Topic: Education Issues
Grassroots effort leads to historic charter school reform
Updated October 3, 2019
On Thursday, October 3, Governor Gavin Newsom signed AB 1505, a historic charter school reform bill that is essential to ensuring charter schools are accountable to local communities and all California students. The new law follows months of incredible organizing and weeks of intense negotiations, during which CFT leaders, members, and staff have stood with fellow educators, school workers, parents, and students to push for reform.
CFT takes bold next step in opposition to statewide online community college
Union to sue CalBright for violations of Education Code
Duplicating existing programs. Diverting taxpayer resources. Recruiting students from other districts. Not meeting critical deadlines. Lack of input from faculty stakeholders. Lack of transparency.
These are some of the reasons leaders from the CFT’s Community College Council strongly oppose the state’s new all online community college, now doing business as “Calbright,” which they say was created to fill a need that doesn’t exist.
How American education has changed since “Leave it to Beaver”
Tracking diversity and achievement in our schools since 1960
By John Perez, President, Council of Retired Members
In 1960 America was a very different place. Father Knows Best was ending a seven-year run, but we were still watching Leave It to Beaver. Women earned only 63 percent as much as men for the same job. Teachers were considered “tall children,” better seen than heard.
CFT calls out critical problems in launch of online college
On Monday, July 15, CFT President Jeff Freitas testified before the Board of Trustees of CalBright, California’s new online-only community college, sharing CFT’s continuing concerns with the launch of the college.
During his testimony, Freitas detailed several key areas that the online college has failed to meet its obligations and the law. Due to the serious nature of the violations, CFT is considering all legal options should the college not change course.
State Charter School Task Force makes recommendations
Superintendent of Pubic Instruction releases much-anticipated report
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond released the much-anticipated Charter Task Force Report on June 7, ahead of the July 1 deadline.
The report’s central focus is twofold: the fiscal impact that charter schools have on traditional public schools and the inconsistencies in how charter schools are authorized throughout the state. Recommendations were made to alleviate concerns in these areas and provide specific ways to address fiscal impact and authorization challenges.
Spotlight on transportation services
Jobs returned when contracting out fails, drivers get more training
A recent video that went viral on social media showed a bus driver being attacked by angry parents in St. Louis. Bernard Benson knows how parents can lose their tempers. He has been driving school buses in the San Joaquin Valley for six years.
“A detour makes a driver late and parents get mad because of the delay. It happens all the time. It goes with the territory,” he said, adding, “Most of the time we’re looked at like the good guys because we get kids to and from school.”
Delegates reaffirm support for part-time faculty voice in shared governance
While the issues of pay inequity, the lack of job security, and access to health benefits are major challenges that plague part-time faculty —collegiality, inclusion, and connection with their campuses and fellow faculty are also important for a part-time faculty member’s long-term involvement with a particular institution.
Key to increasing adjunct involvement and connection in the California community colleges is increasing both the opportunities for and compensation of part-time faculty participation in shared governance.
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.
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.
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.
Students need more mental health support on campus, faculty too
By Mia L. McIver, President UC-AFT
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.
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose…
Online college and student performance-based funding
By Jim Mahler, President, Community College Council
After a very long, hard fought battle beginning in January and ending in June, we lost our struggle against the governor regarding both the Online College and the Performance-Based Funding initiatives.
In case you weren’t already aware, the governor wields a lot of power, and, believe it or not, these two initiatives were at the top of his agenda with respect to the budget for the entire state of California!
Letters to the Editor
The real effort should be pay equity at the state level
I have taught part-time music at Cabrillo College for 31 years at the maximum number of units. I am a bit dismayed about the 80 percent cap (Convention votes to raise part-time workload cap to 80 percent, Spring 2018) because that means that the colleges can now cover more classes with underpaid part-timers.
This means fewer full-time jobs, which will make everything (committee work, student contact hours outside of the classroom, etc.) more difficult for the teaching staffs. I understand that the extra work is a godsend for many part-timers but the real effort should be pay equity at the state level, not the local level.
Freeway Flyers: Local action & quick news
Yuba adjunct wins President’s Award, Fresno adjunct wins Hayward Award
This spring, Neelam Canto-Lugo, an adjunct professor of communications at Yuba College in Marysville, and member of the Yuba College Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 4952, was awarded the gold-level President’s Volunteer Service Award for her work in poorer communities of Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Nepal, among other countries.
AFT resolution supports $7,000 per three-credit course for adjuncts
One of the more talked about resolutions passed by the biennial AFT Convention this July was Resolution 15, which calls for AFT to support City University of New York adjuncts in their quest to achieve through “actions, demonstrations, and advocacy,” a minimum of $7,000 per three-credit class.
The resolution, which passed with resounding support and no opposition, also supports this minimum in “all other AFT locals’ campaigns for fair adjunct pay.”
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.
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.
Republicans win – Democrats lose in community college funding proposal
By Jim Mahler, President, Community College Council
It’s taken for granted these days that as far as state budget decisions go, Republican legislators are bystanders, while the Democratic supermajority makes the major fiscal decisions.
However, Republican lawmakers and their constituents have new reason to celebrate, as far as California Community Colleges go, if Gov. Brown gets his way and the proposed new community college funding formula becomes law.
Convention votes to raise part-time workload cap to 80 percent
At this year’s CFT Convention, delegates passed Resolution 15 calling for the CFT to support changing the workload cap in a community college district to 80 percent of a full-time equivalent load, effectively allowing part-time faculty to teach up to 12 units.
CFT faculty leaders to testify on California’s Master Plan for Higher Education
The Assembly Select Committee on the Master Plan for Higher Education has scheduled a public hearing on Friday, May 4, at UC Riverside to examine how to meet the needs of faculty and staff to best support our students.