CFT United
Carl Williams wants to know: Are you with us?
The Classified Day of Action is on May 21 at the state capitol
Carl Williams’ mother used to tell him, “Don’t tell me you love me — show me you love me.”
That’s what Williams, President of the Council of Classified Employees, hopes people will do on May 21, the Day of Action to support of all classified professional on the steps of the capital.
Not a dry eye at Mary Bergan’s memorial dinner
Tears, laughter and a feeling unity was felt throughout the event
Juan Ramirez, CFT Executive Vice President, acted as master of ceremonies for the Memorial Dinner for Mary Bergan, on the second evening of the CFT March Summit. Ramirez asked the attendees to think of the event not as a sad occasion, but rather a chance to honor all the good things Bergan did.
And there were lots to celebrate. Bergan, who passed away at 82 years old in Wisconsin November 30, 2023, was part of the CFT for more than three decades, and her love of the union shaped her life as well as the CFT.
Taking the Reins on Retirement
Patti Serafin started from scratch when creating a new retiree chapter
Dennis Kelly, President of the Council of Retired Members, thinks retirees, often with a wealth of information and usually some extra time, are the ideal people to get involved with union activities.
That’s why Kelly would like to see locals help start retiree chapters. After decades with United Educators of San Francisco, Local 61, Kelly is now involved with Local 61- R.
Katie Valenzuela reveals tie between schools and environmental justice
The Sacramento Councilmember spoke to CFT members at the March Summit
When Sacramento City Councilmember Katie Valenzuela was in elementary school in Oildale she tried out for soccer. When she ran, her lungs would feel tight, her chest would hurt, and she would feel that she might pass out. She thought that was normal.
“We didn’t know this wasn’t something that happened to all people when they run a mile at their elementary schools,” she said. “We thought we all have to stop afterwards and sit down and put your heads between our knees and wait until we can catch our breath.”
Fourth Annual Special Ed Summit Leaves Attendees with Hope and Strategy
WRITTEN BY: EMILY WILSON
When Steve McDougall became the president of the Early Childhood/TK-12 Council, he sent out a survey to the local leaders asking them what trouble areas they saw that needed addressing.
“Special education always percolates to the top because it’s an underfunded mandate since 1975,” he said.
The CFT March Summit Play by Play
Fittingly We Stand Together was the theme of the CFT March Summit, which took place from March 14–16 at the Sheraton Grand hotel in Sacramento. In a variety of panels, workshops, and conversations throughout the three-day event, the common theme of how we have so much more power as a group than as individuals resonated.
Heart and Perseverance Revive the California March in March
Students and Faculty bring climate justice, affordable housing and accessibility into focus
On a day with weather bright enough to match their spirits, a throng of over 500 students, faculty, and education advocates marched to the west lawn of the state capitol on March 7 in support of community college students, workers, and climate justice. Bringing back the annual March in March, it was the largest such action in the Capitol by student and community college activists in over a decade.
CFT United: Classified Day of Action, March Summit Highlights, AI & Literacy, and much more
SPRING 2024
A note from the editor:
CFT members work tirelessly everyday to educate and care for our students and their families. CFT United is a long running publication of the union and seeks to underscore the hard work, determination and the heart of educators and classified employees.
Our hope is that this publication can shine a light on those very things, and in turn, inspire each of us to show up more fully to our work every day.
A stroke of luck shines light on the struggle for part-time healthcare
When the President of AFT Local 4952 contracted West Nile virus, the hospitals charity fund stepped in to cover the bill.
Trevor Krapf, President of the Yuba College Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 4952, representing part-time faculty, teaches 5 to 9 classes of political science a semester at various community colleges. This is more than a full-time load but hasn’t been enough for him to be eligible for health benefits at any one district.
Krapf opted to pay out of pocket for his insurance through Covered California. Then his credit card expired.
Senate candidates show strong support for public education at CFT forum
Watch the highlights of the candidate forum here
At the CFT Senate Candidate Forum on October 14, over 300 CFT members in person and online got to hear directly from the leading candidates on their records on and support for public education.
The event was part of the CFT State Council, held in San Jose with the candidates – Barbara Lee, Katie Porter, and Adam Schiff – all appearing online.
Universities Council President Mia McIver sets tone for newly named council
For many years, CFT’s Universities Council included nine local unions at University of California campuses. Over the last several months, our Universities Council has been reconstituted and relaunched, thanks to two recent developments.
First, the nine separate unions of UC-AFT unified into one single union, Local 1474. The unification generated more power and strength for UC librarians and contingent faculty, but eliminated the need for a Council that brings together multiple locals.
Transforming our education system into one that empowers educators and students
CFT President Jeff Freitas
This past August and September, I toured the state visiting as many locals as I could during CFT’s third annual Back to School Tour.
Classified members take their fight to the Capitol
Teanna Tillery, the United Educators of San Francisco Vice President for Paraeduators, has been involved with the union in different capacities for about twenty years. She joined, she says because of the disparity in the way classified members were treated in negotiations.
“I worked in my community for years, and it’s just in my nature that if I see something I don’t understand I like to go to the source and try to understand it,” she said. “I just wanted to be part of the group who could address problems.”
El Camino wins big and refocuses on transparency for all
Juli Wolfgram, a part time art history teacher at El Camino College and a member of AFT Local 1388, says her working conditions have improved significantly in the past year. She thinks this is due to the union’s executive board as well as the negotiating team.
A unique salary formula ensures higher wages in Salinas Valley
Kati Bassler, President of the Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1020, says the salary formula the local has had since 2011 ensures members they will get a fair share of district funds.
“Their increase in salary is based on financial standing of district,” she said on a video call. “It creates a culture where everyone understands that if the district gets more money, they’re going to get a raise.”
CalSTRS and CalPERS Data Breach: Impacts and Actions
Information and action items to protect yourself
Both Dennis Cox, the Southern Vice President for the CFT Council of Retired Members, and Doug Orr, Chair of the CFT Retirement Policy Committee, want impacted members to do whatever they can to protect themselves from a recent data breach that affected both CalSTRS and CalPERS.
In June, officials from both pension funds announced that cyber attackers stole information, including names, Social Security numbers and birth dates.
We are united for education and justice
Back-to-School tour and opinion poll provide strong foundation for strategic planning
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
Another school year has started. As an educator, August and September have traditionally been the time when I set New Year’s resolutions for the coming academic year. It starts me off on a positive note to identify my goals, my priorities, and the areas in which I want to learn and grow.
I think about our work at CFT in much the same way, and just like when I was teaching, beginning a new school year as an organization is not just the work of one person. Setting goals for the CFT is not just the work of leaders or the Executive Council. Rather it demands real-time feedback from our membership so that we, as a statewide union, can respond to the issues members identify as top priorities. To do that important work, we have undertaken a number of projects to listen to members and respond to what we have heard.
In our voices: The state of our schools, workers, and students
Educators report staff shortages, mental health issues are ubiquitous
Yajaira J. Cuapio has been a social worker in the San Francisco Unified School District for eight years. With the pandemic, she says the last couple of years have been challenging.
“Students have been isolated for so long that it’s having an impact on their social skills. They’re arguing and fighting, and it leads to unsafe interactions,” she said. “Then academically there have been disruptions. For one thing, a positive COVID case would cause students to have to quarantine for 10 days, and if they’re out that long, truancy is established.”
How does a district build a village for teachers and staff?
Innovative, affordable, and comfortable housing in Daly City welcomes new and veteran employees
The Jefferson Union High School District knew it had a problem holding onto staff. The district was losing about 25% of its certificated and classified employees yearly, and a survey showed that many were leaving the Daly City school district because of the high cost of housing.
Faculty push for the face-to-face classes that students want
In-person college classes improve learning, build campus community, and lifelong connections
Joshua McCann much prefers going to campus for his San Diego Community College District classes. Now in his second year and intending to transfer to a UC and major in political science, McCann says connections on Zoom or in your Canvas inbox can’t compare to being with a person in real life.
McCann goes to campus for three out of his four classes. The other night after his philosophy class, he stayed for office hours with the teacher, and ended up having a two-hour conversation about the class with some of the other students.
Retrospective: Organizing to win in tumultuous times
Reflecting on five years of union gains for UC librarians and lecturers
By Mia McIver, President, University Council-AFT
When I was elected president of University Council-AFT in 2017, I never could have predicted that the next five years would be as tumultuous as they turned out to be. I also could never have foreseen how our union of University of California lecturers and librarians would organize, build power, win contracts, and accomplish gains that far exceeded my hopes and expectations.
Take action now to avoid income shock at retirement
End the Social Security penalties WEP and GPO
Districts are supposed to tell new hires about the impact “WEP and GPO” will have on their Social Security—but often they don’t, says Dennis Cox, president of the CFT Council of Retired Members. That means teachers who are counting on a certain amount of income for their retirement get a shock when they find out they won’t be getting it. This happened to Cox.
“I found out I wasn’t going to get my full Social Security benefits and Medicare would be taken out of that,” he said. “I got clobbered, and there’s many people in a worse situation than I am.”
California voters crucial to holding U.S. Senate and House
Your vote as a CFT member matters more this November than ever!
You’ve no doubt heard pundits debating the fate of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. Like most midterm elections, this November will be crucial in determining the tone and tenor of national politics, as well as the ability of our elected representatives to get things done on behalf of educators and working people.
Though California is often described as a “safe blue state,” it has an important role to play in protecting progressive incumbents and working to flip House seats.
Retirees gearing up for national midterm elections
Voices of experience hope to educate younger Americans, reverse Social Security penalties
Political season is in full swing and, with days to go until California’s June 7 primary, CFT retirees are already looking ahead to the November 8 General Election.
“I can’t tell you how many people have told me they are mad as hell and ‘ready to do something’ because of the leaked Supreme Court ruling on abortion rights,” said Mike Nye at-large representative on the CFT Council of Retired Members.
Doing the work we love in the most difficult of circumstances
California is breaking down the walls other states are building
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
As educators and classified professionals, we often mark beginnings and ends with school years rather than calendar years. Each May, students leave for the summer or graduate and venture off to another stage in their lives. As these chapters open and close, it’s hard not to think about similar times in our own lives, when we moved on from a particularly beloved school or classroom, and from the school staff that made our experience so exceptional.
Two higher education activists join UC-AFT leadership
First woman of color and first labor historian
In a history-making move, the University Council-AFT is taking steps to expand representation in its leadership. Two new vice presidents have been elected, both of whom are contingent faculty from campuses that have not previously been represented — UC Merced and UC Irvine. Iris Ruiz, from Merced, is the first woman of color to serve on the UC-AFT Executive Board. Trevor Griffey is the first labor historian; he also has a pre-continuing and intermittent appointment.
Trades workers, custodians ready for increasingly dangerous workplaces
PHOTO GALLERY
CFT conference tackles tough issues of coronavirus, toxic chemicals, climate change, active shooters
Dozens of classified members from locals up and down California recently met at Compton College for the first Custodial and Skilled Trades Conference hosted by the CFT Council of Classified Employees.
“We have talked about this for years, and put it off for two years because of COVID, but here we are,” said a buoyant CCE President Carl Williams.
State Council inspired by Attorney General Rob Bonta, passes six resolutions
Recruiting more education workers, healthcare for part-time faculty, climate justice top agenda
California Attorney General Rob Bonta kicked off the State Council meeting on Saturday morning, March 19. After an introduction by CFT President Jeff Freitas who talked about Bonta’s commitment to going after people who use their power to harm others, demanding corporate accountability, and fighting for public education, Bonta came on stage.
