KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
The ABCFT team met with the district yesterday for negotiations. Our most recent proposal will be shared with the school board during the closed session portion of Tuesday’s board meeting. We are scheduled to meet again with the district next Thursday, October 19.
As I reviewed during yesterday’s rep council meeting, the steps in the process are as follows: the ABCFT negotiating team and the district bargain until they agree on a compensation package. This is called a tentative agreement. The tentative agreement, or TA, is then voted on by the ABCFT executive board. If the executive board approves the tentative agreement, it then moves to the rep council for approval. If the rep council approves of the tentative agreement, it goes to the full membership for a ratification vote. The agreement details can then be shared and a general meeting is held to address any questions about the deal. The full membership can then vote to approve of the agreement by a majority vote. Our ratified agreement then goes to the school board for final approval. If the school board approves with a majority vote then the agreement becomes official and any adjustments to our compensation would appear on subsequent checks.
I wish everyone a happy and stress-free Friday. Please be sensitive to those afflicted by triskaidekaphobia!
In Unity,
MEMBERSHIP UPDATE - Well-Being Webinar By Tanya Golden
If you find yourself struggling with your well-being or want to learn how to support yourself better, Kaiser Permanente is offering a free for educators webinar for educators to help prevent burnout. If you cannot attend this 30-minute power webinar, I hope you find time for self-care.
How to prevent burnout – School Employees Webinar
Booster Shot: How to prevent burnout! Tips, tricks and the science behind habits and well-being with Deb Friesen, MD.
WHEN: Tuesday, October 17, 2023 at 3:30 – 4:00 pm PT. Right before the monthly ABCFT YOUnion Chat.
KEEPING YOU INFORMED - STUDENT LOANS
What you need to know about student loan debt and repayments
Quick Guide to Student Loans
This month, payments on student loan debt for millions of borrowers across the country restarted after the three-year pandemic pause. California has some of the lowest tuition rates in the nation, but the state’s residents carry higher than average student debt balances, risky graduate school debt, and have a unique reliance on parent-held debt, according to a recently released report from The Century Foundation.
Understanding the details of repayment on your federal student loan can save you time and money.
See the links below for additional information:
what repayment plan options are available,
what to do if you have trouble making payments.
Here is the Federal Student Aid Website with helpful information
Student Loan Forgiveness | Federal Student Aid
Biden-Harris Administration Announces an Additional $9 Billion in Student Debt Relief
New state-by-state data shows relief for income-driven repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness
OCTOBER 4, 2023
The Biden-Harris administration announced today that an additional 125,000 Americans have been approved for $9 billion in debt relief through fixes the U.S. Department of Education has made to income-driven repayment (IDR) and Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF), and granting automatic relief for borrowers with total and permanent disabilities. Today's announcement brings the total approved debt cancellation by the Biden-Harris Administration to $127 billion for nearly 3.6 million Americans.
The Biden-Harris Administration is announcing it has approved:
$5.2 billion in additional debt relief for 53,000 borrowers under Public Service Loan Forgiveness programs.
Nearly $2.8 billion in new debt relief for nearly 51,000 borrowers through fixes to income-driven repayment plans. These are borrowers who have been in repayment for 20 or more years but never got the relief they were entitled to
$1.2 billion for nearly 22,000 borrowers with a total or permanent disability and have been identified and approved for discharge through a data match with the Social Security Administration.
"For years, millions of eligible borrowers were unable to access the student debt relief they qualified for, but that's all changed thanks to President Biden and this Administration's relentless efforts to fix the broken student loan system," said U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona. "The Biden-Harris administration's laser-like focus on reducing red tape, addressing past administrative failures, and putting borrowers first have now resulted in a historic $127 billion in debt relief approved for nearly 3.6 million borrowers. Today's announcement builds on everything our administration has already done to protect students from unaffordable debt, make repayment more affordable, and ensure that investments in higher education pay off for students and working families."
The complete announcement with additional information is here.
