KEEPING YOU INFORMED - Negotiations Update By Ruben Mancillas
Members of the ABCFT negotiating team are attending the Governor’s Budget Workshop presented by School Services today. This will provide a statewide preview of the Governor’s budget for 2024-2025. On Tuesday, we are going to a Budget Perspectives Workshop presented by the Los Angeles County of Education. This will be looking at the same numbers but with more of a focus on the implications for districts in Los Angeles County.
A recap of the budget process: the Governor presents a proposed state budget in January. The Governor and the legislature negotiate this budget throughout the spring. The May Revision offers an updated budget which accounts for the most recent tax revenues. This is followed by the legislature adopting a final budget for the fiscal year no later than June 15.
The preliminary reports are not promising. Currently, the California budget faces a deficit of around 68 billion dollars. One of the reasons given for this shortfall is that with tax filing extensions the state was unable to gain a complete picture of the 2022-2023 until after the fiscal year had already ended. The initial projection of what this shortfall would mean for education is that next year’s COLA is only .76%.
The ABCFT negotiating team does not have any negotiations sessions scheduled with the district at this time. During our last formal session on December 19 we presented our most recent proposal to the district. Dr. Fraser and I have a PAL meeting scheduled for next week where we will discuss our next steps.
In Unity,
KEEPING YOU INFORMED-
School Facilities Capacities and Declining Enrollment Ad Hoc Committee by Ray Gaer
Previous YOUnionews report from 12.15.2023
On Wednesday, I attended the ABCUSD School Facilities Capacities and Declining Enrollment Ad Hoc Committee meeting to discuss further those schools that have been recommended for additional investigation. This committee is reviewing data for all district school site facilities, enrollment, demographics, location, and other factors to make a recommendation to the board on possible site(s) that could be “repurposed.” At the bottom of this article, you will find key documents used by the committee and notes from the November meeting.
There was a lot to unpack from this weeks Facilities meeting on Wednesday night and I’ll do a full recap next week. In the meantime, I want to thank those teachers who attended the meeting. A number of teachers gave impassioned speeches about the value of their community schools. I think is is crucial that the three board members in attendance were able to hear from the employees that may be impacted. In addition, a room full of concerned parents, students, and community members were in attendance. As I’ve stated in previous reports, the specter of closing a school is extremely painful and personal. Again, thank you to those who attended the meeting. There are a number of coming dates in February for further opportunities for the ABC community to have their voices heard.
Much more in next weeks report.
Staying informed is about being proactive. If you would like to attend these public meetings and speak about your concerns, the meetings are held at the district school board room on the third Wednesday of each month, starting at 6:00 p.m. on February 21, March 20, April 17, and May 15, 2024. There is an additional meeting in February that I will post next week. Thank you in advance for your comments, the committee and the board members in attendance need to hear your concerns.
Committee meeting minutes from December 13, 2023
Committee meeting minutes from November 15, 2023
Criteria used to create the preliminary list of schools to do further research on
Committee member recommendations
ABC Demographic Report from January 2023
MEMBER-ONLY RESOURCES
Five Months of Free Wellness Classes for Educators
AFT’s Share My Lesson is providing five new free, hour-long, for-credit wellness webinars this year. Each webinar in this wellness series is a stand-alone session, so you can register today for all or just start with one.
Dimensions to Wellness: Self-Care for Educators (Jan. 24)
During this session, participants will delve into their own self-care practices, gaining insights to become more intentional about their wellness journey. The program covers a range of topics, including an assessment of current health, understanding circadian rhythms, exploring eight wellness indicators and their impact on overall well-being, and even delving into the concept of chakras.
Five Healing Gestures to Help Educators and Students Grappling with Trauma (Feb. 28)
The session will introduce five “healing gestures” that educators can employ to create a safe and healing environment for their students. These gestures encompass actions such as active listening, providing emotional support, and creating a sense of belonging—all of which are essential for students on their path to recovery and resilience.
Be Healthfully Present: Supporting Your Own Well-Being (March 20)
How can we be healthfully present? People who experience traumatic events and environments can face long-term changes to their brains, bodies and behaviors. To best leverage trauma-informed strategies for students, educators must be well. In this session, participants will examine educators' occupational health hazards, assess their professional quality of life, and review effective coping strategies.