He talked about how the encouragement and support of staff, coaches and teachers had made it possible for him to go to college and then to law school.
Two dozen local unions honored with Solidarity Awards
Holding the line on layoffs, pushback, guardians and anniversaries
The night before CFT State Council, on Friday, May 18, the Federation recognized locals for their extraordinary union work to support members during the pandemic. The recipients of our Solidarity Awards are listed below, as well as significant anniversaries marked by AFT local unions.
Dismantling male supremacy and white supremacy
Workshop takes a deep dive into building healthy workplace cultures
Bill Pritchett, a specialist in racial justice, communications, and leadership development, and who guided CFT’s Racial Equity Task Force, began his workshop on “Dismantling the Intersections of Male Supremacy Culture and White Supremacy Culture in Our Workplaces” (whew, tall order) by talking about how impressed he is with CFT’s commitment to racial justice.
Members support and mentor undocumented students
Dedicated educators help students succeed and thrive
For Belinda Lum, sociology professor at Sacramento City College and chief negotiator for the Los Rios College Federation of Teachers, it was because she’s the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of people who came over from China with fake papers. For Leis Rodriguez, it was wanting to use her law school degree for her passion and becoming an immigration attorney.
How implicit bias can lead to injustice
Members explore implicit bias and its effects
Implicit bias can lead to injustice in many areas of our lives, including housing, education, employment, the courts, and healthcare. We all have implicit biases — or preferences and attitudes that subconsciously can affect how we interact with others, said Bethany Gizzi, and Lena Ackerman, trainers in the “Understanding Implicit Bias and Stereotypes” workshop at the CFT Leadership Conference held March 17-18.
Leadership Conference focuses on racial and social justice
Thurmond, Weingarten address delegates
About 200 CFT members from around the state converged at San Francisco’s Hyatt Regency for a Leadership Conference — the first time they’d been able to join together for such an event since the state shut down for COVID on March 13, 2020.
Seeming excited to see one another in person, attendees went to workshops, many dealing with racial and social justice issues, and heard from speakers including JEDI (Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion) Organizer Cynthia Eaton, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and AFT President Randi Weingarten.
Stand up to defend free thought, honest history, and gender identity
Right-wing targets schools and colleges across the nation
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
When I decided to become a teacher, I was focused on helping students and meeting them where they are. I became a mathematics teacher — slopes, quadratic equations, fractions, square roots and all. But I entered into the profession because I was interested in who my students are as people, not just in class. I wanted to understand their hopes and dreams and help them become the people they wanted to be.
Pandemic magnifies long-standing challenges in special education
CFT Special Ed Summit motivates members to take bold action
This is Heather Molloy’s first year on CFT’s Special Education Services Committee. She says she feels grateful to be part of it and thinks in a short period of time, the committee has accomplished a lot.
Molloy, a high school teacher and member of Oxnard Federation of Teachers and School Employees, is referring to the EC/TK-12 Council’s Special Education Summit in February where members wrote a resolution to change the state’s Education Code, which she thinks desperately needs updating.
Classified leaders hit the road to meet locals
Listening tour leads to greater understanding, solidarity
After more than a year of Delta and Omicron surges and other COVID-19 pandemic obstacles, officers of the CFT Council of Classified Employees embarked on a statewide listening tour of AFT local unions representing classified employees.
“There will never be a perfect time, so we just hit the road,” said CCE President Carl Williams. “Our members have heard what we have to say. Now they want to be heard.”
Elders Speak! project preserves union history for future generations
AFT Local 2121 marks 50th anniversary with oral history
By Bill Shields
Janitors organize live onstage, in multiple languages. A domestic worker ponders the meaning of life as she mimes ironing clothes. Dancing hotel workers tell how they won a good contract. These stories emerged from an oral history project called Work Tales produced by the Labor and Community Studies Department at City College of San Francisco. I spent 25 years teaching in this department.
CFT endorses Gavin Newsom, Tony Thurmond for June 7 primary
Find union endorsements for the statewide Primary Election
With the June 7 Statewide Primary Election fast approaching, the 2022 election season is fully underway. CFT has been preparing by conducting candidate interviews for the state’s top offices and legislative districts around the state. All statewide constitutional offices will be on the ballot, and CFT has endorsed a candidate for each seat.
Why is Trouble in the Henhouse our #1 bestselling curricula?
Curricula Review
Trouble in the Henhouse
By Phyllis Chiu
Illustrated by Jos Sances
2002, 22 pp
Grades: K-5
By Bill Morgan
One of the real classics of social justice books for kids was written by our own Phyllis Chiu, who was at the time an elementary teacher in Los Angeles. Chiu was also a member of the CFT Labor in the Schools Committee, which has produced a bumper crop of labor (and now climate justice) materials for progressive-minded teachers to use with their classes. The name of Chiu’s booklet is Trouble in the Henhouse, and among all of the committee’s publications, it is the #1 bestseller.
UC lecturers’ victory inspires broad movement for equity across higher education
CFT wages a campaign for part-time faculty in the community colleges
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
For about three years the University Council-AFT engaged in protracted negotiations on behalf of lecturers in their unit. Their aims have always been about fairness — better working conditions for lecturers and improved learning conditions for students. Their fight has been about not only winning economic and contractual gains for members, but gaining professional respect and recognition for their teaching at the University of California. Their campaign has been a true member-driven effort, rooted in years of organizing by the statewide local that represents both continuing lecturers and librarians, led by their president, Mia McIver, and a committed negotiations team.
Overwork, underpayment, burn out and blame, lead to staff shortages
Unions speak to pandemic-driven shortage of teachers, subs, paras, classified
For years, California elementary and secondary schools have had teacher shortages, particularly in areas of special education, math, and science, but it’s grown worse since the pandemic started, with fewer teacher candidates getting credentials, and 26% more teachers retiring in 2020 than the year before.
What does gratitude look like? Find out from three members deep in student debt
How AFT’s legal victory with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program will change lives
In 2018, Jessica Saint-Paul, who has a doctorate in medical science and teaches public health and health occupation courses at Southwest and Trade Tech colleges, attended a benefits conference put on by her local, the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild. They covered Public Service Loan Forgiveness, a federal program that promised if you worked in public service for 10 years and made 120 payments, the remainder of your loan would be forgiven.
CFT wins top awards in national labor media competition
Federation lands 11 awards for communications in 2020
In a friendly competition with state and regional labor groups around the nation, the CFT won 11 awards from the International Labor Communications Association.
The awards show that content is still king. The CFT website won First Place in “best electronic content” for the third year in a row. Seven member-based stories won awards, with four claiming First Place honors.
What are the WEP and GPO and how will they affect your pension?
Now is the time to make our case to Congress
Retired Berkeley Unified teacher Bonnie Cediel taught for 16 years. She was married for 34, but her partial CalSTRS pension precludes her from receiving any Social Security spousal benefits. The Government Pension Offset, (GPO) passed in 1977, is the reason.
Teaching social justice and labor history: A how-to for K-12 educators
Kids' Book Reviews
Reviews by Bill Morgan
It used to be hard to find quality non-fiction, especially history, for kids. It was dumbed-down, or poorly formatted, or biased, or written in dry adultese, or some combination of these. Thankfully, that has changed.
A new generation of high-interest, attractively packaged kids’ books dealing with social justice issues and using leveled vocabulary are now available. This is a group of some of the best recent ones that I have used in my years teaching social studies for social justice.
Back-to-School Tour puts staff shortage in stark perspective
Dedication and inspired work of our members must be recognized
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
In early August, Luukia Smith, Lacy Barnes, and I ventured up and down the state on a three week Back-to-School, Forward Together Tour. We visited with early childhood educators, TK-12 teachers, classified workers, adult education teachers, and part-time community college faculty. We witnessed firsthand students learning in-person. We saw the incredible school communities our members have helped to build and visited campuses and classrooms to see CFT members in action.
Voters soundly reject recall of Governor Newsom
Members cite governor’s historic funding for public education, strong pandemic response
September 14 is not a day that California voters are accustomed to going to the polls, but this was not a normal election. A cynical attempt to recall Governor Gavin Newsom garnered enough signatures to go before voters in an election that cost taxpayers more than $250 million.
Answers to common questions about return to in-person
FAQ for teachers and support staff in TK-12 schools
Now that California schools have returned to in-person classes, teachers and staff on campuses up and down the state are having to navigate a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. In mid-August, the CFT held a tele-townhall meeting to connect directly with members and hear about your workplace concerns. Below are answers to the most common questions we heard from you.
CFT launches community schools training program
Governor Newsom funds innovative schools at highest level in nation
The CFT has launched a training program following Governor Newsom’s extraordinary allocation of $2.8 billion to expand existing community schools and establish new ones.
According to CFT President Jeff Freitas, “This is a national effort, and California now has the largest amount of funding in the nation for community schools. These funds will assist nearly 1,000 community schools in our state.”
Classified members feel the love during Back-to-School Tour
CFT leaders provide encouragement, support for safe working conditions
CFT’s top officers embarked on a statewide Back-to-School Tour in mid-August as many classified employees and teachers headed back to campus in-person for the first time since the pandemic forced distance learning for California schools and colleges. The road trip included stops from North Bay Counties to San Diego County, in both urban and rural districts.
What’s on everyone’s mind? The return to in-person
From urban to rural, community college locals weigh in
Most faculty members, staff, and students at the state’s community colleges have been teaching, learning, and working online for more than a year and a half due to COVID-19. Many planned to go back to their campus in the fall semester, but after a brief period of hope that the virus was on the way out the delta variant emerged in the summer, and in many areas, COVID is surging again.
Back to the classroom, but no contract
Facing inequity, lack of COVID protections, 96% of UC-AFT members vote to authorize strike
As they have for the past two years, lecturers at the University of California continue their effort to get the administration to bargain a fair contract. The last agreement between the university and the University Council-AFT, expired on January 31, 2020. The union’s negotiating committee has met with UC’s bargaining team on 50 occasions, yet the four most fundamental issues are still outstanding — high turnover rates, lack of performance reviews, widespread uncompensated labor, and compensation itself.
You can help start an AFT retiree chapter!
Retiree division sets sights on organizing more chapters
For most of her career, Kate Disney taught engineering at Mission College in the Silicon Valley city of Santa Clara. Disney learned the ins and outs of the West Valley-Mission Federation of Teachers contract when she became a union rep in 2017. She was elected president of the local in 2019.
“You learn about different sections of a contract as you go through different phases of your life and career,” she said. “Certain portions are more important at different ages.”
CFT resolution recognizes Armenian Genocide
Find classroom resources to teach about the genocide
During World War I, the Ottoman Turks carried out one of the largest genocides in the world’s history, massacring 1.5 million Armenians. Turkey continues to deny the genocide, but the U.S. Congress passed a resolution to recognize it in 2019.
This spring United Teachers Los Angeles, in conjunction with the CFT Civil, Human, and Women’s Rights Committee, brought a resolution before CFT Convention calling for the state federation to formally recognize the Armenian Genocide and commit to sharing resources for teaching about it in the classroom. The Executive Council passed the resolution on June 12.
Looking forward to life, work, and union without COVID
Embracing opportunities the pandemic has brought forward
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
The last year and a half of my communications with you have told the story of the COVID-19 pandemic, our union’s early responses to the changes wrought by the virus, our diligence in keeping school communities healthy and safe, and the first glimmers of hope as vaccines became available and community spread began to decline.
What does CFT says about the recall? No, No, No!
Governor Newsom has proven himself during the pandemic and beyond
CFT has taken a position on the right-wing recall of Governor Gavin Newsom: Our union is urging members to vote “No” on this expensive and distracting political stunt. The Gubernatorial Recall Election will be held September 14, 2021.
