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Classified Insider contains valuable news and information about the workplace issues of California classified employees and paraprofessionals and is emailed to members.
California Teacher is the CFT’s all-union magazine that contains information relevant to members including a section specific to the issues of classified employees. Don’t be fooled by the name — this magazine is for all members, classified too!
AFT PSRP e-Newsletter contains news and information for classified employee and paraprofessional members of the AFT Paraprofessional and School-Related Personnel (PSRP) division.
AFT Early Childhood Education eNewsletter is one of two newsletters that provide early educators national news and helpful workplace information.
AFT PSRP Reporter is part of AFT’s Voices blog and covers issues of relevance to classified employees and support staff nationwide.
AFT e-Activist Network offers alerts and easy ways to take important action quickly on legislation or initiatives that affects you, your workplace, and your community.
Organizing Materials for Classified Employees
- Get to know your CCE! Learn more about the officers of the Council of Classified Employees on this flyer.
- How can you participate? Learn how you can get involved in the Council of Classified Employees and the larger CFT on this flyer.
- Poster: Be a UNIONIST – United in Fighting for Fairness, Prosperity, Justice, Equality. Post this colorful piece in your workplace!
Know Your Rights
Know Your Rights: A guide to workplace laws for classified employees and paraprofessionals in California is a comprehensive 40-page booklet that outlines state laws and what you need to know about them. It also contains your Weingarten Rights.
CalOSHA Health-and-Safety Rights for Workers: This concise booklet produced by the Department of Industrial Relations/Cal-OSHA outlines the injury and illness prevention program required by your employer under the California Labor Code, your right to a workplace inspection, your right to refuse hazardous work, and your right to obtain documents and records.
Retirement System
CalPERS The retirement system for numerous groups of public employees in California, including many members of the classified service. The CFT monitors CalPERS actions and sends a representative to its board meetings.
For Staff in the Community Colleges
Consultation Council comprises 18 representatives from all levels of the community college system who have an opportunity to advise the chancellor and board of governors on state policy decisions. Thanks to successful CFT-sponsored legislation, classified staff have two seats on the council. The CFT representative on the Consultation Council is Thomas Hamilton from Long Beach City College.
UC-AFT recognized on Assembly Floor
Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, recognized the University Council-AFT on the Assembly Floor during UC-AFT’s first group lobby day at the State Capitol on April 1.
Before becoming a state legislator, Medina was a teacher at Riverside Poly High School and served as an elected trustee of the Riverside Community College District. For his dedicated work on behalf of education, CFT honored Medina with its Legislator of the Year Award in 2016.
Teachers and communities lay it on the line
Six Days That Shook Los Angeles - Part 1
With a massive outpouring of community support, a new generation of teachers shut down the country’s second-largest school district in a fight for the future of public education. UTLA members launched their first strike in 30 years to deliver “the schools our kids deserve.”
A week later they were well on their way.
Tri-National Conference: Top-down educational reforms endanger public schools
By Sarah Ringler, Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers, Retiree Chapter
Evidence shows that teachers are stressed. A 2017 survey in British Columbia found that two-thirds of teachers felt “stressed and emotionally exhausted all, or most of the time. In the United Kingdom, 86 percent of teachers reported increased workplace stress. In the United States, 40 percent of teachers quit teaching within five years, leaving schools with inexperienced teachers who often are assigned to teach the most challenging and vulnerable students.
Momentum growing for charter school reform
On February 25, CFT joined fellow educator and school worker unions, the NAACP, and several concerned state lawmakers to announce proposed legislation that would fix the laws governing charter schools in California. The legislation, Assembly Bills 1505, 1506, 1507, and 1508, would ensure charter schools were accountable to local communities and neighborhood schools.
New funding formula rewards student performance at the risk of turning colleges into diploma mills
Stephanie Rosenblatt, president of Cerritos College Faculty Federation, and a librarian at the college, has seen what happened to counselors in her district when performance metrics were imposed on them.
