Action Center
Add your name: It’s time for a Workers’ Bill of Rights during the COVID-19 crisis
With the COVID-19 crisis wreaking havoc on our economy, pushing millions of people out of work and endangering essential workers, it is more important than ever that we stand together to advocate for working people.
Help us put Schools and Communities First on the ballot!
Sign up today to help gather signatures for Schools & Communities First
CFT members from every corner of the state are gathering signatures to put Schools and Communities First on the ballot, which if passed in November 2020 will bring over $12 billion to our schools and communities by eliminating loopholes in California’s commercial property tax system exploited by large corporations.
California contingents unite to find “Common Ground”
In an event which channels the spirit of Campus Equity Week, leaders from the Peralta Federation of Teachers, San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, UC-AFT, and San Francisco State will host a free conference on the future of higher education at Berkeley City College on October 25.
AB 500 – Paid maternity leave for teachers and school workers
Thanks to the nearly 2,000 CFT members and allies who wrote letters to the governor, urging him to sign AB 500.
We are sorry to report that Governor Newsom has vetoed AB 500. Despite overwhelming bipartisan votes in both the Assembly and Senate, the fierce opposition to the bill from K-12 and community college districts was too much to overcome.
We will continue to fight for educators and school workers who wish to start families.
Support a living wage for community college part-time faculty
Support an 85 percent teaching load
Write Assemblymember Jose Medina today!
Medina introduced CFT-sponsored Assembly Bill 897 which would change the percentage of hours a part-time faculty member may teach up to 85 percent of the hours per week of a full-time employee having comparable duties.
Download the letter and add your own voice!
Time to fix California’s broken charter school laws
Hold charter schools accountable to local communities
Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to hold the charter school industry accountable to our local communities and to all California students. Read more about how the grassroots effort led to the historic charter school reforms found in AB 1505 and AB 1507.
Wear #RedforEd: Support Oakland educators on February 15
Before the end of the month, teachers and educators in the Oakland Education Association may go on strike for reasons nearly identical to the historic UTLA strike last month. OEA members are fighting for a living wage, smaller class sizes, and more student support. They are fighting for respect.
Here are four things you can do to show your support for Oakland teachers, as they take a stand for their students and their profession:
Part-time faculty – send a letter to incoming Governor Gavin Newsom
One of the critical factors to increasing student success in the California Community Colleges is ensuring faculty-student interaction. But nearly 70 percent of community college faculty are temporary, part-time instructors, who are largely paid only for their time in the classroom.
Increasing student-teacher interaction can be done, in part, by hiring more full-time instructors. Another way is to increase paid office hour funding for part-time faculty.
Time to stand with our UTLA brothers and sisters
After years of unchecked growth of charter schools, and the hiring of an investment banker with a radical plan to reorganize schools as superintendent of LAUSD, UTLA members are taking a strong stand to protect the future of public education in Los Angeles.
Tell Congress: Don’t let students go hungry
Write Congress today to save SNAP!
Congress is now debating a bill that would restrict SNAP benefits or even cut off assistance to working families. Currently, there is a three-month time limit that cuts off food assistance to any adult in need who doesn’t have children and can’t find a reliable 20-hour-a-week job. The bill will expand this time limit to all adults ages 18-59 who are not disabled, pregnant or caring for a child under the age of 6, and it will require at least 20 hours of work or in a training program.
Helping those impacted by the California fires
With fires raging throughout California once again, CFT is actively in contact with members in the impacted areas, working to ensure that they remain safe. So far we know that one CFT member has lost their home and that hundreds more have been evacuated.
If any CFT members you know have been impacted by the fire, please have them contact our Berkeley office ASAP at 510-523-5238, to help arrange for assistance.
Tell The Senate: Stop Brett Kavanaugh
A Supreme Court nominee should be fair, independent and committed to protecting the rights, freedoms and legal safeguards that protect every one of us. Judge Brett Kavanaugh does not meet this standard.
Standing together for our students and our profession
The rules have changed, but our commitment to our students hasn’t. We are fiercely dedicated to our students and their families because we believe in the power and promise of public education. We know that our profession, our schools, our colleges, and students are worth fighting for.
Oppose creation of unnecessary, fully online college
All of California’s 114 community colleges offer online courses, so why do we need a fully online 115th college, especially a non-union one which would hire adjuncts to work for even lower wages, without union protections?
The $120 million the governor is budgeting for this college could be better spent on increasing full-time positions, part-time pay equity, and more paid part-time office hours.
Sign the pledge: National Day of Action Against Gun Violence on April 20
Inspired by the courageous young survivors in Parkland, Florida and across the nation, students, parents, educators and community advocates will join together on April 20, 2018, for the National Day of Action Against Gun Violence in Schools. Together we must take up the students’ call, “Books not Guns.”
On April 20 we will mark the 19th anniversary of the Columbine massacre by standing together to demand that our elected leaders take meaningful action to stop the violence that is tearing apart our schools and our communities.
Tell Betsy DeVos: Fully fund public education
Write Education Secretary Betsy DeVos today!
The Trump/DeVos budget proposes massive education cuts that will hurt our children, our schools, our families and our communities. Sign this letter today to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos opposing the cruel and catastrophic federal education budget proposed by the Trump administration.