ABCFT-RETIREES REPORT
This letter to the editor appeared in the Cerritos Community News:
Dear Editor:
We, The ABC Federation of Teacher-Retirees Chapter, support public education, teachers/nurses, our other fellow employees, students, the community, and The Board of Education.
President Brad Beach clarified in the September 19 board meeting that, although we all have the right to Freedom of Speech by The Constitution of The United States, we also have a responsibility to support ABCUSD and its community.
Area 2 Board Member Soo Yoo's statement that encourages parents to pull their students out of public school and consider home or alternative schooling if they don't like what's going on in their district, is clearly a slap in the face to the community that elected her. Furthermore,
it is evident that her personal agenda and heart are not in defending and advocating for our great district.
We must object strongly to this attack, not only on our school district and it's hard working professionals, but Public Education in general!
In Unity,
Silvia Rodriguez
President
ABCFT-Retirees Chapter
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.
“Permanent for now.” is my reply when someone asked me about a piece of contract language that was freshly minted over the last Master Contract negotiation process. After I said it, I was reminded that almost everything that I know about education is subject to change at some point.
One thing we’ve all experienced from our time in education is that everything is subject to change, and each school year, we are detectives as we work to understand the new curriculum, new students, new administrators, new bell schedules, new you name it…… the list goes on. Change seems to be the inevitable state of being, and one of the only factors we can control sometimes is the rate of change.
The ABC School District is going through a renaissance of innovation with new district leadership, new principals, a renewed curriculum focus, new social-emotional frameworks, and other new perspectives on age-old challenges. Change is a challenge for all living things and the rate of any change can be emotionally, logically or cognitively managed. Much like drivers on the freeway, some of us feel comfortable in the fastest lane, while others may feel more comfortable driving in the middle or in the slow lanes. Being in education is like being on the freeway because you can choose how fast you will proceed, but there’s no doubt that you are driving forward.
This era for the ABC Unified School District will not look like other decades of the past. Our understanding of our students' needs (academic/social-emotional understandings) is different than in the past, and our understanding of ourselves has changed over the past five years. Post-pandemic, many of us have realized that our own happiness and job satisfaction are vitally important in producing a learning environment that focuses on the whole child. Creating a psychologically safe space for our students while balancing the rigor of curriculum expectations is tricky and takes professional mastery on a scale that the general public doesn’t understand. Great educators have always known that building rapport with students is a critical tool for unlocking the potential learning potential of our students. Still, now it is without a question the most important tool in our bag of tricks.
So here is my question. As the district enters this new era of clarity and purpose, there will be many changes as we take a gold star school district and turn it into a platinum star school district. How fast can we go so that everyone who is employed in ABC feels like they get a helping hand in making curricular changes, culture changes, organizational changes, student support changes, and job expectation changes? Throw on top of this all of the pressures of our own personal changes, and we are talking about a lot of movement. It’s giving me anxiety just writing about it, and so I wonder how do we put safety guardrails on this process so that everyone is successful in this transformational environment.
One way to regulate our anxiety is to communicate when it becomes uncomfortable to find solutions that will bring clarity and support in making changes. At the monthly ABCFT Site Representative meeting yesterday, I repeated a message I have been saying since the school year started, which is that our job as a union is to make sure that the master contract is being followed and that members' voices are heard so we can provide solutions to slow things down if it looks like things are moving too fast. Another good motto I like to use is to “go slow to go fast,” which means that sometimes going slower to get clarity about a change will typically produce better and faster results. My advice to you is to ask for clarification when you’re unsure of something. Take the time to build a rapport with your administrator.. If you have a problem with something that is changing or is lingering, work with others and your administrators to find solutions. Nothing is more important than when you present solutions to challenges that you are facing. ABCFT is a problem-solving union with members who are known for being solution-driven in times of change. Now is our moment to shine.
Let’s roll up our sleeves to make the changes we need as a district, but more importantly, let's make sure that we are all in the right lane so we don’t overwhelm ourselves along the way.
In YOUnity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS
October 14 CFT U.S. Senate Candidate Forum
Thanks to the hundreds of CFT members who have RSVPd for the 2023 CFT Senate Candidate Forum. The online forum, which will take place on October 14 from 10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon, will feature the three leading candidates for the upcoming U.S. Senate election in California – Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff.