Holistic Approach to Self-Care: Creating a Personal Wellness Plan (April 17)
This session will equip educators with invaluable tools to not only recognize the signs of teacher burnout but also to proactively combat it. Moreover, it offers a diverse range of strategies tailored to each individual, enabling them to create a personalized wellness plan that fosters resilience, balance and a renewed sense of purpose in their crucial roles as educators. Ultimately, this holistic approach to self-care empowers educators to thrive both personally and professionally, thereby enhancing their ability to educate America's youth effectively.
More Than Just Self-Care: Six Factors of Educator Well-Being (May 6)
Join this session in which we will explain how to go beyond burnout—equipping educators with strategies that are proven to increase well-being while also providing school systems the tools they need to drive improvements in educators’ well-being at scale. With a meaningful and measurable definition of educator well-being, we can spark improvements that create positive working and learning conditions for all.
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.
For the first time in seven years, I’m at a loss of words for this week because I’m still processing. I got home from Sacramento late last night after attending a CFT Executive Council meeting and this morning I went straight to a governors budget (those four day weeks are so packed). I’ll be on point next week with a message but for this week I’ll just hit a few highlights.
Teachers are feeling overwhelmed, so am I so I totally get it but I’m sure at the sites it’s even more challenging.
Superintendent Dr. Zieltlow discussed the workload issue over the last couple of weeks and she has provided me with evidence that the administration is being trained on streamlining. Some sites are busier than others and that is a real issue.
Governors budget looks like it dips for a year then goes back up to a 2+% COLA (cost of living adjustment). This a challenge for next year but it doesn’t look at this point like there is a long term financial retreat in education. This is good for students and employees. According to CFT, there seems to be no anti-union or anti-LGBTQ+ initiatives on the November ballot and the legal battle over districts that are outing students under the flag of parents rights is still in the courts.
There’s much more to report but I’ll cut it short so we can all get to our weekend. Packed reports next week so get your beverage and your readers ready.
In YOUnity,
Ray Gaer
President, ABCFT
CALIFORNIA DASHBOARD REFRESHER
A refresher on the California School Dashboard | Quick Guide
The California School Dashboard is back in full color for the first time in four years.
The dashboard, which the California Department of Education will release on Friday, is the state’s academic accountability and improvement tool designed for parents and educators. It rates the performance of every school, district and charter school, along with any of 13 student groups that attend them, with a color on seven indicators of performance, including math and English language arts test scores, chronic absence rates and graduation rates.
First introduced in 2016-17, the dashboard was suspended because of the pandemic in 2019-20 and 2020-21, and resumed this year with the collection of two consecutive years of data needed to generate color ratings.
Here’s a guide to the dashboard for first-time viewers and for those who need a brush-up course on how to read and interpret the colors and the data behind them.
Why the dashboard?
The Local Control Funding Formula, passed by the Legislature in 2013, required it — or something close to it.
Dissatisfied with the Academic Performance Index, which assigned a three-digit ranking to districts based exclusively on test scores, legislators mandated a broader look at school performance and conditions of learning through multiple measures. There would be no summative ranking; instead, there would be components, such as suspension rates, that would provide evidence for specific actions for improvement. The Legislature required that districts and schools highlight lowest-performing student groups, not just districtwide averages for all students that can shroud inequalities. The intent was to tie actions in a district’s three-year improvement strategy, the Local Control and Accountability Plan, or LCAP, to results in the dashboard.
The dashboard also marks a shift away from the mindset of the federal No Child Left Behind Act. Instead of punishment for low performance, the funding formula promises guidance and assistance to districts with low-performing student groups. As State Board of Education President Michael Kirst and then-state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson wrote in a 2017 commentary for EdSource, “We have a rare opportunity to turn data into direct action. The state is now able to identify specific challenges school districts are facing and is committed to providing assistance rather than the sanctions of the past.”
https://edsource.org/2023/a-refresher-guide-to-the-california-school-dashboard/702629
Search and compare data from the California School Dashboard, 2023
https://edsource.org/2023/search-and-compare-data-from-the-california-school-dashboard-2023/702273
----- NEWS STORY HIGHLIGHT-----
Education largely spared from cuts in Governor’s initial state budget proposal, despite large deficit
This week Governor Newsom presented his initial budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. With tax receipts down this year, the Department of Finance is estimating a $37.9 billion budget deficit in the year ahead. Despite the deficit, Governor Newsom did not propose significant cuts to education, instead essentially funding K-14 education at a similar level to the current year.
