implications of the strike.
Teachers reject Fresno Unified's latest pay proposal
The Fresno Teachers Association in California has rejected the latest remuneration proposal by Fresno Unified, citing dissatisfaction with the pay increase and failure to address class size reduction. The district's offer, which includes 19% pay increases over the next three years and expanded medical benefits, was deemed insufficient by the union. Despite recent increases, teacher pay in Fresno still lags behind rising inflation. The proposal also does not match the starting pay and maximum salary offered in other Central Valley school districts. The district, the third largest in California, serving more than 74000 students, refuses to implement class size caps, which further adds to the disagreement. Both parties acknowledge the failure to agree on critical items, but the union remains unsatisfied with the district's characterization of the offer.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Federal LGBTQ+ workplace protections could impact schools
Federal proposed guidance protecting LGBTQ+ individuals from harassment and discrimination in the workplace could come into direct conflict with state and local policies on pronoun use and facility access for transgender school employees. At least nine states prohibit transgender people from using bathrooms and other facilities like locker rooms in K-12 schools, according to the Movement Advancement Project, which tracks policies on LGBTQ+ related issues. The guidance, proposed earlier this month by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, would consider intentional and repeated misgendering, as well as denial of bathroom access or other facilities, as sex-based discrimination. Under this policy, schools and other employers that bar transgender employees from bathrooms aligning with their gender identities or don’t recognize an employee’s preferred pronouns would be considered to be discriminatory and in violation of federal sex- and gender-based harassment protections.
Chronic absenteeism rates have doubled in recent years
The proportion of students attending schools with high or extreme rates of chronic absenteeism has more than doubled, from 26% in 2017-18 to 66% in 2021-22, according to a report by the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University and Attendance Works. The analysis of federal data highlights the impact of pandemic-era surges in absences on students, even those with strong attendance. Hedy Chang, executive director of Attendance Works, emphasizes the need for community partnerships and infrastructure to address the disengagement caused by high levels of chronic absence. Preliminary data from the 2022-23 school year show little improvement, with a combined chronic absenteeism rate of 27.8% in the 11 states that reported attendance data. The report also reveals that chronic absenteeism is no longer just a high school problem, as it is now affecting more elementary and middle schools. Schools are implementing various strategies to address absenteeism, including mentoring, social-emotional learning, home visits, and building stronger peer relationships.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California mandates zero-emission school buses
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed into law Assembly Bill 579, which mandates that all new school bus purchases or leases in California be zero-emission after 2035. The bill allows for a one-time extension of up to five years if transitioning to zero-emission buses is not immediately feasible. Frontier school districts have until January 2045 to meet certain conditions for an extension. The World Resources Institute praised California's commitment to electric school buses and noted that the state leads in the number of electric buses awarded funding, ordered, delivered, or in operation. Sue Gander, director of WRI's Electric School Bus Initiative, emphasized the importance of prioritizing funding for districts most impacted by pollution.
California mandates USDA proposal to improve school nutrition standards
California has become the first state to mandate the latest recommended school meal nutrition guidelines from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Effective January 1, the law will set nutrition standards to reduce sugar and salt while offering more whole grains in school meals. In February, the USDA announced its proposed rule to gradually strengthen school nutrition standards through 2029. If finalized, the rule would require most schools to primarily offer whole grains beginning in fall 2024, with incremental reductions in sugar and sodium content phasing in over the next five years. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition over the summer found that updating K-12 nutrition standards to offer more whole grain products while reducing sodium and added sugars would improve children’s diets, blood pressure and body mass index. The study also said aligning national dietary guidelines with school meal standards could prevent 10,600 deaths per year in the long term related to cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer. USDA’s final updated school nutrition guidelines are expected in April 2024.
California requires schools to address fentanyl overdoses
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed "Melanie's Law," which mandates schools to have prevention and response resources for fentanyl overdoses. Schools will instruct employees on opioid prevention and response techniques through a Comprehensive School Safety Plan. The law raises awareness of growing risks and ensures schools have necessary resources. According to Sen. Dave Cortes's office, fentanyl leads to 20% of youth deaths in California. Santa Clara County alone saw an increase in 863 fentanyl deaths between 2018 and 2021.
