Topic: Education Funding
Students need more mental health support on campus, faculty too
In a recent survey of UC-AFT faculty, members highlighted mental health as an issue that deserves our union’s attention and energy. UC students experiencing psychological challenges often seek support from lecturers and other contract faculty, who are sometimes the only faculty with whom they can develop a one-to-one relationship.
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.
Medicare-for-All could free billions for our classrooms
CFT retirees at the annual CARA Convention, from left, Ann Killebrew, San Francisco; Bill Philllips, Santa Cruz; and Margaret Shelleda, Oakland.
Most American schools and colleges pay for employee healthcare out of their budgets. Education activists are enthusiastic that a Medicare-for-All approach for faculty and staff would free up billions of dollars for classrooms.
When educators can’t afford to live where they work
Housing crisis hits teachers and staff in urban and rural areas
Last year, Veronica Juarez, a peer education coach and middle-school teacher in San Francisco for more than 20 years, was living in the city with her mom and two kids. Now, after an owner move-in eviction, she and her 10-year-old son, Rio, are living in a couple rooms and limited kitchen access. Her mom moved back to Mexico, and her daughter, in college at Long Beach, will stay there.
Bilingual education back in national spotlight
Where will we find enough multilingual teachers amidst shortage?
Last November, California voters passed Proposition 58 — the Language Education, Acquisition and Readiness Now initiative, or LEARN — by the largest margin of any measure on the ballot.
Today, the CFT and community organizations are working with state education officials and local school districts to revive and update bilingual programs mothballed after voters passed Proposition 227 in 1998.
STATE EDUCATION BUDGET: Highlights and lowlights in governor’s initial proposal
On January 10, Gov. Brown released his proposed budget for the 2017-18 fiscal year amidst uncertainty about how federal actions may impact California. Federal funds currently account for more than one-third of the state budget, and according to the California Budget & Policy Center, 7.9 percent of federal dollars currently go to K-12 education and 5.2 percent to higher education.
Yes on Prop 55: We can’t go back
What difference has Proposition 30 meant for public education in California?
A deluge of March 15 layoff notices removed one in 10 teachers from K-12 classrooms between 2008 and 2011. In Watsonville, Pajaro Valley Unified sent 158 notices in 2010-11. And this year? None.
Crisis in the classroom: California confronts teacher shortage
Poor working conditions, modest pay, and teacher bashing exact a toll
A decade of bashing teachers has left California and the nation with a dire shortage. Demand for K-12 teachers has increased while the new teacher supply is at a 12-year low.
Prop. 30 extension qualifies for November election
Campaign to keep public education funded kicks into high gear
On May 11, a coalition of unions and community groups announced that it had submitted more than a million signatures to place the “California Children’s Education and Health Care Protection Act” on the November ballot to continue the funding benefits of Proposition 30.
State budget: Governor says voters need to renew Prop. 30 extension
How does the May Revision stack up for educators?
Gov. Brown made it clear in his May Revision that unless voters renew Proposition 30 in November, California will have to make budget cuts in future years.
Higher education should be free…and it’s within our reach
Candidates don’t go far enough; social movement needed to force issue
Bernie says higher education should be free. Hillary says students should be debt-free when they graduate. Bob Samuels, president of the University Council-AFT, welcomes this debate, but says neither Democratic presidential candidate goes far enough.
San Diego piloting move to make community college free
Can the goals of California’s Master Plan for Higher Education be fulfilled again?
The San Diego Community College District has joined the states of Tennessee and Oregon in implementing free community college. In February Chancellor Constance Carroll announced that 200 students would have their course fees waived for the 2016-17 academic year.
Why did the university refuse $25 million in state funding?
UC dependence on high out-of-state enrollment fees is promoting inequality
Top University of California administrators made headlines in August when they declined the offer by state legislators to provide the system an additional $25 million. The offer was contingent on the university accepting another 5000 in-state resident students.
California districts roll out LCAPs to mixed reviews
Degree of teacher and classified input to local plans varies widely
Ray Gaer sees the Local Control Accountability Plan, or LCAP, as “a different forum for unions to talk about things that matter and an opportunity to build more cooperative relationships. The president of the ABC Federation of Teachers says, “We can talk about how programs are selected and developed and how money is spent before getting to the bargaining table.”
Local Control Funding Formula: New regulations specify use of funds for targeted students
On January 16, the State Board of Education adopted emergency spending regulations for the supplemental and concentration grant funds that Local Educational Agencies (districts, county offices of education and some charter schools) will receive under the Local Control Funding Formula.
Proposition 30 leads way to fiscal recovery
Public school educators face a new threat in the form of the Vergara v. California lawsuit, which aims to declare unconstitutional five provisions of the Education Code that ensure seniority, due process and other rights for K-12 teachers. (See page 7)
CFT campaigns to bring back nurses, libraries
Union-sponsored legislation inspired by labor-community vision
The CFT has launched an ambitious legislative initiative for K-12 schools called Healthy Kids, Healthy Minds, which is embodied in the new union-sponsored bill, AB 1955, carried by Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, a pediatrician with a track record of improving health in local neighborhoods.
Historic funding change includes district accountability plans
Along with the historic shift in school funding contained in the new Local Control Funding Formula comes significant opportunities for educators and their unions.
Under the LCFF, the governing boards of districts, county offices of education and charter schools, known as Local Education Agencies, are required to adopt a Local Control Accountability Plan every three years starting in July 2014.