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Get Organized! |
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 Get Organized! – your bimonthly organizing newsletter.
Through pictures and short articles, Get Organized! will provide our members with timely information about the work we are doing to coordinate CFT operations and provide strategic support to locals – essential to achieve success in our bargaining, issue initiatives and campaigns.
We encourage you to spread the word and share it with members, through your websites, email lists, bulletin boards, etc. Pass it around and let us know what you think.
To submit an article, photo or story idea, send an email to
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
, CFT Organizing Director.
Nov-Dec 2011: Get Organized! - Volume 2, Number 2
September 2011: Get Organized! - Volume 2, Number 1
June 2011: Get Organized! - Volume 1, Number 2
April 2011: Get Organized! - Volume 1, Number 1
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San Francisco early childhood education organizing project moves ahead |
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Organizers on the San Francisco Early Childhood Education Organizing Project met with more than half the staff at St. Nicholas Preschool earlier in the fall. During the meeting, teachers and aides expressed a desire for greater respect for their profession, and workers at the school expressed a need for better health insurance and compensation.
Healthcare survey data from early childhood centers is beginning to come in, which will later inform the potential creation of a “Taft-Hartley insurance fund” for early childhood workers in San Francisco. |
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Area council meetings in full swing |
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The CFT Executive Council recently revised the area council structure and established 17 area councils throughout the state. Area meetings to review CFT’s annual priorities, discuss local issues, and coordinate political endorsements are to be held at least twice a year.
Turnout for the area council meetings this fall has been great, with local presidents, executive directors, and political directors in regular attendance. Overall people are enthusiastic and have given very positive feedback on this new approach.
Picture caption: Cathy Campbell, Berkeley Federation president, Debra Weintraub from the Peralta Federation and Allyson Page from Mount Diablo School Psychologists Association participate in the East Bay Area Council. |
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Political organizers trained as CFT Strategic Campaign Initiative advances |
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Local PLUCC leaders participate in a
two-day training as part of the
Strategic Campaign Initiative.
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The Strategic Campaign Initiative moved ahead last month with the Political Leaders United to Create Change program training. Local unions in the PLUCC program (See listing below) received matching grants to hire political organizers. These organizers met for two days at the CFT Bay Area office to discuss how to build a comprehensive organizing and political program.
CFT President Josh Pechthalt kicked off the meeting by thanking members for their dedication and commitment while emphasizing that the overall goal of the campaign is to align the union’s work and develop a group of trained and active members, leaders, and staff to aide the CFT in becoming more efficient and better focused on building power.
Sylvia A. Allegretto, from the Center on Wage and Employment Dynamics at UC Berkeley, gave a detailed overview of the economy, discussing employment and the jobs deficit, wage deterioration and the growth of income inequality, and the housing crisis.
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Read more...
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CFT and Preschool California co-sponsor Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit |
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In early November, the CFT co-sponsored Preschool California’s Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit. Almost 500 educators from nearly 100 school districts — including nearly a dozen CFT members and Secretary Treasurer Jeff Frietas — discussed how to effectively implement transitional kindergarten.
With statewide implementation beginning next fall, leaders, and early adopters shared their promising practices with those who are planning their own programs. Breakout sessions dealt with topics such as curriculum, family outreach and engagement, and provided educators with practical information and tools that will help ensure early learners are better prepared to succeed in kindergarten and beyond.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson called transitional kindergarten “one of the bright spots for education,” noting that it will help our students obtain proficiency in math and language arts in the early elementary grades.
Picture caption: Representing the CFT at the Transitional Kindergarten Implementation Summit, left to right: Elaine Merriweather, United Educators of San Francisco; Ray Gaer, ABC Federation; Gary Ravani, EC/K-12 Council president; Tracey Iglehart, Berkeley Federation; Betty Robinson-Harris, UESF; Jeff Freitas, CFT secretary treasurer; Margaret Martinez-Ingle, El Rancho Federation; Jennifer Moreno, CFT legislative rep; and Jocelyn Gadient, El Rancho Federation. |
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