Workforce challenges continue to plague schools
Almost 90% of public school districts nationwide struggled to hire teachers heading into this school year, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. The federal agency, a data-collecting arm of the Education Department, surveyed more than 1,300 K-12 schools in mid-August, providing a glimpse into how the 2023-24 school year is shaping up. For the current school year, 45% of all public schools reported feeling understaffed. The shortages were most common in subjects like special education, science, and foreign languages. Schools reported that transportation staff were the most difficult nonteaching position to fill, with only 8% of schools reporting that it was an "easy" job to find workers for. Other notable takeaways from the survey include schools leaning more heavily on community nonprofits and local government agencies to provide services such as social work and parenting support. Also, far fewer schools are offering internet to their students at home compared with a few years ago, the survey indicates. Some 44% are doing so this year, compared with 70% in the 2021-22 school year.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified adopts new parental notification policy
The Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District has adopted a parental notification policy that will inform parents if their child poses a "clear and present danger" to themselves or others, rather than if they show signs of being transgender. The policy has raised concerns that it may be used to target LGBTQ+ students. Student trustee Aidan Mintzer expressed the need to differentiate this policy from others used against the LGBTQ community. The controversial policy aims to keep parents informed about disruptions to student learning and extreme situations.
An OC School District Adopts New Parent Alert Policy; Will it Impact LGBTQ+ Students?
School board politicians throughout Orange County are increasingly looking at adopting policies that require school staff to alert parents if their children are transgender – or alert parents to mental health struggles.
The notification policies have gained traction in school boards across California despite state Attorney General Rob Bonta warning officials that policies forcing the disclosure of a student’s gender identity will be met with legal action.
Those warnings did not stop Orange Unified School Board politicians from adopting such a policy last month.
[Read: An OC School District Adopts Transgender Notification; State AG Issues Legal Threat]
Yet officials at the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District took another route – adopting a notification policy that doesn’t explicitly list LGBTQ+ students.
Instead, Placentia-Yorba Linda school board officials voted 3-2 Tuesday night to adopt a parental notification policy centered on reporting students who may pose a “clear and present danger” to themselves or others.
“This is a tool to be able to make sure that our parents are informed about things all the way from disruption of student learning up through extreme situations,” board member Todd Frazier said.
“It’s not an outing policy, it’s parent communication.”
Temecula School Board approves raises for teachers
A frequently divided Temecula school board has voted unanimously to approve raising teachers' pay. The raises were approved after a delay caused by questions from board members. The approved terms give union members 8% ongoing raises and a one-time pay hike of 1.5%, costing the district an estimated $16.7m. The relationship between the board majority and the Temecula Valley Educators Association has been rocky since the board members took office with the support of a Christian conservative political action committee. Critics see the board majority as imposing an anti-LGBTQ, Christian nationalist agenda. The union's leadership council has officially endorsed a recall effort against the board members.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Florida schools lowering teacher qualification requirements
Miami-Dade County Public Schools had lowered its requirements for substitute teachers. Previously, candidates needed at least 30 college credits, but now only a high school diploma is required. Miami-Dade County joins six of the 10 largest school districts in Florida that require a high school diploma as the minimum level of education for short-term substitute teachers. The district's decision to outsource substitute teachers to Kelly Education has raised concerns among some educators however. While the district claims that the change in standards was to allow recent high school graduates to quickly return to the classroom as educators, critics argue that lowering the qualifications for teachers and substitutes can negatively impact students' education.
Many schools don't have full-time nurses
More than a third of schools nationwide don't have a full-time nurse on-site. School nurses play a critical role in keeping students healthy and ready to learn, but the field struggles to attract and retain employees. Many schools are scrambling to hire nurses, but they struggle to compete with hospitals in terms of salaries and benefits. The COVID-19 pandemic further complicated school nurses' roles, as they were tasked with tracking cases and tracing exposures. The lack of school nurses is a byproduct of the nation's overall nursing shortage. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends at least one full-time nurse for every 750 students enrolled, but most states fall short of this recommendation.
