CFT Posts DACA Resources

Dear Local Leaders,

(Presidents, Treasurers, Staff, Executive Council)

As you may know, on Tuesday the President decided to make the cruel and heartless decision to eliminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that protects more than 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. Within hours both Randi and Josh sent out statements condemning the move and pledging support for our students, parents and community members who are impacted by the decision.

Below you will find links to resources and information we have compiled on DACA for you to share with your members. Please let me know if there are any additional resources that you have found to add to the list.

Together we will continue fighting to lift-up what is best about our America - a nation that celebrates our differences, instead of using them as a tool to stoke fear in one another. Together we will:

• Raise our voices in outrage at the President’s cruel and inhumane action
• Call on Congress to take immediate action by passing the bi-partisan Dream Act of 2017 that protects immigrant youth, and
• Demonstrate America’s support and welcome of immigrants.

Finally, if you haven’t contacted your representative to pass the federal DREAM Act, please do so immediately using the AFTs e-action center. 

Educator Resources

Congress.gov

• DREAM Act

California Federation of Teachers

• Creating Safe Havens 

American Federation of Teachers

• Protecting our Students
• September 12 DACA Town Hall co-hosted by AFT, National Immigration Law Center, United We Dream, Teach For America, Education Trust, Stand For Children and E4E. Register here.

Southern Poverty Law Center's Teach for Tolerance Program

• Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff

National Education Association

• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) Resources
• 5 questions educators are asking about ICE raids and supporting immigrant youth

California School Board Association

• Students Impacted by Immigration Status
• Legal Guidance Providing All Children Equal Access to Education, Regardless of Immigration Status

United We Dream

• Here to Stay

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

• What do I Need to Know About DACA
• Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals resources

National Immigration Law Center

• Things you need to know since DACA repeal

In Unity,

Jeff

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jeffery M Freitas | Secretary Treasurer

California Federation of Teachers

ABCFT Week in Review – September 8, 2017

Week in Review – September 8, 2017

ABC FEDERATION OF TEACHERS THIS WEEK...

Many of the ABC elementary schools are already having their Back to School nights, so ABCFT has been making sure that Teachers and Staff are appreciated for their hard work and preparation. Here’s some proud teachers at Leal prior to their cake feast. (Site rep on the right is Laura Aragon)

ABCUSD SCHOOL BOARD HIGHLIGHTS

You can watch the school board meeting highlights here:  Sept 5 School Board Meeting

Highlights are:

@ 29:00 - Facilities and Maintenance report (find out what improvements have been made over the past couple years)

@ 1:15:00 - ABCFT Employee Rep Reports ( Ray & Tanya)

ABCFT SCHOOL BOARD ELECTION NEWS

Go here to see ABCFT's Election Campaign

ABCFT/ABCUSD NEGOTIATIONS UPDATE

ABCFT negotiating team began negotiations Friday, September 8th for master contract for 2017-2020, salary and benefits for 2017-18, and the calendar for 2018-19. ABCFT will be reporting on the progress of negotiations as they develop.

HURRICANE HARVEY RELIEF FUND - MAKE A DIFFERENCE

In response to the needs Hurricane Harvey relief fund, ABCFT Executive Board unanimously voted to send an unprecedented $2,500 to our Texas AFT brothers and sisters. Texas AFT teachers will use the money to replace classroom supplies that were destroyed during the devastating storm.

PRESIDENT’S REPORT

Over this past week I attended/worked with members on  representations, contract resolutions, site concerns and mediations.  

Every so often I get the chance to visit with principals and staffs about the state of their schools and how things are going. This week I visited Melbourne Elementary to meet with the  principal to discuss the changes at Melbourne over the past year. I was impressed with how the staff is using AVID and a university theme to create a new culture of excellence among the students. The principal, Karina Martir spoke highly of the Melbourne staff and how teacher leadership continues to be a cornerstone of the success of the school. I especially was impressed by the bulletin boards in the staff lounge that documented all of the hard work that has been done by the staff to create a fluid PBIS process.

Teachers were able share their different PBIS behavior charts and is similar to how we show students work on our bulletin boards. It was valuable to see documents illustrating all of the intense, behind the scenes work going on to help Melbourne students. Thank you Melbourne for sharing.

On Thursday, ABCFT had our monthly site representative council at Haskell Middle School. We will begin sharing the site rep talking points the week after our monthly site rep meeting. So, if you happen to miss the union meeting, you can still be aware of some of what’s being discussed at the site rep meetings.  A big thank you to all of those tireless ABCFT Site Reps who make it to the monthly meeting to share and discuss the most important issues that impact teachers and nurses.

Have a great weekend and we will see you back here next week.

In Unity!