Space is limited, so make sure to register today if you would like to hear more from these candidates on issues critical to public education. Note: If you are attending the CFT State Council in person, you do not need to register for this event.
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
In Solidarity
Solidarity with striking Kaiser workers. The largest healthcare strike in US history is now in its final day after more than 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers hit the picket line for a three-day Unfair Labor Practices strike this Wednesday. The striking employees, who work across California, Colorado, Washington and Oregon, are represented by a coalition of unions that comprise 40% of Kaiser’s staff. Key issues will be familiar to all education workers – better pay and increasing staffing levels.
For those interested in supporting striking workers on the picket line in California, the California Labor Federation regularly updates this resources page with information on strikes throughout the state.
Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
Thurmond calls for statewide paid internship program
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond has called for the development of a statewide paid internship program to help teens and young adults work and learn about career pathways. The program aims to prevent youth from engaging in crime and connect participants with career advisers. Thurmond emphasized the need for housing, mental health support, and career advising for students, stating that there are thousands of homeless students across the state. The summit will explore ways to design paid training and career coaching programs and will focus on launching programs and pilots in Oakland and expanding to other cities. Thurmond sponsored a bill in 2022 to fund paid internships for youth and plans to support a similar measure in the 2024 legislative cycle. Foundations, corporations, donors, nonprofits, and businesses will be contacted to help fund pilot programs until a legislative allocation can be pursued in 2024.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
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.
Texas schools struggle to meet demand for special ed evaluations
Demand for special education evaluations has shot up across Texas, creating backlogs and financial strains on school districts that are simultaneously struggling to retain and hire the school psychologists who would normally do the work. Statewide, about 2,100 people are employed as licensed school psychologists, about one for every 2,617 students, according to the Texas Association of School Psychologists, some way short of one per 500 students, as recommend by national organizations, said Jenna Becker, the association's president and a licensed specialist in school psychology. To fill the gap, many districts have turned to expensive outside contracting firms, paying premium rates for evaluations by private-sector employees – some of whom are the same school psychologists the districts used to employ. Meanwhile, some students have had to wait weeks or even months to get an evaluation, delaying their access to services. Justin Porter, a special education official at the Texas Education Agency, acknowledged the challenge but said districts are meeting their evaluation deadlines a vast majority of the time. In 2020-21, for instance, districts completed 96,000 evaluations and finished 84% on-time. Last school year, they conducted nearly 167,000 and completed 96% on schedule.
Austin American-Statesman San Antonio Express-News
----- STATE NEWS -----
California bans suspensions for middle and high school students
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill that will ban "willful defiance" suspensions for middle and high school students. The new law, SB 274, also prohibits suspensions and expulsions for tardiness or truancy. However, severe actions such as physical violence, drug possession, theft, and bullying can still result in suspension. The legislation aims to address the disproportionate impact of suspensions on Black and Latino students, who often experience a reduced loss of learning and higher dropout rates. State Senator Nancy Skinner, the bill's author, emphasizes the need to understand the causes of student misbehavior and provide support instead of excluding them from school. The number of total suspensions for all offenses has dropped by 58% in the last decade, with willful defiance suspensions decreasing by 94%. The new law expands the existing ban on suspensions for students in kindergarten through fifth grade to include middle and high schools.
California passes law requiring zero-emission school buses by 2035
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.
Bill providing free condoms to high school students vetoed in California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill that would have provided free condoms to high school students. The bill aimed to reduce the spread of sexually transmitted diseases and teen pregnancy rates by making condoms easily accessible to all students. However, Newsom cited the lack of funding for the program as the reason for his veto. He stated that with the state facing economic risks and revenue uncertainty, it was important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications. The bill had received support from organizations advocating for improved adolescent sexual health, but conservative groups raised concerns about promoting a "hook-up culture." California has previously implemented comprehensive sexual education and HIV prevention education in schools. While some states have their own guidelines and approaches to sex education, only half of adolescents receive a school lesson about contraception before their first sexual experience.