Roomers and Zoomers — four locals, four reopen scenarios
Mostly vaccinated, educators boldly facing transition to in-person
Salinas teachers manage Roomers and Zoomers
Teachers at the four middle schools and five high schools represented by the Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers went back into the classroom on April 27, with options for families to remain in distance learning.
State Auditor calls out failed Calbright online college
Audit cites high drop-out rate, mismanagement, shady hiring
Out of 904 students enrolled since 2019, only 12 graduated, and more than 40 percent dropped out. There’s no discernable strategy for spending the more than $175 million it receives in state taxpayer funding. No system is in place to support students. Shady hiring practices have led to people being selected based on personal or political connection rather than ability.
Free City! The story of CFT’s epic campaign against the ACCJC
BOOK REVIEW
Free City! The Fight for San Francisco’s City College and
Education for All
By Marcy Rein, Mickey Ellinger and Vicki Legion
PM
Press, 2021
Reviewed by Fred Glass
Early in 2017, as City College of San Francisco’s five-year fight for its life drew to a close, I was attempting to convince a reporter from the Chronicle of Higher Education to write a summing up story. He said, “Someday someone really needs to write a book on all this.”
Job security still on the table for UC lecturers, members vote to authorize strike
UC-AFT keeps the pressure on for fair continuing appointments
Update: On June 1, UC-AFT members voted to authorize a strike, with a “strong majority” of nearly 7,000 members turning out for the vote, and 96% voting to authorize a systemwide strike should the UC Office of the President fail to meet UC-AFT’s collective bargaining demands.
Retiree chapters serve as vaccine finders
Support members and parent unions during the pandemic
The retiree chapter of the AFT Guild in San Diego usually does monthly yoga and meditation classes, as well as getting together for walks and union meetings. Now though, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, members haven’t been getting together in person, chapter President Susan Morgan says.
Governor’s May Revision proposes highest level of education funding in California history
Legislative Update
California began the previous budget year with a looming recession forecasted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and a projected $54 billion deficit. However, due mostly to the inequitable recovery of the stock market, profits from Silicon Valley, and high-income earners that did not lose their jobs, the state now has projected a $75.7 billion surplus.
Pandemic underscores essential nature of classified work
Custodians, health aides hold strong; unions help members get vaccinated
Throughout the COVID pandemic, CFT members from early childhood centers to community colleges have shown how essential classified employees are. During the past 15 months, techs helped power an overnight transition to online learning, custodians learned how to hit back at the coronavirus, and health aides are now on the front lines of reopening schools.
Berkeley classified employee dodges eviction, buys home, thanks to new law
Housing for families not corporations — social justice is served
Jocelyn Foreman is a take-charge problem solver who has helped hundreds of Berkeley families keep their kids in school during medical, economic or other emergencies. Foreman is legendary and beloved. Only a handful of people knew she was also homeless.
Khalil Gibran Muhammad on racial justice
“Good will is not a substitute for good work”
A history professor at Harvard’s Kennedy School, who teaches classes such as Race, Inequality, and American Democracy and the former Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, with his work featured in the New York Times’ 1619 Project, and Ava DuVernay’s documentary about mass incarceration, 13th, Khalil Gibran Muhammad s
Delegates pass wide range of resolutions — from their homes
PHOTO GALLERY: Condemn anti-Asian violence, support wealth tax, mandating healthcare for part-time faculty
At this year’s CFT Convention, several resolutions provoked a lot of discussion, especially considering the attendees were virtually raising their hands to be acknowledged from their living rooms, rather than on the actual convention floor. Some of these included condemning anti-Asian violence, mandating healthcare for part-time faculty, reforming Social Security to support teacher retirement, supporting the PRO Act to increase union organizing, and maintaining a list of retirees to contact.
Two educators receive Women in Education Awards
Inspiring females lead the way in making workplaces better
Kati Bassler, the president of Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers and Linda Delp, UCLA Faculty Union, shared this year’s CFT’s Women in Education Award, given for promoting the rights of women and issues of gender equity in the workplace.
Cathy Campbell honored with Ben Rust Award
Berkeley leader speaks to importance of women in union leadership roles
Long-time Berkeley Federation of Teachers president and CFT Vice President Cathy Campbell, the winner of the CFT’s highest honor, the Ben Rust Award, opened by thanking classified employees and teachers for all they had done to keep students safe, get them food, and make sure they could learn during the pandemic.
Rob Bonta named Legislator of the Year
Addresses delegates on cusp of becoming state Attorney General
This year’s Legislator of the Year award went to Oakland Assemblymember Rob Bonta. In his first public address since Governor Newsom appointed him to fill Xavier Becerra’s position as California attorney general after Becerra became Secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services, Bonta spoke to the CFT Convention.
In the vanguard, fighting for transgender rights
Activist Ebony Harper steps up in the face of oppression
The director of California TRANScends, Ebony Ava Harper, addressed the CFT Convention on Friday morning, March 26, talking about working for climate and disability justice and race equity, as well as trans rights.
New U.S. Senator Alex Padilla addresses delegates
First Latino senator put voting rights first as Secretary of State
Alex Padilla, California’s Secretary of State until Governor Newsom appointed him to the U.S. Senate seat left open by Kamala Harris when she became vice president, addressed delegates on the first morning of the CFT Virtual Convention.
CFT Virtual Convention brings hope and change
OVERVIEW — Delegates welcome Kamala Harris
The 78th CFT Convention with the theme Rise Up, Recover, and Rebuild had some firsts: the first one to be biennial rather than annual; the first under CFT’s new identity, A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals; the first with Jeff Freitas as the CFT president; and, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the first one held virtually.
CFT mourns the passing of three vice presidents
In Memoriam
The CFT mourns the passing of three vice presidents in recent months.
Gemma Abels was an English teacher, former president of the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, and a CFT Vice President. She passed away last fall following a five-year battle with ovarian cancer.
State of the Union 2021
Delivered by CFT President Jeffery Freitas on March 26, 2021
Good morning, CFT. I’m thrilled to be here with all of you—my fellow CFT leaders, all my union siblings, CFT and local union staff, and invited guests.
This year’s Convention has a lot of firsts. It is my first State of the Union speech as CFT president and my first time presiding as chair of the Convention. This is the first of our biennial conventions which we approved in 2018 through a constitutional amendment by this very body. And, this is the first-ever virtual CFT Convention. While we are making the best of the current circumstances, I sincerely hope it will be the last virtual convention.
The hope that 2021 brings
Looking back on a year like no other, but with recovery in sight
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
As I reflect upon the year that is reaching its end, the shock of all we have endured these past many months hits me anew. When we started this year, I felt hopeful with many opportunities for success and change.
A snapshot of Election 2020
The so-sweet national victory, mixed state results, and locals wins
On November 3, voters went to the polls to turn things around in our country and in our state. Or rather, many went to the polls, but many more had already cast mail ballots in the days and weeks leading up to the election, a sign of the times during a year of “stay at home” orders.
The pandemic — reopening, regrouping, testing and protecting
K-12 locals put safety first, find communities on their side
The week after Thanksgiving, Mariah Fisher, president of the Novato Federation of Teachers and a middle school drama teacher, said she was ready to go back to in-person teaching, starting that week. She had marked off six feet of space between all the desks and she was preparing to teach acting to students wearing masks.
Paul da Silva became the candidate he wanted to see
First teacher elected to College of Marin Board of Trustees
For years, Paul da Silva, a biology teacher at the College of Marin and a member of United Professors of Marin, Local 1610, wondered about the lack of teachers on the college’s Board of Trustees and tried to talk retiring professors into running. No one took him up on it.
So when he decided in the summer of 2019 that he would retire, he concluded, to paraphrase Mahatma Gandhi, he’d have to be the candidate he wished to see in the world.
A First Lady who is a community college teacher
President-elect supports two years of free community college
Dr. Jill Biden, a community college teacher, union member, and soon to be First Lady, spoke virtually to members of the AFT and the National Education Association, thanking them for all the phone banking, text messaging, voter registration drives and poll work they did to get her husband, Joe Biden, elected. AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle introduced her.
What I did to help win in Election 2020
Five retirees recount their extraordinary efforts
CFT retirees have broad-ranging interests and community relationships — and a lot of collective power. That is reflected in these five first-person accounts from very connected and active retirees.
Dark times bring out our best selves
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
What a year it has been. In March, as the coronavirus hit and “shelter in place” orders were issued, CFT leaders immediately started communicating with members about the situation. We held online meetings, shared resources on our website, and hosted a CFT Member Townhall that 11,000 members joined.
California governor and major media endorse Prop 15
Corporate tax reform garners deserved support
As we inch closer to the General Election, Proposition 15, also known as School and Communities First, is gaining momentum amongst voters, in part boosted by a wave of critical endorsements.
Governor signs union-sponsored Student Borrower Bill of Rights
Sweeping legislation to protect student loan borrowers
Governor Newsom signed CFT co-sponsored AB 376, the Student Borrower Bill of Rights, on Friday, September 25. This critical piece of legislation will bring much-needed reforms to the student loan market and regulate the private sector companies that service both federal and private student loans for California borrowers.
Unions are the anchor during a perfect storm
Locals navigate pandemic, reopening, wildfires, elections, social unrest
Facing the threats of COVID-19 and wildfires, local unions and districts across California are trying to figure out how school will look this semester.
Orange County was one of the first to push for in-person instruction after it had been prohibited based on the county monitoring list. At the beginning of the summer, the members in the Newport-Mesa Federation of Teachers were pretty much evenly divided about that.
Q&A with Carl Williams: First classified AFT vice president from California
“We are essential and this work cannot be done without us”
On September 1, Carl Williams was elected to join 39 other AFT Vice Presidents from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Williams joins two other vice presidents from California, a group that has included former CFT Presidents Mary Bergan and Joshua Pechthalt over the years, and now current President Jeff Freitas.
Facing most difficult conditions in decades, unions meet the moment
Organizing for equity at work, home, and in communities
Strong organizing has meant workplace gains and more political power for faculty during the pandemic, with members showing up in larger than ever numbers to virtual bargaining sessions and meetings.
New working groups align UC-AFT with nationwide racial justice efforts
Hardship fund helps members in need due to pandemic, wildfires
By Mia McIver, UC-AFT President
Contingent teaching faculty and librarians at the University of California recently voted to create three new working groups to combat racism and support each other with mutual aid. With the firm conviction that Black Lives Matter, UC-AFT members aim to align our union’s efforts with those of activists fighting for racial justice nationwide.
Retirees mobilize for most important election in their lives
The threat to our social norms is “mind boggling”
Every senior has a long personal view of U.S. history, but nearly all would agree that this presidential election will be the most important ballot they cast in their lives. The prospect of Donald Trump in the White House for four more years has ratcheted up emotions.
“The threat to our Constitution, to our institutions, and to our social norms is mind boggling,” said Dennis Cox of the CFT Council of Retired Members.
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.
“Let’s have our voices count!” urge CFT Black leaders
Avalanche of protests call for racial justice following murder of George Floyd
For days, hundreds of thousands of people have filled the streets of 160 cities across the country, even during the coronavirus pandemic, expressing their outrage and grief at the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Two Black leaders of the CFT, with long histories of fighting for racial equity, say they could not help being profoundly moved by the murder itself, and the outpouring of rage in response.
Social worker’s outreach during pandemic leads to district-wide change
“We’re not just trying to teach — we’re in the in business of love and care…”
Leslie Hu, a social worker at San Francisco’s Martin Luther King Jr. Middle School, thinks that during a global pandemic, when many students are seeing their communities directly affected, isn’t the time for business as usual.