It’s a family affair: When parents and children are union brothers and sisters
“Working for a small district has its pros and cons,” said Carl Williams, “but it’s mostly pros.”
Williams is president of AFT Local 4529, the Lawndale Federation of Classified Employees. The federation represents about 450 staff in the Lawndale district’s six elementary and two middle schools.
Librarians are determined to win a better contract
UC librarians and their union, the University Council-AFT, has three priority issues in the negotiations of their contract with university administrators: salary and economic issues, academic freedom, and temporary librarians.
Charter schools cost L.A. Unified nearly $600 million per year, board votes for moratorium
Six Days That Shook Los Angeles - Part 2
Eight days after the six-day strike had ramped up public pressure, the Los Angeles Unified school board passed a groundbreaking resolution calling for a moratorium on new charters in the district until Sacramento completes a study of how their unchecked expansion has affected traditional schools. The district also made a significant investment in local community schools.
On day two of the UTLA strike, members teaching at a South L.A. charter also walked out, and stayed out until victory two weeks later.
Thanks to all who supported the OEA strike!
Thanks to all the CFT members who stood up for the Oakland teachers during their 7-day strike. Whether walking the picket line, adopting schools, or staging walk-ins, CFT members stood strong with our sisters and brother in Oakland, who were fighting for the future of public education in their communities.
The power of parents: A new generation shows its commitment to local schools
Six Days That Shook Los Angeles - Part 5
United Teachers Los Angeles has fought for nearly 50 years to give parents a greater voice in how their children’s schools are run. In recent years, UTLA stepped up its outreach by hiring community organizers, building coalitions, and working with supporters in changing neighborhoods.
Those efforts bore fruit in January, when thousands of parents joined teachers on picket lines across the 700-square-mile school district to fight for “the schools our students deserve.”
Groundskeeper talks about applying chemicals in light of landmark ruling against Monsanto
The Environmental Protection Agency has said the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup and other weed killers is safe for humans when used according to directions. The World Health Organization, however, classifies glyphosate as a “probable human carcinogen” and California lists it as a chemical known to cause cancer.
CFT scores major legislative victory by prohibiting for-profit charter schools in California
Gemma Abels, the president of the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, saw how for-profit charter schools hurt the children and families in her district in Santa Clara County. A school there, Flex Academy, operated by the largest for-profit charter company – K12 Inc. – closed just a few weeks before school started, leaving families scrambling to find places for their children.
Security doorlocks: The CFT’s persistent legislative efforts will lead to greater school safety
In a survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California this spring, 82 percent of public school parents and 73 percent of adults said they are concerned about school shootings. Another poll showed 57 percent of teenagers aged 13-17 were somewhat or very worried about a shooting in their school.
Choose True Blue on November 6: Vote Tony Thurmond for state superintendent
It’s not every election cycle that California finds itself with critical, competitive races, but 2018 is not just any election year. California is a battleground state to take back the House of Representatives. Jerry Brown is termed out, so voters will elect a new governor for the first time in eight years. And the race for state superintendent pits charter schools against public schools.
A Blue Wave — only if we make it happen
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
Years back, my family took a trip to Hawaii. While there, Japan suffered a serious earthquake and we were told to prepare for a tsunami that never materialized. Like the one on my trip, the “blue wave” that could give Democrats a majority in the House and possibly the Senate, might be just as illusory as our Hawaiian experience. Unless we help make it happen.
CFT members step up to the plate following Janus v. AFSCME decision
On June 27, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned decades of precedent and eliminated the right of public sector unions to collect fair share, or agency fees, from non-members.
The justices ruled 5-4 in favor of Mark Janus, an Illinois fee payer, in Janus v. AFSCME Council 31, overturning the 1977 precedent established in Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. Those backing the case clearly hoped the decision would cripple union operations, but with so much at stake for educators and public education, CFT members have not only chosen to stay united but have gained in strength as a result.