State legislation 'chipping away' at K-12 sex education
A dozen state or county agencies have turned down federal grants to support monitoring teenagers’ sexual behaviors and try to lower rates of teen pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. The withdrawals reflect a shift in many states that is further complicating and polarizing sex education in K-12 schools. Twenty-eight states require sex education, and 35 require HIV education, according to tracking by the Guttmacher Institute. Most states require any instruction on sex or disease prevention to include abstinence, and most states allow parents to opt out. This year, lawmakers passed bans on teaching human sexuality before fourth grade in Indiana and sexual reproduction or sexual intercourse before fifth grade in Arkansas. In Kentucky, educators can’t teach sexuality or sexually transmitted diseases before sixth grade, and parents must provide consent for older students. A handful of states require parents to opt in to instruction instead of opting out. In Florida, materials about reproductive health, human sexuality and sexually transmitted diseases for any grade must be approved by state officials. While many states have curtailed sex education, others have codified comprehensive and inclusive standards. Massachusetts, for example, recently announced new sexual health education guidelines, which were last updated in 1999.
----- DISTRICTS -----
Nevada's largest teachers union challenges state strike ban
Nevada's largest teachers union, the Clark County Education Association, has filed a lawsuit challenging a state law that makes it illegal for teachers and other public school employees to go on strike. The union argues that the law is unconstitutional and infringes on their First Amendment rights. The lawsuit also claims that the state's definition of a strike is overbroad and allows for arbitrary and discriminatory enforcement. The Clark County School District and the state of Nevada are listed as defendants in the lawsuit. The union has been engaged in contract negotiations since March, demanding nearly 20% pay raises over two years and additional compensation for special education teachers and teachers in high-vacancy schools. The district has offered 17.4% raises over two years, contingent on state education funds. The outcome of the lawsuit could have significant implications for teachers' rights to strike in Nevada.
----- CLASSROOM -----
More states require personal finance education in high schools
More states are requiring personal finance education before students graduate from high school. Since 2020, nine U.S. states have adopted laws or policies requiring personal finance education, bringing the total number to 30 states. The surge comes as educators are scrambling to bolster students' math skills, which plummeted during the pandemic. Advocates say personal finance courses could pay dividends if students learn how to make wiser money decisions and avoid financial hazards. The K-12 standards for personal finance education include topics such as earning income, budgeting, saving, investing, and managing credit and financial risk. Experts say it's a course that doesn't necessarily have to be taught by a traditional math teacher. Financial literacy education is seen as an empowering course that gives students the language and voice they need in certain rooms and at certain tables.
----- LEGAL -----
Jury awards $135m verdict in school molestation case
A jury has issued a $135m verdict in a molestation case involving a middle school teacher, finding that negligence by the Moreno Valley Unified School District was largely responsible for the abuse two students suffered. The jury found the school district 90% responsible for the damages, leaving them with a $121.5m liability. The two former students alleged that they were repeatedly sexually abused by the teacher from 1996 through 1999 and that the district's officials knew or should have known about the threat. The teacher was found guilty of 10 felony counts of child molestation in 2006. Brian Panish, a lawyer representing one of the former students, said: "The verdict highlights the need for prevention and accountability in schools."
----- TECHNOLOGY -----
Most E-rate participants want greater supports from FCC funds
The majority of schools and libraries participating in the federal E-rate program continue to report a need for cybersecurity support provided by the Federal Communications Commission funds. The 13th annual E-rate survey, released Tuesday by Funds For Learning, indicates that less than half (48%) of participants feel that their library or school currently budgets for cybersecurity products and services on an annual basis. Additionally, 93% of participants agree or strongly agree that the E-rate program should include “support for comprehensive network security solutions.” As the FCC considers ways to include cybersecurity in the program, most participating schools and libraries said cybersecurity measures, such as next-generation firewalls, intrusion detection and prevention systems, content or malware filtering, and domain name system security should also qualify for E-rate funding. Other findings from the Funds For Learning survey indicate ongoing signs the homework gap is closing, though still a prominent issue for most schools and libraries.
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