Tightrope Walkers: Teaching and parenting at the same time
Faculty parents share stories of teaching from home during shelter-in-place
By Katharine Harer, San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1493
You’re teaching all your classes online, providing support to freaked-out students and dealing with a flood of emails every day, while at the same time, and often in the same room, hour after hour, your children need you to be present and available. You can’t send them to school or childcare or to the grandparents or to play at their friends’ houses. You can’t send them anywhere. Will lack of sleep, personal space and time make you trip and fall, and if so, who will catch you?
Now – yes, now – is the time for contingent faculty to organize
If we don’t fight now, we may not get another chance
By Josh Brahinsky and Roxi Power, UC-AFT Santa Cruz
When graduate-student workers at the University of California at Santa Cruz voted overwhelmingly in December to reject their statewide union contract and follow the West Virginia teachers’ model of a wildcat strike, the precarious lives of academic workers became a news story once again.
Dedication to students helps teachers make huge shift online with grace, diligence
Distance learning demands hard work, extra hours — and good internet
Since schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and instruction moved online, Jessica Hoffschneider, a resource special education teacher at Soquel High, has been busy. A site representative for the Greater Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers, she spends her days trying her best to help her students with mild to moderate disabilities.
Tech support powers online classrooms behind the scenes
Classified employees make the connections and keep them strong
Computer geeks have been on the front lines of online learning since March, when school and college districts across urban and rural California closed to avoid the COVID-19 pandemic. Tech staff are the essential employees who are turning digital classrooms from a pipedream into a working educational system.
College instructors rise to distance learning challenge
Extra hours, perseverance, union support assist in transition
Palomar College child development teacher Barbara Hammons definitely found the idea of distance teaching a challenge. For years, she and her department chair had a running joke – if she ever wanted to get rid of her, no need to fire her, just give her an online class.
Retired unionists go digital during the pandemic
Seniors getting comfortable online and learning new organizing tricks
It is 12 noon on Friday and the California Alliance of Retired Americans is ready to Zoom. Scores of CARA members from San Diego to San Francisco are gathered around home computers, ready for the next best thing to an in-person meeting.
Tips for seniors during the COVID-19 pandemic
How one retiree chapter is supporting seniors during stay at home
By Susan Morgan, President, AFT Local 1931 Retiree Chapter
As a retiree chapter, one of our current challenges is to find new ways to stay connected, be supportive, and sustain our esprit de corps. The current pandemic has increased challenges for retirees, many of whom were already dealing with the social challenges of isolation and loneliness. These newly heightened mental health concerns are real, and our task is to find meaningful ways to connect with our members to support our common union values and goals.
Paraeducator steps up, makes face shields for medical workers
Gilroy family applies 3-D printing skills from campus STEAM lab
By Arti O’Connor, President, Gilroy Federation of Paraeducators
Diana Torres, a paraeducator in the Gilroy Unified School District, has been instrumental in establishing the STEAM lab and program at Las Animas Elementary School. I met her several months ago and was extremely impressed when she showed me the lab — with a 3-D printer — that she uses to teach students about that form of technology.
Uncertainty surrounds education budget for coming year
The one known — coronavirus has blown a giant hole in the state budget
The governor and the Legislature know the COVID-19 pandemic has blown a huge hole in the state budget, but they can’t easily project state revenues or the impact on Proposition 98 — the mechanism that provides K-12 schools and community colleges about 40 percent of the state’s General Fund.
Undocumented students more vulnerable than ever during pandemic
How faculty can make a difference
By Jessica Silver-Sharp, San Mateo Community College Federation of Teachers
When I first wrote about undocumented students in October 2017, I couldn’t have foreseen how things could change so much in less than three years. Two out of three of our campus Dream Centers in the San Mateo Community College District were established during this time when young “Dreamers” were forming a national youth movement and “coming out” across the country. Then, a majority of the hundreds of undocumented students on campus enjoyed legal protections under DACA.
Being retired in the time of Covid-19
By Dennis Cox, Southern Vice President, Council of Retired Members
AFT retirees have contributed so much to American education, and are in line for well-deserved gratitude from their students, colleagues and communities. You warrant a heartfelt thanks for what you have done, and for staying home and keeping yourselves safe during this outbreak. You are extremely valuable citizens. So, thank you to all who have served, and are now staying safely sheltered in your homes! Please continue to do all you can to stay safe.
Members collect 20,000 signatures in support of Schools & Communities First
Hitting statewide goal helped land measure on November 3 ballot
Update: On June 4, Schools and Communities First officially qualified for the November 3 General Election ballot.
Last fall, when CFT began circulating petitions to qualify the Schools and Communities First initiative, seems like a world away. Yet on April 1, the early days of the coronavirus outbreak, the coalition submitted 1.7 million signatures, nearly twice the number needed to put the measure on the November ballot and the most ever gathered in California history.
State Council passes pandemic-related resolutions
First-ever online State Council brings large turnout
The CFT held its first online State Council on May 2. In what may be the highest attendance in recent years, about 140 representatives from local unions tuned in on a Saturday afternoon for the well-managed three-hour Zoom meeting that allowed delegates to vote on numerous policy issues before the Federation.
The CFT campaign to Fund our Future
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
In 2011, the CFT worked with community partners to lead the charge for a Millionaires Tax that eventually turned into Prop 30 and was then extended by Prop 55. Those funds helped stop the bleeding in K-14 education following the recession and drastic funding cuts of the mid-2000s.
Now, however, there are pressures throughout our school districts and community colleges that are preventing CFT members from getting the pay, benefits, program funding, and staffing levels our schools, colleges, and communities desperately need.
Thousands of UC lecturers mobilize for job rights, fair salaries
Academic and blue collar workforce fight back against university’s substandard pay
When Josh Brahinsky isn’t teaching “Academic Literacy and Ethos” and “Brain, Mind, and Consciousness” classes to new students at UC Santa Cruz, the lecturer is researching bio-cultural anthropology at Stanford University, teaching at San Jose State, or leading online classes at Bucks County Community College in Pennsylvania.
“UC only pays me $19,900 yearly,” Brahinsky said. “That’s not enough to live on, so I have to make up the difference somewhere else.”
Has Calbright lost its legislative support?
Senators take online college to task in February 13 hearing
It may have taken over two years, but the Calbright online community college has apparently lost any support it might have enjoyed in the state Legislature when the CFT first warned about the potential for failure. In December 2017, Jim Mahler, president of the CFT Community College Council, sent a seminal letter to Gov. Jerry Brown, Calbright’s main promoter, pointing out key flaws in its proposed structure.
Special education in crisis
CFT SPECIAL REPORT
Marcela Chagoya, a special education teacher in Los Angeles and chair of the CFT Special Education Committee, has been teaching at the same middle school for 21 years. And she’s never seen special education in such a bad state.
“First and foremost, it’s the elimination of programs,” she said. “Districts seem to think it’s one size fits all or fits most when it comes to special ed.”
Nominate your classified colleagues for national and state recognition
AFT helps in creation of new national RISE award
“Recognizing the work we do has been a long time coming,” said Carl Williams, president of the CFT Council of Classified Employees.
The “unsung heroes” of education have continued to enjoy new levels of respect since California first proclaimed Classified School Employee Week in 1969. This year’s weeklong celebration will be from May 17 to 23, but staff and paraeducators may also be recognized through a series of national, state and local awards.
Retirees are leaving their mark on 2020 elections
Seniors work on local and statewide measures
For more than four decades, California corporations have evaded their fair share of commercial property taxes, leaving our schools with some of the most overcrowded classrooms and worst ratios of students to counselors, librarians, and nurses in the nation.
Schools and Communities First will close those property tax loopholes in 1978’s Proposition 13 — without affecting homeowners or renters — and channel more than $12 billion per year to local schools, community colleges and other vital services.
CFT members participate in Presidential Public Education Forum
Educators travel across the country to meet candidates in person
As we knew it would be, the lead-up to the 2020 Presidential Election is both an exciting and overwhelming time for voters. We are bombarded with articles, polls, social media, and headlines about the candidates.
Amid all the hype, it isn’t often that CFT members get the opportunity to see the presidential candidates in person and hear their perspectives on the issues we think about every day.
Vote YES on Prop. 13, the California school safety bond
$15 billion for new facilities and modernization
Proposition 13, the School Safety Bond, will appear on the March 2020 California ballot. The initiative, which bears no relation to Prop. 13 from 1978, is the largest school facilities bond in state history, promoting adequate and equitable school facilities that will provide healthy, safe, and educationally appropriate school infrastructure for our children.
Our bold step forward to fully fund public education
Schools and Communities First initiative
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
When CFT received the first batch of petitions to put Schools and Communities First initiative on the ballot in late October, I immediately ripped a box open and took out a form. I eagerly signed the fresh new document to add my name in support of this historic initiative.
How one career lecturer’s medical crisis is helping others win paid sick leave
UC-AFT fights for what’s right in healthcare
It’s not often that a personal medical ordeal results in a positive outcome that helps many other people, but that’s what happened when Andrew Tonkovich, a lecturer at UC Irvine, had to receive treatment for a brain tumor.
Finding “common ground” in higher education
Campus Equity Week conference brings together contingent faculty from all higher ed systems
Members, officers, and activists from higher education unions throughout California came together for a full day during Campus Equity Week to chart a strategy for defending public higher education. They denounced especially the way education institutions, under corporate pressure, increasingly rely on contingent instructors while treating them as outsiders.
State’s oldest AFT local shares 100th Birthday with CFT
United Educators of San Francisco, 1919-2019
Editor’s note: With uniquely linked histories, the CFT and AFT Local 61 both celebrate their 100th Anniversaries in 2019. What follows is a capsule history of the oldest local union in the California Federation of Teachers. From the search for true union representation in 1919 to the quest for affordable housing for union members 100 years later, the history of AFT Local 61 — the United Educators of San Francisco — is one of proud support for educators, their unions and students.
New CFT website wins top national awards
CFT wins 16 labor media awards
This was another excellent year for the CFT in the labor media contest sponsored by the International Labor Communications Association, with the union winning 16 awards, including top honors for the new website.
With the union’s switch to digital communications, the CFT’s focus switched to developing a modern and robust mobile-friendly website with digital storytelling capability and strong member outreach capacity.
Know the new laws for 2020
Legislative Update
The governor signed eight CFT-sponsored bills from the 2019 legislative session into law, as well as numerous others important to educators and support staff in California schools and colleges. Below is a summary of significant bills that will become law in 2020. You will also find significant bills vetoed by the governor along with his veto message. The CFT positions are indicated. The next legislative session begins when the Legislature reconvenes on January 6, 2020.
Grassroots effort leads to historic charter school reform
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.
State program matches funds classified employees set aside
What you need to know about Classified School Employee Summer Assistance
Bernard Benson is enrolled in the new Classified School Employee Summer Assistance Program. His deductions began in August and will continue through June. The state will match his savings up to a dollar for dollar in July.
“It would be ludicrous for me not to participate,” explained Benson. “Where else can I set aside $200 a month for 11 months and make a 100 percent return on my investment?”
Union work is social justice work
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT President
When I was elected CFT President in March, I said in my speech to Convention delegates: “I believe that when we fight for education, we also fight for social justice, racial justice, gender equality, LGBTQ rights, and climate justice.”
To be a social justice union, we must not only consider the complex lives of our members and the challenges they face, but look beyond the doors of the schoolhouse to consider the ways our campus communities intersect with our larger communities. When we fight for labor, we must fight for our communities, too.
