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Safe Havens
Ensuring safe workplaces for students and workers
A movement is underway in California and across the nation to protect our most vulnerable students and their families anti-immigrant actions. The CFT has created a Safe Havens Toolkit for educators, students and families with links and downloads from numerous advocacy organizations.
Students, educators and school staff also deserve to work in places free from the fear o of mass shootings. CFT takes a strong stand for common sense gun control to end the gun violence in our schools.
Fixing commercial tax system will help communities prepare for wildfires
Prop 15 will fund local fire protection districts
As a result of our rapidly changing climate, California has experienced the deadliest, largest, and most destructive wildfires in its history.
In the past five years, we’ve had nine of the 20 most destructive fires the state has ever had, including the Camp Fire in Butte in 2018, the Tubbs Fire in Napa and Sonoma in 2017, the Carr Fire in Shasta & Trinity in 2018, and the Thomas Fire in Santa Barbara and Ventura in 2017.
Why your vote for Prop 15 is essential!
FAQ: What Prop 15 will do
Proposition 15 is a fair and balanced reform that will reclaim $12 billion to invest in schools and vital services for our local communities.
When Prop 15 passes, it will close a loophole that large corporations have used for decades to avoid paying their fair share of property taxes. The richest 10% of corporate properties will provide 92% of the new revenue.
Unions step up to help wildfire evacuees
Wildfires threaten member homes and lives
Fires in California, many started by lightning, have burned a little more than a million acres, and scores of people have lost homes and thousands more have been forced to evacuate, including CFT members. The fires, some of the largest in the state’s history are burning in areas including Lake, Napa, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, Solano, Sonoma, and Yolo counties.
CFT Checklist for Safely Reopening Schools and Colleges
Key checkpoints for physical reopening in the time of the coronavirus
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and colleges across California were shuttered to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Staff remaining on campus performed the challenging duties of distance learning support, meal preparation and pick-up, and deep cleaning to maintain educational services during shelter-in-place orders, as well as prepare for eventual physical reopening.
In the union’s document, Checklist for Safely Reopening Schools & Colleges, the CFT does not encourage the physical reopening of school sites until it is safe to do so. At a minimum, the CFT recommends coordination with state and local public health guidelines on every checklist item in this document to help prevent further spread of the coronavirus.
CFT urges Governor Newsom to delay physically reopening schools
Surging coronavirus cases, testing woes make opening safely all but impossible
The CFT has asked Governor Newsom and state legislative leaders to delay the physical reopening of schools. Despite coronavirus cases surging throughout the state, growing numbers of hospitalizations and deaths, and mounting testing woes, some school districts are rushing to reopen — putting students, teachers, and communities at risk.
In a letter to state leaders, the CFT also urged the governor to provide stronger leadership and direction to school communities, who have been left on their own to make the difficult decision on whether it is safe to reopen schools.
State Dept. of Public Health updates school reopening guidelines
CFT wants to see stronger guidelines
During his July 17 noon press conference, Governor Newsom announced statewide guidelines for reopening K-12 schools this fall.
While the governor addressed some of the demands that the union articulated to him and state leaders in the CFT letter sent on Monday, CFT still believes that there is more to be done to ensure the safety of California’s teachers, school staff, students, and communities.
CFT says “Tax Billionaires”
We can’t cut our way to the economic recovery our students deserve!
As we navigate the global COVID-19 pandemic, Californians are experiencing crises that reach far beyond the immediate public and personal health emergencies. The poorest Californians, disproportionately people of color in the service, hospitality, and healthcare sectors, have either lost their jobs, resulting in a spike to unemployment unlike anything we have seen in our lifetimes, or are risking their health performing essential frontline services.
CFT believes that Black Lives Matter
June 17, 2020
Whereas, CFT is a Union of Educators and Classified Professionals representing more than 120,000 employees working at every level of public and private education from Head Start to Universities of California, many of whom come from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, specifically Black racial and ethnic backgrounds; and
Whereas, CFT condemns those building blocks of racial oppression, anti-Black racism, and unconscious biases that provide the structural support for America’s historical foundation of systemic racism; and
Tell Congress to pass the HEROES Act!
Invest now to get America safely back to school and back to work
COVID-19 is triggering state and local budget crises across the nation. State and local governments are incurring huge new costs as they seek to contain and treat the coronavirus and respond to the virus-induced spike in joblessness and related human needs. At the same time, they are projecting sharply lower tax revenues due to the widespread collapse of economic activity brought about by efforts to contain the virus’ spread.
