Newsroom
Landmark Cervisi decision turns 25: Part-time faculty won unemployment benefits
In 1989, the San Francisco Community College Federation won a landmark legal victory that provides unemployment benefits to many faculty members during layoffs.
Field representative Dick Hemann honored with Ben Rust Award
It’s not his height, his beard or his “elfin face” that make Dick Hemann stand out, said United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly. It’s his jokes.
Staff seek equal access to unemployment benefits
Employees struggle to make ends meet when the paycheck stops during school breaks
Linnette Robinson has worked with special needs students at Berkeley High School for four years. Every winter and summer, Robinson, who has worked stints at other elementary and middle schools, tightens her belt and scrapes by during school breaks the best she can. “Most of us won’t see a paycheck from mid-June to the end of September,” she said.
Educators at French school say “Oui!” to AFT
CFT welcomes teachers and staff at Lycée Français de San Francisco
Teachers and staff at the French immersion school Lycée Français de San Francisco choose to have the support of strong state and national unions by affiliating with the CFT and AFT.
Attorney General launches anti-truancy campaign
Keynote speaker Attorney General Kamala Harris told Convention delegates she wouldn’t be standing there if not for her first grade teacher, Mrs. Wilson, who attended her graduation from law school.
Imagine nurses, mental health professionals, open libraries
Healthy Kids, Healthy Minds legislation provides necessary student supports in every school
Nearly all 29 of Sylvia Qualls’ fifth-grade students have experienced trauma. Some are in homeless shelters, others in foster care. Some face domestic violence. Their lives are affected by drugs, alcohol and gangs.
Vote June 3 Primary Election: Educators work to reelect Tom Torlakson
Educators work to reelect Tom Torlakson
The Primary Election on June 3 includes a number of candidates, but no races are more important for educators than those for governor and superintendent of public instruction.
Gov. Brown partnered with CFT to pass Proposition 30 in November 2012, providing new resources for strapped schools and colleges after seven years of devastating cuts.
Rank & Files, April-May 2014
Sharon Hendricks, a speech instructor, member of the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild, Local 1521, and a member of the CalSTRS Board, was elected by her colleagues as vice chair of the 12-member board for the 2014-15 term. The chair and vice chair provide board leadership, direction and policy development for the largest educator-only pension fund in the world.
AFT President continues to champion issues of California educators
From helping pass Proposition 30, which raises billions of dollars for education, to fighting back against Vergara v. California, a lawsuit filed on behalf of nine student plaintiffs which seeks to dismantle teachers’ rights, AFT President Randi Weingarten stands up for California educators and students.
Raoul Teilhet: Delegates celebrate life of courageous former president
Raoul Teilhet, president of the CFT from 1968 to 1985, who oversaw the successful struggle for a collective bargaining law for education employees, was “a rock star,” said AFT Vice President and United Educators of San Francisco President Dennis Kelly. CFT President Emeritus Miles Myers read a poem and thanked Teilhet for the good times. Long-time CFT staffer Annette Eisenberg told of Teilhet leaving a registration form on her desk after finding out she had never voted, and how he made everyone feel they mattered.
State of the Union highlights: CFT succeeds with a vision of social justice
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
The super wealthy and their swollen circle of reactionary think tanks and echo chamber conservative media are committed to eradicating what remains of the labor movement and giving corporations unlimited power over every aspect of American life. Public education stands as an obstacle to such a corporate world committed to keeping wealth and education in the hands of a few.
Local Wire, April-May 2014
LOCAL 1078
Raise the wage…Educators are joining the fight to raise
poverty-level wages. The Berkeley Federation of
Teachers is a leading participant in the campaign
to raise the minimum wage in Berkeley and securing a better
economic future for the city’s families.