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 unionizing the Lusty Lady has influenced faculty members
Novelist and poet works to organize faculty in creative departments
When Aya de León started as a lecturer in African American Studies at UC Berkeley and director of its Poetry for the People program, she was excited to join AFT Local 1474. She’s been working since she was a teenager, de León says, but this is the first job where she has a union to represent her.
When she was younger, the idea of being in a local seemed very adult to her, and now being a member of one makes her feel she has arrived, she says. That’s just one reason she’s excited to be a union member.
UC lecturers take bold stand with university in negotiations
Momentum has built activism and organizing success
Eighty UC-AFT members and their allies showed up at the first bargaining session at UC Davis as lecturers began their contract negotiations last spring. The impressive number of rank-and-file members in the room to support the team helped them win open bargaining, says UC-AFT President Mia McIver.
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.
Commemorating 40 years of collective bargaining
The difference one law makes for teachers and classified employees
Editor’s note: California Teacher published this article in 2015, 40 years after K-14 teachers and classified staff won collective bargaining rights in California.
By Elaine Johnson
On May 20, 1976, I cast the first vote for teachers’ collective bargaining in the state of California. TV cameras recorded the event at Redwood High School in Larkspur, and in those pre-DVR times, the family watched it that evening on the 6 o’clock news.
Memoir of a Union Lobbyist: 50 Years Looking Back
Editor’s note: This memoir was originally published as “30 Years Looking Back” in August 1999 by the Institute of Industrial Relations in CPER, A Periodical of Employee Relations in the Public Sector.
By Mary Bergan
I begin with Robert Reich’s admonition that a memoir is not a history. It chronicles events as the writer remembers them. This is a memoir.
What To Do Between Strikes
An essay by Raoul Teilhet
Editor’s note: This essay was presented to CFT Convention on March 9, 2002. Because of Raoul Teilhet’s Parkinson’s disease, it was read by then-Vice President Greg Camacho-Light, a drama teacher from the Gilroy Federation of Teachers and Paraprofessionals. Gov. Gray Davis attended convention that day and officially named it Raoul Teilhet Day.
The birth of a statewide Federation
A piece of our history is revealed for the first time
By Dennis Kelly, United Educators of San Francisco
On May 16, 1918, J.P. Utter wrote to the president of the AFT to remind him that a year earlier Utter had asked about chartering a local. In that year, the Vallejo teachers had organized 57 of 58 teachers and principals, had elected two officers, created a salary committee that delivered a raise, demanded and won 12 monthly paychecks, and had created a temporary organization. Utter enclosed $10 for the charter fee.
Creating a movement for charter reform and education funding
Up Front
WATCH THE VIDEO: State of the Union 2019
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
As the school year begins to wind down, our work ramps up. CFT is joining other education unions to push hard to enact bills calling for more charter school transparency and accountability, bringing the decision-making on charter authorization exclusively to the district level, and more ambitiously, enacting a moratorium on all new charters. As Los Angeles state Sen. Maria Elena Durazo, the author of the moratorium bill explains, it’s time we put a “pause” on new charters.The effort to bring reform to charters importantly parallels the AFT Fund Our Future campaign that is investing in education.
Jeff Freitas elected CFT President, Luukia Smith elected Secretary Treasurer
Delegates elect new officers to lead the Federation
WATCH THE VIDEO: Freitas, Smith accept the leadership of CFT
Delegates to the 100th Anniversary Convention elected the first classified member to hold a top leadership position in the CFT, Council of Classified Employees President Luukia Smith, as Secretary Treasurer. The man who has held that position, Jeff Freitas, was elected CFT’s new president.
Membership Growth Awards recognize organizing
With the June 2018 Supreme Court 5-4 decision on Janus v. AFSCME ending “fair share” revenues, many locals were prepared to lose members, and organized to stop that.
“Some people will find it attractive to save a few hundred bucks, so we have to develop a new culture of unionism and union activism,” Community College Council President Jim Mahler told the delegates, encouraging them to greet new workers on campus. “We say, ‘Hi, here’s where the copy machine is, here’s the bathroom, and here’s the union card.’ We’ve got to be membership driven.”
Women in Education Award: Arlene Inouye, a warrior for labor
WATCH THE VIDEO: Arlene Inouye
Along with being caring and compassionate, United Teachers Los Angeles Secretary Arlene Inouye is a good listener – just as important as being a good speaker, said United Educators of San Francisco President Susan Solomon, presenting Inouye with the Women in Education Award.
Convention speakers inspire through historic perspective
Reverse the damage of Prop 13 and build union strength
WATCH THE VIDEO: Jackie Goldberg
WATCH THE VIDEO: Bill Fletcher, Jr.
Former teacher and Assemblymember Jackie Goldberg welcomed Convention delegates to Los Angeles on March 22 and recounted an important history in the CFT’s 100th Anniversary year. She talked about the need to reverse the damage of Proposition 13.
Legislator of the Year Patrick O’Donnell brings the classroom to Sacramento
Former teacher and Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, who has lobbied for more school funding, and served as chair of the Assembly Education Committee, received the Legislator of the Year Award.
CFT President Joshua Pechthalt honored with Ben Rust Award
AFT Local 2121 member and former CFT Communications Director Fred Glass presented retiring CFT President Joshua Pechthalt with the CFT’s highest honor, the Ben Rust Award. Glass called Pechthalt, who was AFT vice president of United Teachers Los Angeles before being elected CFT president in 2011, an organizer, a trade unionist, and a fighter for social justice like Rust.
Delegates pass wide-ranging resolutions at Convention
Topics range from rebranding and retirees to the Green New Deal
On its 100th Anniversary, the CFT voted to rebrand itself. In accordance with Resolution 1, which convention delegates passed unanimously, it will now be CFT: A Union of Educators and Classified Professionals. The change formally recognizes that the union proudly represents a broad spectrum of education workers.
Luukia Smith, elected Secretary Treasurer of the CFT by delegates, and the first classified employee to serve in this position, was first to rise in support of the change.
Convention delegates celebrate the CFT’s 100th Anniversary
Gala, special guests, videos and exhibits showcase an extraordinary history
Hundreds of delegates to the CFT Convention celebrated the 100th Anniversary of their union at a hotel of nearly the same age, the historic Millennium Biltmore in downtown Los Angeles.
During general sessions, delegates watched a series of videos chronicling the CFT’s history of activism. Outside the ballroom doors, they could view a wide range of exhibits in the CFT Hall of History.
AFT endorses Biden for U.S. president
CFT survey results and AFT election resources
On March 22, AFT endorsed Joe Biden for U.S. President after more than a year of member engagement on the endorsement process — with more than 300,000 AFT members nationwide participating in candidate events, town halls, polls, regional conferences and other efforts — new membership polls show strong support for Biden.
In November, CFT members will join voters around the country to cast their ballots for the next president of the United States. While we know that every election day is an important one, the upcoming election will represent an historic turning point for our country.
We not only have the opportunity to elect a president who understands the value of public education, but one who will stand up for the rights of working people.
Teachers never walk alone when they have union brothers and sisters
Six Days That Shook Los Angeles – Part 6, Conclusion
UTLA’s fight to save public education resonated far and wide. Messages of solidarity and selfies of fist-pumping teachers poured in from Kentucky to Canada. Union locals across Los Angeles set up support networks for more than 200 LAUSD schools. For Writers Guild members, joining teachers on picket lines was an opportunity to pay back their mentors.
Women in Education Award: Sandra Larsen, Petaluma Federation
A woman’s place is in her union, Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers President Gemma Abels told attendees at the CFT Convention before introducing this year’s winner of the Women in Education Award, Sandra Larsen, president of the Petaluma Federation of Teachers, who led a successful strike last spring, the first in the union’s history.
Legislators of the Year: Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher and Connie Leyva
Community College Council President Jim Mahler first met Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) when she worked in Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante’s office. She supported labor then, and she supports it now, he said, advocating for International Workers’ Day and passing paid sick leave for all workers.
Teacher Leader program empowers educator voice
Motivated participants confidently take new skills to Sacramento
Connie Nam used to grumble about union dues, until as a participant in the local’s Teacher Leaders program, the veteran fifth and sixth grade teacher learned about her union’s legislative advocacy role. Now, amidst the war on public education, she says, “It’s worth it. Nothing comes for free.”
Largest-ever California wildfire tears lives apart
Colleagues, students and the union lend support to members in need
Although Laura Carrasco and her husband were at home in Oxnard on Monday, December 4, they didn’t smell the smoke because of the 60-mile-an-hour winds. Around 10:30 pm, they looked outside, saw flames, and a few minutes later, firefighters went up the street with bullhorns, telling people to evacuate.
It was the beginning of the Thomas fire, the largest recorded fire in California history, which burned 273,400 acres in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, destroying about 1,000 structures.
Claytor honored with Raoul Teilhet Award
Kmberly Claytor, the winner of the Raoul Teilhet Educate, Agitate, Organize Award, is a union person in every aspect of her life, said EC/TK-12 Council President Rico Tamayo.
The passage of Proposition 25 will help make California a working state
The members and leaders of CFT see that California’s education system, and our jobs, are placed at grave risk by a faltering economy, chronic late state budgets, and a paralyzed political process. On November 2, the rest of California agreed with us.
Voters passed Proposition 25, changing state budget approval to a majority, ending the tyranny of a two-thirds vote and the partisan groups that benefit from a revenue-starved government.
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.”
UTLA retirees link “Class of 2019” to 1989 and 1970 walkouts
Six Days That Shook Los Angeles - Part 3
During the strike, hundreds of retired L.A. teachers returned to their former schools to continue the fight for public education. One veteran of the two previous strikes said back then UTLA was up against an intransigent district, but didn’t have to face billionaires and unrestrained charter school growth.
UTLA-Retired is now mobilizing all its 4,300 members for the special election in March to fill a key seat on the LAUSD school board and tilt the balance away from a pro-charter majority.
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.
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.
A Blue Wave – but what next?
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
By all measures, this was a very successful midterm election. Democrats picked up 40 seats in the U.S. House, which they will now control, and more than 300 legislative seats nationwide. In California, we ran the table on statewide officers and elected a supermajority in both houses of our state Legislature. Most importantly for us, Tony Thurmond was elected superintendent of public instruction.
Election 2018: CFT’s heavy lifting helps flip seats, elect Thurmond, win local races
As anxious citizens watched the November 6 midterm election results, they weren’t at all sure how candidates and measures would fare. Results trickled in, but many races remained too close to call for weeks.
Strike? Stand with L.A. teachers to win the schools students deserve
UPDATE: After the factfinding report was released on December 18, UTLA announced it will go on strike January 10.
A Red-for-Ed wave rolled through downtown Los Angeles on December 15 as tens of thousands of members and supporters of United Teachers Los Angeles protested large class sizes, low pay, over-testing, a shortage of school nurses and other support staff, and the unregulated growth of charter schools.
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.
Four members tell their stories of election success
Our voices must be heard! Members elected to district governing boards
Jeanie Wallace had considered running for office before. As a union rep for the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers and the chair of the local Democratic Party Central Committee, she knew how hard it could be to find candidates for the school board. But she thought she was too busy, and planned to do it when she retired.
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.
Retirees stay true to the cause – keeping political, union skills sharp
AFT activists don’t stop being active when they retire. United Teachers Los Angeles retiree Jimmie Woods-Gray, for example, remains a whirlwind in the fight to stop the privatization of public education. UC-AFT Riverside’s Stephanie Kay, meanwhile, continues the daily fight for lecturers’ rights on University of California campuses.