Many schools still face staffing challenges
Over eight in 10 public schools in the United States continue to face workforce challenges, according to new data from the School Pulse Panel. While 45% of school administrators reported feeling understaffed before the start of the 2023-24 school year, down from 53% last year, the share of districts trying to fill positions in key subjects remains the same. The majority of public schools are experiencing staffing challenges at similar levels as the previous year. The data also suggests that new vacancies may be a positive sign in some districts, indicating the creation of new teaching positions. However, schools have less than a year to spend the remaining pandemic relief aid, which was used to hire instructional support staff. Hiring teachers in specialized subjects remains difficult, with a shortage of qualified candidates. Efforts to lower certification requirements in certain states have increased the number of teachers overall but have not boosted the pipeline for specialized subjects. Administrators also face challenges in staffing different schools within the same district, as policies for compensation and recruitment vary.
----- CLASSROOM -----
Inequity concerns shadow dual-credit programs
Dual-credit programs in schools remain a patchwork of different courses, leading to inequitable access and uncertainty about the college credits students earn. A new report by the Community College Research Center at Columbia University Teachers College reveals that while four in five public high schools partner with higher education institutions to offer college credit, only one in five school districts provide equitable access to dual credit. The report also highlights the lack of diversity in dual-credit programs, with white students making up over 60% of participants compared to their representation in public schools. The report recommends strategies such as outreach, alignment, advising, and high-quality instruction to improve the programs and make them more equitable. The report also identifies "dual enrollment equity pathways" as a more systemic approach to dual credit, where educators work together to identify students and provide supports for them to take dual-credit courses and pursue higher education
----- LEGAL -----
Gay principal settles discrimination lawsuit
A gay former West Covina Unified School District principal has tentatively settled her lawsuit against the district in which she alleged she was forced to resign in 2022 because of sexual orientation and gender discrimination as well as harassment. Candace Leuthold's Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleged she was paid less than a male colleague with equal responsibilities. Her attorney has filed court papers with Judge Christopher K. Lui notifying him of a “conditional” settlement of the case and that a request for dismissal will be filed by December 31. No terms were divulged.
----- HEALTH & WELLBEING -----
Parents advised to limit teens' social media exposure amid war images
The Brandeis School of San Francisco and Jewish Community High School of the Bay have advised parents to limit their teenagers' exposure to social media due to potentially troubling images from the Gaza war. Jewish schools across the Bay Area have asked parents to consider deleting their teens' social media apps to protect their wellbeing. The schools urged parents to discuss temporarily deleting their teens' social media apps to avoid inadvertent exposure to these graphic and potentially traumatic images. Separately, Robin Gurien, a communications professor at Cal State Fullerton, has expressed concerns about Santa Ana Unified's plans to adopt two new ethnic studies courses for high school students. The courses, which focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, have faced criticism from leading Jewish groups.
San Francisco Chronicle Los Angeles Times
----- SOCIAL & COMMUNITY -----
Students campaign for climate action in schools
Students from 50 school districts across the country have launched a campaign to spur climate action in classrooms, school buildings, and the job market. The students are asking school districts to make their buildings climate-resilient, offer comprehensive climate curriculums, and provide pathways to green jobs. The campaign also supports the Green New Deal for Public Schools Act, which proposes to invest $1.6tn over the next decade to create jobs, boost climate education, and eliminate carbon emissions in schools nationwide. The legislation would create an Office of Sustainable Schools within the U.S. Department of Education to administer grants for green upgrades in school buildings and climate resiliency education programs. The campaign comes at a time when climate science is under attack in classrooms in several states. In Florida, the Department of Education has approved the classroom use of videos from the Prager University Foundation, known as PragerU, which attacks renewable energy sources and negates the fact that the climate crisis is human-caused. The Texas Board of Education has asked schools to emphasize the “positive aspects” of fossil fuels like oil and gas in science textbooks and leave out that a reduction in their greenhouse gas emissions could slow climate change. In Ohio, legislators are considering a bill that would require colleges and universities to teach “both sides” of climate change and other “controversial” issues.
----- HIGHER EDUCATION -----
California's Mexican border residents to get in-state community college tuition
Low-income Mexican residents living within 72 kilometers of the California-Mexico border are now eligible for in-state tuition rates at certain community colleges. The new law will require community college boards to submit a report to lawmakers by 2028 to show the attendance rate and demographics of students who received in-state tuition rates under the program. A similar law passed in 2015 allows some Nevada residents living near the California border to attend Lake Tahoe Community College at in-state tuition rates.