Ray Gaer

ABCFT President

Join us on Twitter @https://twitter.com/hashtag/abcteachernews

or

on Facebook @ https://www.facebook.com/Local2317/

(ABC Federation of Teachers)

Or

On our Blog Site @ http://abcteachernews.blogspot.com/

CALIFORNIA FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

CFT's Josh Pechtault on DACA

CFT President, Josh Pechtault, sent out the following message today after the Trump Administration announced that DACA would be TERMINATED! We believe that you would like to know how you can help support our DREAMERS…

MORE INFO IN THIS LINK: ABCTEACHERNEWS

AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS

AFT’s Weingarten Responds to DACA Repeal

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on President Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects more than 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children:

Go here to see the transcript: Full transcript from Randi Weingarten

Follow AFT President Randi Weingarten: http://twitter.com/rweingarten

NATIONAL NEWS

New scores show huge achievement gap

New results from the ACT highlight the achievement gap between students from disadvantaged backgrounds, and those with more affluent families. The scores show that only 9% of students in the class of 2017 who came from low-income families, whose parents did not go to college, and who identify as black, Hispanic, American Indian or Pacific Islander are strongly ready for college.However, the readiness rate for students with none of those demographic characteristics was 54%. “That kind of shocked us,” ACT chief executive Marten Roorda said. “We knew it was bad, but we didn’t know it was this bad.”

The Washington Post

Teachers assigning less homework

According to a University of Phoenix (UP) study of more than 1,000 U.S. K-12 teachers, less than half of them assign three or more hours of homework a week, while 27% of them assign an hour or less, or even no homework at all. “This data challenges the notion that American teachers are continuing a reliance on outside schoolwork,” says Pamela Roggeman, from UP. “In reality, many educators are embracing new models of learning in lieu of traditional homework assignments.”

Appeal Democrat

Senate committee rejects Trump’s education cuts

The Senate Appropriations Committee has voted to approve a spending bill that rejects President Trump’s proposed cuts to education funding for fiscal year 2018. The move has derailed the administration’s goal of directing federal dollars toward promoting and expanding school choice and private school vouchers. Among the largest cuts sought were $2bn to a federal program used to hire and train teachers. “After millions of students, parents and teachers stood up and rejected Secretary DeVos’ extreme privatization agenda, I’m pleased that Republicans and Democrats in Congress ignored her requests to gut programs that help students from preschool to college and beyond.” Democrat Senator Patty Murray said.

The Washington Post

STATE NEWS

California to revive vocational training

California is to spend $6m on a campaign to revive the reputation of vocational education, and $200m to improve the delivery of it. Enrollment on vocational courses at community colleges has dropped to 28% from 31% since 2000, and research by the state’s 114-campus community college system shows that families and employers alike didn’t know of the existence or value of vocational programs and the certifications they confer, many of which can add tens of thousands of dollars per year to a graduate’s income.

The Hechinger Report

Free school tampons bill clears senate (Garcia is an ABC Assemblywoman)

A bill, introduced by Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia, which requires schools that educate any combination of students from sixth through 12th grades to stock half of campus restrooms with free menstrual products, has cleared the state senate. The bill only applies to schools in which 40% the students meet the federal poverty threshold. “To me this bill is not just about a medical necessity, but about access to education,” Garcia said. “A lot of young women tell us that they miss school because they cannot afford these products.”

The Sacramento Bee

Education news was a little light this week…..

Armin Reyes Campaign Kickoff.

ABCFT has been going to campaign events and has been passing out campaign flyers at the Back to School nights at schools within the trustee areas. If you want to get involved in helping to get teacher endorsed candidates on the school board give us a call at the union office at 562-924-6942.

Ruben Mancillas speaking at the campaign kickoff for Armen Reyes last week.

Longtime
Past ABCFT chief negotiator Gavin Riley, Ruben Mancillas, Ruth Gaer, Ray Gaer and Michael Hartshorn at the Reyes Kickoff

Mark Pulido endorsing Reyes at the kickoff - both have a shared history of working on the ABC School Board that helped to create the great working relationship between the Union, Administration, and the School Board in ABC.

DACA Announcement Reaction Toolkit

DACA Announcement Reaction Toolkit

Thank you for stepping up to immigrant youth.

As you may know, we are anticipating that the Trump administration will soon make an announcement about the future of the DACA program.

If there is an announcement by President Trump to terminate the DACA program that has provided protections from deportations and the ability to work and attend school for more than 800,000 Immigrant young people, we want an immediate and strong reaction across America, with diverse voices from across the political spectrum and civil society:

● Raising our voices in outrage at the President's cruel and inhumane action,

● Calling on Congress to take immediate action by passing the bi-partisan Dream Act of 2017 that protects immigrant youth without further imperiling the immigrant community through legislative dealmaking, and

● Demonstrating America's support and welcome of immigrants.