Rank & Files
Nov-Dec 2018
KATHRYN MAYO, instructor of photography at Cosumnes River College and member of the Los Rios Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2279, grew up in a rural farming community just outside Selma, Alabama. Her narrative photography work – We are Selma: The Selma Portrait Project – will be honored at the local’s Union Hall Gallery in Sacramento in February.
Rank & Files
Sept-Oct 2018
PAUL H. KARRER, a retired member of the North Monterey Federation of Teachers, Local 4008, published a 58-page fully illustrated booklet The Baby Flight about an orphan delivery he – an American teacher in Korea – made to the United States one Christmas Eve. Over 400,000 copies of the story are already in circulation in Chicken Soup, Open My Eyes Open My Soul and numerous periodicals.
New funding formula risks 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.
Speaking about the school administration officials, Rosenblatt said, “They want to game the system – they don’t care if it’s quality counseling – they just want a bunch of education plans. The education plan is supposed to be the artifact of an important conversation, but they just want to check off these productivity measures,” she said. “Our counselors have master’s degrees and some have PhDs – they went to school for student contact, not to be chained to their desk all day, writing education plans.”
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.
Our fight to win 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.
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.
Choose True Blue on November 6
Vote 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.
100 years of the CFT — a capsule history
The CFT turns 100 on May 31, 2019. To kick off this anniversary year, California Teacher digs into the archives to present a commemorative issue about the rich history of our statewide federation of unions. The big events — legislation, elections, social trends — described here affected every member. But this capsule history cannot possibly relate the profound impact almost 100 years of activism had on thousands of individual education workers.
Our history teaches us the power of organizing for collective action
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
At this pivotal moment in our history, we can look back with pride while looking forward with a tempered sense of confidence. Knowing what our union has overcome in its first century, we will face the coming challenges and emerge a stronger union.
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of the CFT. Previous generations of educators won the right to due process and collective bargaining. They built the foundation that led to decent compensation, healthcare and retirement benefits, and much more.
Council of Retired Members taps a resource: Retirees are “stickin’ to the union”
Download a single-sheet illustrated history of the Council of Retired Members
What retirees have that unions need — knowledge, experience and memories — are concentrated in the Council of Retired Members, the newest division of CFT. Convention delegates in 2014 overwhelmingly voted to add the council to the union’s governance structure so retirees could contribute in the same way as working teachers and classified employees.
Bringing dignity to UC lecturers and librarians
University Council-AFT
Download a single-sheet illustrated history of the University Council-AFT
In September of 1978, Gov. Jerry Brown made good on a promise to the CFT and signed the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act, authorizing employees of the UC and CSU systems to engage in collective bargaining.
Effective advocacy promotes interests of college faculty and staff
Community College Council
Download a single-sheet illustrated history of the Community College Council
Formed in 1971, the Community College Council gave a voice to the growing numbers of CFT college faculty. Los Angeles history teacher Hy Weintraub, president of the council for much of the decade, brought a coherent statewide identity to the group.
Council of Classified Employees: Quality representation wins respect for support staff
Download a single-sheet illustrated history of the Council of Classified Employees
When the AFT in 1977 welcomed educational workers other than teachers into its ranks, paraprofessionals and classified employees became one of the fastest growing sectors of the national AFT. In the 1980s, several thousand California support staff voted for the AFT as their bargaining agent.
PreK-12 Council leads the way on educational issues
Download a single-sheet illustrated history of the EC/TK-12 Council
The CFT originally formed as a union of K-12 teachers. As other education workers joined, the membership of CFT diversified. Because the CFT had a working group of teachers — called the QuEST Council — which dealt with curriculum and policy issues, and reviewed current legislation, there was little pressure for a separate K-12 council.
Raoul Teilhet Scholarship Program celebrates 20 years
638 dependents awarded $1.76 million
In the mid 1990s, leaders of the Greater Santa Cruz Federation of
Teachers decided the CFT, a union of educators, should offer the
children of its members scholarships to achieve their higher
education goals.
Celebrating 70 years of California Teacher in print
The “Voice of the Union” changes with the times
The committed activists who formed the California State Federation of Teachers in 1919 recognized from the beginning the need for communications among their far-flung members. From rudimentary origins, the California Teacher grew in every way and has been published in print for 70 years.
Raoul Teilhet Award: Ray Gaer
ABC Federation of Teachers
Becoming president of the ABC Federation of Teachers after the legendary Laura Rico – known for leading a successful eight-day strike in 1993 and serving as a vice president of the CFT, the AFT and the AFL-CIO simultaneously – meant people had some pretty high expectations of him, said Ray Gaer, current president.
Ben Rust Award: Dennis Kelly, United Educators of San Francisco
Convention 2018
United Educators of San Francisco Executive Vice President Susan Solomon started her speech at the Ben Rust Award luncheon by talking about some of the things that were happening 50 years ago – the Vietnam War dragging on and Martin Luther King getting assassinated while supporting striking garbage workers.
West Virginia teacher shares national movement with delegates
Convention 2018
At the EC/TK-12 Council meeting on Friday night, President Rico Tamayo thanked West Virginia teacher Angela Johnson for staying up late to Skype with the council about the successful strike she was part of in her state. She brushed it off.
Convention delegates join student-led protest in Orange County
March for Our Lives
Through speeches, chants and signs, the crowd of thousands at the March for Our Lives in Santa Ana made it clear what they wanted: common-sense gun control.
At the rally organized in response to the shootings that killed 17 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, students, teachers, and community members, along with Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, spoke to the crowd, talking about people they loved who had been shot, how they didn’t want to be afraid to go to school, and how the United States has more than 90 gun murders a day.
Tony Thurmond: Delegates support CFT-endorsed candidate for state superintendent
A couple of days after his speech at the CFT Convention in Sacramento last year, Assemblymember Tony Thurmond (D- Richmond) announced his candidacy for state superintendent of public instruction. He regrets not announcing at the Convention, Thurmond told delegates, who waved blue signs in his support.
Erwin Chemerinsky: Constitutional scholar brings delegates to their feet
Convention 2018
If you get a case on the Supreme Court, make your brief a shameless attempt to pander to Justice Anthony Kennedy, said UC Berkeley Law Dean Erwin Chemerinsky, keynote speaker at the CFT Convention. Why? Because Kennedy has been in the majority 97 percent of cases this year, and 98 percent the year before.
Floor debate: Delegates take decisive action
Pass resolutions on part-time faculty workload, McTeacher Nights, pesticide use, charter teacher retirement
About 400 delegates discussed resolutions on a broad range of policy issues; heard from the law school dean at UC Berkeley, Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, and Tony Thurmond, the CFT-endorsed candidate for superintendent of public instruction; joined thousands to rally and march for safer schools and common sense gun control; learned a whole lot about Janus v. AFSCME, a Supreme Court case that could effectively turn the public sector into a “right to work” zone; and heard from a teacher in West Virginia where they succeeded in getting a 5 percent raise for all public employees.
Classroom veteran looks forward to being a teacher
FIRST PERSON | By Laura L. Manriquez, Carpinteria Association of the United School Employees
I recently became aware of an opportunity to obtain financial assistance in earning a teaching credential through the California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program, which is intended to attract classified staff who are interested in becoming teachers.
Q&A: Get to know Tony Thurmond
Meet the CFT-endorsed candidate for state superintendent of public instruction
In a race important to all educators, the CFT has endorsed Assemblymember Tony Thurmond for state Superintendent of Public Instruction. CFT President Josh Pechthalt said Thurmond, a former social worker, has demonstrated “time and again he is a champion of public education. His policy positions solidly align him with the needs of students, parents and educators.”
California Teacher asked Thurmond about his positions on education issues ranging from early childhood to higher education.
We must protect children, not the merchants of death
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
Another week, another mass shooting, more condolences from elected officials…and nothing gets done. As of this writing, we have had 19 shootings of some sort on campus this year, and we are likely to have another before this article gets published.
Documentary movie features United Farm Workers organizer
Five lessons from Dolores Huerta
Dolores Huerta, an organizing legend who co-founded the United Farm Workers with Cesar Chavez, was a Girl Scout growing up in Stockton. She took seriously the idea that people should help one another and try to make things better. Something that particularly angered her was police officers stopping her and her Latino friends — but not the white people they knew — on their way home from a basketball or football game.
CFT endorses Gavin Newsom for governor
Members heavily favor lieutenant governor in straw poll, opinion poll
2018 is shaping up to be a critical election for our nation and our state. With Gov. Jerry Brown being termed out, one of the most important elections for CFT members will be the race for governor.
After soliciting member feedback for almost two months, the CFT Executive Council on December 2 endorsed Gavin Newsom for the state’s top office.
Campus electricians shine in clean energy awards
Proposition 39 investments reap environmental and fiscal benefits
We don’t spend much time changing bulbs anymore,” said Palomar College electrician Rick Beach. “There aren’t many left on campus to change.”
And fewer by the day. Beach and maintenance and operations staff members of the Palomar Council of Classified Employees, AFT Local 4522, recently led the installation of LED lighting across Palomar’s San Marcos and Escondido campuses.
The richest country in the world doesn’t have what?
The struggle for paid maternity leave continues
KNOW OUR HISTORY
Okay, educators, here’s a pop quiz: Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Surinam, Tonga, and the United States. What do these countries have in common? The answer is that not one of these has a national paid maternity leave law. Every other nation in the world — 180 of them — has one.
New book illustrates the humanity of people who travel with the crops
Writer, photographer and veteran UFW union organizer David Bacon frequently refers to “people who travel with the crops,” agricultural workers who move from place to place to cultivate and harvest California’s fields. They are the subject of his newest work of photojournalism, In the Fields of the North/En los campos del norte. Bacon is a frequent contributor to California Teacher. Below are excerpts from an interview with Capitol & Main. » Read the whole article here.
Wildfires take member homes
Union provides immediate aid and comfort
After the North Bay fires destroyed more than 5,000 homes and killed dozens of people, William Ortlinghaus, who teaches physical education at Kenilworth Junior High and his wife Jen, a teacher at Valley Vista Elementary, were happy to go back to work after school had been cancelled for a week.
“It was the only normal thing we had left,” Jen said, “And my fourth graders were curious to see if we were still alive and our dogs were OK.”
Sexual misconduct revelations demand changes in the workplace and society
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
The daily revelations of sexual misconduct by men in authority seem like a turning point in the struggle for gender equality. While this appears to be a sea change, we must remember that Donald Trump’s claim he could grab women inappropriately without their consent failed to derail his run for the White House. That, however, may have been the opening salvo.
In Memoriam: Gary Ravani
Gary Ravani, 72, a fierce advocate of public education, died on November 17 after being hospitalized for acute pancreatitis. Ravani served as president of the EC/TK-12 Council from 2009 to 2015 and as a CFT Vice President for two decades.
Rank & Files
Nov-Dec 2017
KIRSTEN FARRELL, a health science and medical technology teacher at Venice Senior High School, and member of United Teachers Los Angeles, AFT Local 1021, was named as one of five California Teachers of the Year for 2018 by the state Department of Education.
Local Wire
Nov-Dec 2017
LOCAL 1603
#MembershipBlitz In November the Peralta Federation of Teachers, launched a six-day membership drive as part of a year-long strategy to recruit and engage members.
To prepare, the union audited membership files to make sure it had a signed membership form for every member. It then coordinated instructor schedules, recruited volunteers, finalized logistics, and assembled new member packets with helpful union information and a new union sticker.
Building a member-driven union at the university
An effective site rep structure reaches lecturers, librarians where they work
At UC Berkeley, 16 lecturer site representatives are fanning out across the sprawling campus. In Davis, the union is fielding at least 15. In both places, the effort to meet the challenge of a new era in public sector labor relations is part of an even larger move to change the culture of the union.