While significant cuts are not proposed, the proposed COLA for schools is just .76%, far below the record increases in the past few years. The Governor’s proposed budget also defers the 5% base funding increase for the University of California.
In a statement released following the Governor’s budget announcement, CFT President Jeff Freitas once again called upon Sacramento lawmakers to consider raising revenue:
“California is the 5th largest economy in the world, and our students and their families deserve a public school system that is fully and equitably funded and equal to the economic stature of the state,” he said. “In order to fully fund our schools and meet the growing needs of our students and our state, all options should be considered, including raising new revenue through progressive taxation.”
For a quick rundown of the Governor’s budget proposal, click here.
----- NATIONAL NEWS -----
Freezing temperatures close schools nationwide
Schools across a wide swath of the South have announced cold-weather closures for today, affecting more than half a million children in a region known for its mild winters. The Houston, Dallas, and Fort Worth school districts, serving a total of over 400,000 students, are all shuttered today. Several Southern school systems said they would remain closed on Wednesday too, including the Memphis-Shelby County School district, the largest school system in Tennessee. School districts in Washington, DC, Montgomery, MD, and Fairfax, VA, also said they would close schools today, as temperatures plummeted and heavy snow was expected overnight. Underscoring the extreme conditions, even cities accustomed to harsh winters have closed schools, including the districts in Chicago, Detroit, and Denver.
----- STATE NEWS -----
California's education funding model could prove 'shaky proposition'
California's education funding is based on revenue projections that often differ significantly from reality due to the state's volatile taxation system. Proposition 98 governs the financing of K-12 schools and community colleges, but its complex formulas are subject to interpretation. The 2024-25 budget proposed by Governor Gavin Newsom reveals a $30bn-plus gap between revenue estimates, resulting in a $38bn deficit. Newsom's budget proposal taps into a special reserve fund for schools to make up for the shortfall, but if revenue estimates are lower than expected, schools could face significant cuts. The proposed budget projects that K-12 schools will receive $126.8bn in 2024-25, but there is little evidence of improved academic achievement despite increased spending. With declining enrollment and a population decline, the impact of funding on educational achievement is being questioned.
States 'falling short' in teaching literacy
Despite a national focus on the science of reading, states are not adequately supporting and training teachers to effectively teach literacy, according to a report by the National Council on Teacher Quality. The report highlights that nearly every state could do more to support literacy instruction and emphasizes the need for teacher effectiveness and capacity aligned with the science of reading. Only 12 states were rated as "strong" in terms of evidence-based reading instruction. California received a moderate rating, with high marks for setting reading standards and adopting a strong reading licensure test. However, the state scored lower on ongoing literacy training for teachers and oversight of teacher preparation programs. The report calls for more training in the science of reading, as effective teaching is critical to improving students' reading skills.
----- WORKFORCE ----
Principals battle perceptions of their role in schools
Principals face a perception battle about their role in schools, with a study showing a significant gap between how principals view their job and how teachers perceive it. While nearly 98% of principals rated themselves highly on tasks like setting a clear vision for the school, only 80% of teachers agreed. Educators shared their experiences, highlighting issues such as lack of consistency, favoritism, and lack of support from principals. The expanded role of principals during the pandemic has made the challenge even more complex. Principals must balance operational and instructional responsibilities, manage expectations from district leaders and teachers, and communicate effectively. To bridge the perception gap, principals should prioritize visibility, support teachers, manage expectations, and provide clear explanations for decisions. Teachers and principals can also benefit from walking in each other's shoes to gain a better understanding of their respective roles.
----- LEGAL -----
Supreme Court allows transgender students access to school restrooms
The Supreme Court has declined to hear a case involving transgender students' access to school restrooms and locker rooms in Indiana. The case centered around a transgender boy who was barred from using the boys' restrooms at his former middle school. The refusal to take up the case leaves a split among federal appeals courts on whether school districts can prohibit transgender students from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. Transgender students across the country have filed lawsuits challenging these policies, arguing that they violate the 14th Amendment's Equal Protection Clause and Title IX. The Supreme Court has previously shown reluctance to address transgender protections. The case was backed by conservative groups and 19 Republican state attorneys general. The Supreme Court's decision allows transgender students in Indiana to access school restrooms consistent with their gender identity.
No comments:
Post a Comment