Upon Announcement by President Trump we are asking supporters to:

1. Issue immediate statements, tweets reactions. Top line messages: 1) Trump's white nationalist agenda is putting immigrant youth at risk, 2) Call for Congress to act immediately to protect immigrant youth through the bi-partisan Dream Act of 2017 with a clear demand to not use them as bargaining chips to further criminalize and persecute the broader immigrant community and 3) Immigrants are welcomed and here to stay.

2. Launch into actions or participate in actions in your state on the same day of the announcement directed at the following: a) Trump (White House/Buildings associated with Trump) here, b) Republican MOC's/Senators and select Democratic MOC's/Senators. Find your member of Congress here or Senator here or c) ICE and/or USCIS offices (symbolic location for mobilization)

Let us know about your action here or find an action near you (this website will be live once the announcement is made) here

3. Drive calls to Congressional offices to pass the bi-partisan Dream Act of 2017 immediately that protects immigrant youth and does not jeopardize other immigrants -888-542-8298 and 4. Call on your state and local officials to issue statements of support and resolutions to protect immigrant youth.

Post the immediate 48 hour reaction period where we want spontaneous and strong actions, calls, and statements we are asking allies to partner with us in a sustained action campaign that protects immigrants and elevates the pressure on Congress to act immediately passing the bi-pasrtisan Dream Act of 2017 that protects immigrant youth without compromise.

Messaging to develop statements/tweets:

Talking Points On Trump Ending DACA These are intended to be topline, messagy, and hard hitting so

people can respond immediately and then add in additional information later

• Following his pardon of Arpaio, Trump has gotten even crueler by removing protections for 800k immigrant youth. 

• These are 800,000 brave young adults who are working or going to school, living their lives, and

contributing to America. This is their home. Taking legal status away from them so Trump can

deport them is immoral and wrong.

• It's not just morally wrong; it will hurt our economy. Nearly 700,000 DACA recipients are in our

workforce and ending it will be massively disruptive not only to their lives but also to their

employers, their coworkers, their patients, their employees.

• It’s time for Republicans to decide which side of history do they want to be on.

• Are they going to pass the bi-partisan Dream Act that creates a path to citizenship for immigrant

youth, without using their parents and loved ones as bargaining chips? Or will they stand idly by

and let their president destroy the lives and livelihoods of these talented young Americans?

Sample tweets:

.@realDonaldTrump has stripped legal status of young immigrants who make America strong. Congress

must right this wrong: pass #DreamAct!

@HouseGOP @SenateGOP have a choice: side w/ 800,000+ young immigrants and protect them... or

uphold Trump's hate agenda? #HeretoStay

Trump's decision to end DACA is not the end for immigrants. Congress must do right by them: pass the

Dream Act. #HeretoStay

800,000+ youth are in our workforce. Ending DACA not only disrupts their lives but also their employers,

coworkers, patients & more.

Will Congress pass the Dream Act, which creates a path to citizenship for immigrant youth, without using their loved ones as bargaining chips? 1/2 or will they stand idly by and let the president destroy the lives and livelihoods of immigrants?

#HeretoStay 2/2

Trump decision on #DACA is morally wrong & economically unwise. Congress must stand up 4 young

immigrants & America. Protect immigrants now!

Action ideas for the day of the announcement (note you will want to time the action to have the most

people participate and for it to be press worthy so don’t forget to contact your local press about your action):

Join a local action by finding one near you at www.weareheretostay.org (will be live once

announcement made)

If an action is not already organized in your community, plan and organize one yourself. Organize

a press conference/rally/action/vigil/ prayer service and invite allies in the faith, labor, and civil

rights community in your city to join you at:

1. A building associated with Trump, if it exists, find one near you here or

2. At the local office of your Republican Senator or Member of Congress and select Democratic

Senators/MOC's. Find your Member of Congress here or Senator here or

3. At an ICE office or DHS facility

4. Register your action here so other people can join you

Handmade signs at the rally/press conference should include but are not limited to the following

messages:

• Here To Stay

• Shame on Trump

• We Reject Hate/We Stand with Immigrants

• We Reject Trump/We Stand with Immigrants

• We stand with immigrants/America Stands with immigrant youth

• We Stand with Immigrants/America rejects Trump

• Congress: Protect immigrant youth NOW

• America Says YES to Immigrants/America Says NO to Trump

Remember to;

• Create a FB event/action to get the word out

• Contact your local press to cover the action by calling the news desks and sending out a press

advisory

• Enter your action information here

• Post to social media using the hashtags #HeretoStay and/or #RejectTrump

Remember, anti-immigrant forces will want to disrupt our actions so they can paint us in a bad light-don't let them. We have the moral high ground, the majority of the American public is with us!

Thank you and remember to send an after action report to: defendourdreams@googlegroups.com

  If you haven’t yet contacted your representative to pass the federal DREAM Act please do so immediately using the AFTs e-actioncenter -https://actionnetwork.org/letters/urge-congress-to-pass-the-dream-act

Thanks to Roni Love ABCFT-R for her wonderful emails that we are sharing.