An open letter…CFT rejects fully online college proposal
Responding to Gov. Jerry Brown’s request for the development of options for a fully online college, the California Community Colleges on November 13 announced three options and belatedly asked for comment from stakeholder groups.
Medicare-for-All could free billions for our classrooms
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.
Los Angeles schools, for example, could cut their current $1 billion healthcare bill in half, according to John Perez, a retired president of United Teachers Los Angeles.
Activists succeed in first pesticide drift protection for schools
Students and staff still exposed to toxic agricultural chemicals
In Watsonville, where teachers have fought for years to restrict pesticide spraying near schools, a recent regulation issued by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation was greeted as a victory, but with serious reservations.
School Choice: A Tale of Two Countries
Norway and Sweden take divergent paths
By Jeffery M. Freitas, CFT Secretary Treasurer
In October I accompanied AFT President Randi Weingarten and several fellow AFT union leaders on a fact-finding trip to Sweden and Norway. The purpose of the trip was to examine firsthand the approaches taken by the countries to inform our own approach to public education.
At first glance, Sweden and Norway seem nearly identical. Both countries have low levels of income inequality. They fund their schools well and it shows. They both have high rates of union membership and participation. And they both have a relatively high rate of electoral participation.
Rank & Files, Sep-Oct 2017
Michael R. Wing, science teacher at Sir Francis Drake High School in San Anselmo, and a member of the Tamalpais Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1985, has written a book Passion Projects for Smart People (Quill Driver Books), coming out in November. The book is a guide for teachers about how to live like a professor without having access to a professor’s resources, with chapters on projects, affiliations and collaborations, applying for things, travel with purpose, teaching, citizen science programs, and publishing. Learn more and order the book here.
CalSTRS pensions analyzed in light of GOP attacks
Teachers do much better with defined benefit plans than 401(k)s
Most public school teachers working today count on traditional pensions — which guarantee a monthly income based on age, salary and years of service — as their main source of financial security in retirement.
Unions get full and timely access to new employees
New law leads to union negotiating rules for employee orientation
In April 2016, Julia Troche applied to be a lecturer in Egyptology at UCLA. “It was my alma mater as an undergrad, so this was a special position for me, a chance to give back to the institution that gave me so much,” she says. She’d received an email from the department chair of Near Eastern Language and Culture asking her to apply. “She told me there was no guarantee of continuing employment, but it would put me in a good place while I looked for a tenure-track appointment.”
Quest for fair accreditation ends in union victory
CFT and ACCJC agree on key points in legal settlement
Since the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges made its appalling decision to terminate City College of San Francisco’s accreditation four years ago, AFT Local 2121, the faculty union there, and the CFT have fought back through legislation, lawsuits, political pressure and protests.
Sacramento doubles down on teacher credentialing program for classified
In 2016, the CFT co-sponsored legislation to establish a teacher credentialing program for classified employees, and the 2016-17 state budget included $20 million to fund the campaign for five years.
Legislature sends governor bill to include noon duty aides in classified service
Current law exempts part-time playground employees from classified status if they don’t also hold a second position in the same school district. Legislation now on the governor’s desk, however, would include part-timers who don’t have a second job.
AB 670 by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) would help about 1,500 “noon dutys” statewide.
“Part-time playground employees work side by side with classified employees performing similar duties,” Thurmond said. “They deserve the same protection and benefits as classified employees.”
Delivering for the union: Signing up new members one stop at a time
Driver and local president Albert Lopez moves between 13 campuses
The Riverside County community of Menifee is on the upswing. More than 1,000 new homes are under construction, new businesses are opening their doors, and new families are moving in. The Menifee Union School District sees increased enrollment on the horizon. The Menifee Council of Classified Employees is also expanding. In fact, the CFT recently honored the local for placing second in two categories recognizing member growth: most new members (151) and highest rate of growth (42 percent).
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.
CFT becomes first statewide U.S. union to adopt Climate Justice Agenda
Core tenets advanced by task force adopted as union policy
By Jim Miller
The CFT made history in 2016 when it became the first statewide labor organization in the United States to adopt a Climate Justice Agenda. When Resolution 29 was brought before delegates to the CFT Convention, I presented the history of my local union in forging the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council Environmental Caucus, the first such body in the nation.
Being an UndocuAlly
How to create a safe campus for undocumented communities
Four days before President Trump rescinded the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, Sarah, a young student who commutes an hour each way to attend classes, emailed me that she was dropping my class.
She believed the impending end of DACA meant she would lose her source of income, her DACA driver’s license, and access to financial aid. She was also afraid she and her family would be deported. Her fears were real, however the information she received was incorrect.
Two union women and the fight for pay equity
How the “comparable worth” campaign succeeded
On a hillside in San Francisco a small public school bears the name of one of the pioneers in the movement for workplace equality. Kate Kennedy was born in Ireland, and like so many others, came to the United States during the Great Potato Famine of 1845-49. She was the first San Francisco teacher to join a union. In 1874, she brought a non-discrimination suit that provided the precedent for “equal pay for equal work.” Ultimately a federal law passed in 1963 made it illegal to pay men and women working in the same place different salaries for similar work.
Tried and true methods: Union organizing begins in the workplace
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
We learned in the final days of September that the U.S. Supreme Court will take up another union fair share case. With the court’s ruling coming early next year, it feels like we are on a ship with an iceberg rapidly approaching. Fortunately, as we prepare for an unfavorable decision in the Janus v. AFSCME case, we had already prepared for the similar Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association case.
Supreme Court set to rule against union ‘fair share’
Conservatives launch another attack on workers, unions, democracy
Quick download: FAQ about Janus v. AFSME (pdf, 2pp)
What will the court decide?
The lawsuit Janus v. AFSCME asks the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether public sector unions may continue to charge non-members in a workplace represented by the union a fee (“agency fee” or “fair share”) equal to the cost of representing them. The court’s ruling is expected early next year.
Mid-session update: Union-sponsored bills pass through key legislative committees
Our CFT-sponsored legislation successfully passed out of policy committees before the May 12 deadline for bills introduced in their house of origin to be heard. The union’s proposal before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee also succeeded. In addition, CFT is lobbying several priority bills and continues to monitor legislation that would be harmful to educators, our students and communities. You can find regular legislative updates here.
Melinda Dart: Women in Education Award
The day after Donald Trump was elected president, Melinda Dart, CFT vice president and president of the Jefferson Elementary Federation in Daly City, saw a sixth-grade boy with his head on a desk, sobbing. Girls asked her how a person who’d said the things Trump said could have been elected president. Dart didn’t have an answer for that, but she was glad to see these sixth-graders angry.
David Yancey: Honored with Ben Rust Award
Mark Newton says he can’t go anywhere in San José with David Yancey without having someone yell out, “Mr. Yancey! You were my favorite teacher!”
Tony Thurmond speaks from the heart
Announces bid for state superintendent of public instruction after Convention
Assemblymember Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) didn’t have an easy start in life. His father abandoned the family, and his mother, a Panamanian immigrant, died of cancer when he was six.
Kevin McCarty, Phil Ting: CFT Legislators of the Year
When the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges put City College of San Francisco on the severest sanction, a lot of legislators didn’t get it, said Tim Killikelly, president of AFT Local 2121, the faculty union there.
AFT leader brings perspective and vision
Lorretta Johnson says unions and communities united can take on the right
AFT Secretary Treasurer Lorretta Johnson pledged to join the CFT in resisting. Except for one thing.
“I went to jail once in a teachers’ strike,” she said. “My husband heard I was in jail and he didn’t come get me — I vowed I’d never go back.”
Officer elections: Pechthalt, Freitas reelected
Delegates overwhelming elected the Unity Slate, led by CFT President Joshua Pechthalt and Secretary Treasurer Jeff Freitas. The slate’s 24 vice presidents were elected from among a field of 29 candidates. Pechthalt and Freitas have now begun their fourth two-year term as leaders of the California Federation of Teachers.
See more photos on Facebook. Members in Motion. Highlights Recap.
Spirited debate on resolutions
Issues range from academic freedom and racial justice to community schools
At the CFT Convention March 31 through April 2, delegates took action on 23 policy resolutions addressing topics from community schools to immigrant rights to the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Tom Steyer: Addresses climate, education
It’s typical for educators to lead the way, philanthropist Tom Steyer told attendees at the CFT Convention. As the son and grandson of teachers, Steyer founded NextGen Climate, a non-profit that acts politically to prevent climate disaster.
Panel on point: Understanding rights, rules, and the law
It’s not the work of a few vigilantes when Immigration Customs Enforcement agents target students, said Laura Flores of the California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation — it’s becoming the law of the land.
Delegates march for immigrant rights
DACA students, educators speak out at ICE building, state Capitol
Friday, Cesar Chavez Day, the first day of the CFT Convention, Art Pulaski of the California Labor Federation promised the delegates that he will make sure other unions — the plumbers, carpenters, and building trades — back up the CFT in their fight against charter schools and privatization. Then he got them fired up for the march in support of immigrant rights.
CFT Convention prepares us for tough challenges facing the union
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
The CFT completed its 75th Convention and Jeff Freitas and I were honored to be re-elected by delegates to lead this great, progressive union. A new Executive Council was also elected, a diverse group of local leaders that will help guide this organization in the difficult period ahead.
Local Wire, Apr-May 2017
MANY LOCALS
#ScienceMarch Numerous local unions took a stand for reason,
facts and scientific analysis in the Science March and Climate
March held during the month of May, including groups from the
Greater Santa Cruz Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 2030, and
UC-AFT San Diego, AFT Local 2226.
Pension battles shift from ballots to courts
Tracking the latest strategies that attack public employee pensions
For years, people have been trying to attack pensions with ballot propositions, said Doug Orr, an economics professor at City College of San Francisco and the chair of the of the CFT Retirement Policy Committee. Those propositions always go down in defeat, Orr said, and now those attacks on pensions are coming to the courts.
Contingent faculty and academic freedom in the age of Trump
Organizing the disenfranchised is the key to success
By Bob Samuels, President UC-AFT
Now that more than 75 percent of the instructors teaching in higher education in the United States do not have tenure, it is important to think about how the current political climate affects those vulnerable teachers. Although we should pay attention to how all faculty are being threatened, non-tenured faculty are in an especially exposed position because they often lack any type of academic freedom or shared governance rights.
Faculty grill replacement leader of the ACCJC
Interim commission president listens, pledges some new ways forward
At the end of a CFT Convention Friday night Community College Council meeting that went over the 10 o’clock ending time, Richard Winn said he wanted to continue being a “thinking partner” with the CFT and thanked everyone for their honesty.
He might have preferred a little less honesty. Winn is the interim president of the Accreditation Commission of Community and Junior Colleges, and the assembled members of CFT had plenty to say about the commission’s unfairness, lack of transparency, and meddling in collective bargaining. The CFT has a federal lawsuit against ACCJC and continues to fight for a new accreditor.
Luchando por los derechos laborales de los asistentes escolares de tiempo parcial
AB 670 reconocería a "noon dutys" como trabajadores clasificados
Lesa Estrada es asistente escolar en la Escuela Primaria Anderson de Lawndale desde que su hijo empezó el kinder hace más de 25 años.
“Mis tres hijos asistieron a la Anderson”, afirma Estrada. “He visto a niños crecer y traer a sus hijos. Ahora algunos nos traen a sus nietos”, agrega.