In Unity,

ABCFT

CFT's Josh Pechtault on DACA

CFT President, Josh Pechtault, sent out the following message today after the Trump Administration announced thatDACA would be TERMINATED! We believe that you would like to know how you can help support our DREAMERS...

The California Federation of Teachers strongly condemns the Trump administration’s decision to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, which threatens the future of 800,000 young immigrants brought to the United States as children. In California alone more than 200,000 Dreamers and their families are now at risk.

 

Ending DACA is a destructive and heartless act that will cause severe harm not only to these young Dreamers, but to their families, communities, and the broader society and economy.  We work with Dreamer students and their parents each day in our schools across the state, and know that ending DACA will cause crippling fear and uncertainty. As teachers, professors and support staff we vow to stand by our students and their families, and will do whatever we can to ensure they receive an education free from fear.  

 

Josh further urges us to:

 

1.    Take part in one of the DACA mobilizations near you today and this week. Share pictures and videos back with CFT via Twitter (@CFTunion) or by emailing mhardy@uesf.org.

 

2.     Call your Congressional representatives today to pass the Dream Act of 2017. Call 1-844-311-3181 to be connected directly to your member of Congress.

Thanks to Roni Love for creating these informative posts.

In Unity,

ABCFT

DACA Update - Reactions from AFT - DACA Tool Kit

AFT’s Weingarten Responds to DACA Repeal

WASHINGTON—American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten released the following statement on President Trump’s decision to terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program that protects more than 800,000 young, undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children: “The young people covered by DACA are woven into our communities—learning in, working in, defending and contributing to the country that is their home. Offering protection to DACAmented immigrants was done based on the understanding that America is stronger when we value people and create opportunity to achieve the American dream, regardless of demography or geography. “President Trump made a promise that he would treat Dreamers with ‘great heart.’ Now, for seemingly political reasons, he is breaking his promise to students, teachers, doctors, nurses and lawyers who took him at his word. This is not the America I know—an America that says one thing to its citizens and then does another. Betraying DACA Dreamers is betraying the values of our diverse and welcoming nation. America will not be stronger or more secure when these young people are torn away from the country they love and call their own. America will be diminished—and the toll will be measured by families ripped apart, people cast into the shadows and into poverty, businesses upended, economies weakened and dreams shattered. “As children return to school, many carry with them constant, crippling terror and uncertainty because of their immigration status. Children should be free to learn and live without fear. Inhumane immigration policies deprive them of that freedom. “President Trump has an opportunity to lead on this issue. The time has come for the president and Congress to offer comprehensive solutions to our broken immigration system. We must defend DACA now, but we know the enduring work is to provide pathways to citizenship for millions of students, families and neighbors working and living alongside us, which includes passing the bipartisan Dream Act of 2017. “The AFT will continue to fight to protect undocumented students, refugees, individuals with temporary protective status, and their families from the threat of deportation. A nation built by immigrants should welcome those in pursuit of the American dream, not pull up the ladder behind us.”

NATIONAL NEWS

Education leaders condemn Trump’s DACA move

Education leaders have condemned President Trump’s decision to wind down the DACA program in six months, warning the move will disrupt the lives of hundreds of thousands of students. Daniel A. Domenech, executive director of the National Association Of School Superintendents, said his members are “concerned by the uncertainty today’s announcement brings, not only to our students and their families, but also our broader schools and communities.” Randi Weingarten, president of theAmerican Federation for Teachers, said: “Betraying DACA dreamers is betraying the values of our diverse and welcoming nation.” California’s Supt. of Public Instruction. Tom Torlakson, has called the decision “mean-spirited”, adding “Our country made an honest deal with these students - study hard, earn your degree and you will get a fair chance to compete for college. We should keep deals, not break them.” Meanwhile, some California colleges and K-12 school districts are stepping up their legal and counseling teams in the wake of the decision. U.C. Riverside is considering using its legal resources in case their students’ protected status is threatened. “We’ll certainly engage our university attorneys in a review of the change in policy,” said the school's vice chancellor Jim Sandoval. Los Angeles USD said its campuses will still be “safe zones” for immigrants and their families and that the district won’t allow immigration enforcement agents on campuses without an OK from district officials.

The Washington Post     Los Angeles Times   KPCC   The Daily Breeze

Educators vow to keep helping dreamers

President Trump is today expected to tell the nation that he is phasing out the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) programs, which grants permission for almost 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children to either work or go to school. In recent months, the Post notes, some 640 college and university presidents across the U.S. have signed a statement urging federal authorities to maintain DACA, while in California, which has over 200,000 undocumented students enrolled in schools, the most in any U.S. state, education leaders have even created rapid response teams offering legal support and sent supportive messages to families.

Washington Post