Bringing part-time playground aides into classified service
AB 670 would give “noon dutys” long overdue workplace rights
> Para leer este artículo en español, hagaclic aquí
Lesa Estrada has been a noon duty aide at Lawndale’s Anderson Elementary since her son began kindergarten here more than 25 years ago.
“All three of my children attended Anderson,” Estrada said. “I’ve seen kids grow up and bring us their children. Now some are bringing us their grandchildren.”
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.
Rank & Files, Apr-May 2017
David Stein, lecturer of history and African-American studies at UCLA and member of UC-AFT Los Angeles, Local 1990, received the Maria Stewart Best Journal Article Prize from the African American Intellectual History Society for his article titled “This Nation Has Never Honestly Dealt with the Question of a Peacetime ‘Economy’: Coretta Scott King and the Struggle for a Nonviolent Economy in the 1970s.” Stein also co-hosts a monthly podcast called Who Makes Cents covering the history of capitalism.
Unions create safe havens on campus
Members shift into high gear to protect immigrant students and communities
> Protecting Our Students: Resources for educators, students, and families impacted by immigration actions
How can we find common ground with the charter school community?
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
I recently attended a forum with Secretary Treasurer Jeff Freitas organized by the NAACP to examine charter schools. America’s oldest civil rights organization is hosting a series of events around the country to get feedback on a proposed national policy calling for a moratorium on new charter schools.
Night shift custodians work together, fight short staffing
Midnight organizing at El Camino College pays off
During the day, Manhattan Beach Boulevard overflows with traffic, but the only thing whipping down the street at 10 p.m. is a cold night wind. To the north, the lights of approaching jets trace the landing path to LAX in the night sky.
Darlene Esquivel pulls into a staff parking lot alongside the facilities management building at El Camino College. Esquivel is one of about 30 custodians on the graveyard shift who put the Torrance campus back in shape nightly while more than 22,000 students sleep.
Local unions confront post-election environment
Four leaders talk about union priorities in their districts
Since Donald Trump was elected president, it has become clear: It’s a new day for educators, their unions, students and communities. California Teacher asked the presidents of four local unions from different regions of the state to voice their concerns.
Union moves new priorities: CFT seeks paid maternity leave, technology audit, labor education
CFT seeks paid maternity leave, technology audit, labor education
Each year our members recommend legislation that will address important issues to educators and the students we serve. Based upon these recommendations and Executive Council approval, the CFT is sponsoring four new bills, an audit and two budget proposals aimed at improving our working conditions, and strengthening the labor movement and public education.
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.
Racial Equity Task Force delivers draft report to CFT Convention
UPDATE: On April 1, delegates to CFT Convention unanimously passed Resolution 14 titled “Reclaim the promise of racial equity for Black males in California,” which called for adoption of the report written by the Racial Equity Task Force.
Local Wire, Feb-Mar 2017
MANY LOCALS
#DumpDeVos: Demonstrators at a boisterous event in Oakland — organized on social media in just a few days — denounced the nomination of Betsy DeVos for U.S. Secretary of Education. Hundreds of parents, educators, and students gathered at a noon rally on January 31.
Victory in Watsonville: Cannery workers show how solidarity works
KNOW OUR HISTORY
Watsonville, California, a produce powerhouse — July 1985: Mort Console, owner of Watsonville Canning, the major company in town, suddenly cuts wages by 40 percent and reduces health benefits. The factory workers of Teamsters Local 912 immediately vote to go out on strike, just as Console’s anti-union law firm has advised him they would: “Make outrageous demands; the workers will strike. Replace them with scabs. After 12 months, request a union decertification vote, which will then include the strikebreakers too.”
Fair accreditation: The long arc of our successful campaign
How a rogue agency damaged colleges in Compton and San Francisco
The Accrediting Commission of Community and Junior Colleges, a private 19-member panel that oversees community colleges in California and Hawaii, has been much in the news over its threat to pull City College of San Francisco’s accreditation — a battle the union and college recently won with the January 13 news that its accreditation is fully restored for the next seven years.
Retirees prepare to stand firm in a hostile new world
Social Security and Medicare targeted by majority party
Candidate Donald Trump told the American people he didn’t want to cut Social Security, but Republicans have opposed the system since its creation during the Depression.
Speaker of the House Paul Ryan has talked about “means testing” Social Security. In other words, wealthy seniors wouldn’t get benefits because they don’t need them. But they wouldn’t pay into the system, either, and losing the top 10 percent of contributors could lead to financial havoc.
Members unite to fight Trump’s immigration orders
Council builds solidarity by engaging with members on issues that unite
Before the election our focus was on leadership development,” says Mia McIver, vice president for organizing for the University Council-AFT, “and the election brought us a sense of new urgency.” Strong leaders will provide the underpinning for the campaigns the union will undertake as it faces the Trump administration and a predictable tsunami of anti-union and anti-education measures.
Top priorities Propositions 55 and 58 sail to victory
School and college funding secured, bilingual instruction returned
PART 1: STATEWIDE PROPOSITIONS
In a crowded field of 17 propositions on the statewide ballot, voters clearly saw the value of publicly funded education and passed CFT’s top priority, Proposition 55, with an impressive 24-point margin.
Responding to election of Donald Trump: Reassess, Mobilize, Defend
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
I have been hearing from CFT members who supported Donald Trump and are not happy that the CFT is sticking its nose into politics.
We would be looking at a much different scenario in our schools and colleges, our communities and unions, and in Sacramento, if the CFT had not led the way on the Millionaires Tax, which became Proposition 30 and now Proposition 55, and before that, led the way on Proposition 25, the Majority Budget Act.
California Legislature remains Democratic bastion
Democrats win supermajorities, endorsed candidates fare well
PART 2: STATEWIDE CANDIDATES
With the future of national politics uncertain, the role of the California Legislature in shaping public education policy and labor rights is more critical than ever. The work it undertakes in coming years will have a large and direct impact on members, their students, and their communities.
The Trump effect on American politics
New book puts dominant parties on the analyst’s couch
After the election, California Teacher interviewed Robert Samuels, president of the University Council-AFT, and author of the new book, Psychoanalyzing the Left and Right After Donald Trump.
California Teacher: What does your approach try to explain that other approaches cannot?
Two members named California Teachers of Year
Poway special education teacher, Los Angeles ESL science teacher honored
Megan Gross, a teacher at Del Norte High School in the Poway Unified School District, one of two CFT members recognized as a California Teacher of the Year, credits her union with having her back.
“I feel like they’re very supportive,” she said about San Diego County’s Poway Federation of Teachers. “They’ve been a great support to both our department and our school.”
Local Wire, Nov-Dec 2016
UC-AFT
#NoDAPL: University members have been steadfast in support of the Standing Rock Sioux resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline that threatens tribal water sources. On November 10, UC-AFT Berkeley members rallied in front of Wells Fargo Bank in Oakland, urging it to stop financing the pipeline.
The woman who helped California women win the vote
Immigrant, suffragist, reproductive rights pioneer never gave up
KNOW OUR HISTORY
Hillary Clinton’s historic run for U.S. President and popular vote victory didn’t just come out of nowhere. She and all the other women who are so much a part of our politics stand on the shoulders of the bold, creative organizers who came before them — women who never let a few losses stop them. Women with names we should know but probably don’t. One of these is Frances Nacke Noel.
Rank & Files, Nov-Dec 2016
UC-AFT
#NoDAPL: University members have been steadfast in support of the Standing Rock Sioux resisting the Dakota Access Pipeline that threatens tribal water sources. On November 10, UC-AFT Berkeley members rallied in front of Wells Fargo Bank in Oakland, urging it to stop financing the pipeline.
Retirees work presidential election in swing states
Pajaro Valley’s Julie Armstrong named top volunteer in Florida
Because Hillary Clinton needed to win in Florida, I volunteered, along with CFT and AFT retirees from other states, in the Sunshine State.
We worked with diverse groups of Floridians in the AFT and other labor unions through the Working America Coalition, a political action committee of the AFL-CIO. Working America fights for working families, union and non-union, in campaigns to elect progressive candidates and pass legislation to improve the lives of working families.
Being there for our students in a time of fear and hate
After the most divisive election in living memory, healing begins with resistance
For Kelly Mayhew, an English teacher at San Diego City College, the day after Donald Trump won the Electoral College vote for president of the United States, was probably her worst as a teacher.
Find the support you need at school
Classroom resources for post General Election 2016
AFT’s Share My Lesson
Lots of lesson plans by grade level on the election,
civics, and anti-bullying. For example, here
is a direct link to a high school social studies lesson
plan on “The Dangers of the New Nationalism.”
Local unions elect candidates, pass ballot measures
Educator efforts pay off in funding gains, more favorable boards
PART 3: LOCAL SUCCESSES
Local elections directly impact schools and colleges. The grassroots work of CFT members in their communities not only secured funding and elected strong, labor-friendly local candidates, but will also help shape the political landscape in California.
Families drawn to 40,000-book giveaway
Daly City AFT local unions host FirstBook community outreach
The 40,000-book giveaway at Woodrow Wilson Elementary School on October 8, drew many families from Daly City’s Asian community, which accounts for almost 60 percent of the city’s 100,000 residents.
- Julius Li, who was looking for books with 16-month-old daughter Madison in his arms, said they have story time twice a day.
- Annabelle Mai, a first grader at Westlake Elementary, was happy because reading books is her favorite thing to do before going to sleep at night.
Congresswoman Speier leads forum on accreditation
Broad support for San Francisco City College in advance of January decision
Bay Area Congresswoman Jackie Speier convened a panel discussion at City College of San Francisco on November 28, her third on the topic since the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges revoked the accreditation of City College in 2013.
Speier pointed out that the people of San Francisco love their college, having just voted in November for a second parcel tax to support it, and passing Proposition W to make tuition free. She is “hopeful and optimistic” about the college’s future and defeating the ACCJC.
New law brings reemployment rights for part-time faculty
Successful CFT-sponsored legislation calls for districts to negotiate
Community college districts will soon be compelled to negotiate what CFT-sponsored legislation calls “reemployment preference for part-time, temporary faculty.” The landmark provisions require districts to negotiate with the union in order to receive significant funding available from the state Student Success and Support Program.
A veteran teacher’s perspective on magic, old and new
Will “newer” always be seen as “better,” despite the evidence?
I recently received an email from a first-year sixth grade teacher asking about my classroom management system. I’ve taught for 37 years, making me a veteran teacher by any reckoning.
Flattered of course, I revealed the nitty-gritty of my ticket system. Long and short of it — when kids are good they get tickets. When negative behaviors transpire, tickets are taken away.
How should progressives vote in the Presidential Election?
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
With less than one month left in the presidential contest and the race for the White House tightening, progressives have to make some clear-eyed decisions about whom to support. Will they support Hillary Clinton or will they cast a protest vote and support Jill Stein?
Fifteen college students receive CFT Raoul Teilhet Scholarships
This summer, the CFT awarded scholarships to 15 continuing college students through its Raoul Teilhet Scholarship Program. The young adults who received $3,000 scholarships are listed below with the names of their parents or guardians who are members. For high school seniors, the deadline to apply for a CFT scholarship is January 10.
Nine killed in Mexico fighting punitive education reform
Government turns to violence, refuses to negotiate
Since the killing of nine demonstrators in the Oaxacan town of Nochixtlán on June 19, Mexico has been in an uproar over the force used against teachers resisting corporate education reform. As the school year started on August 22, teachers in four states refused to return to classes until the perpetrators of the massacre are held responsible and there is a negotiated agreement to change the government’s program.
CFT welcomes more Los Angeles teachers into the fold
California’s largest union of K-12 teachers pens historic merger agreement
Eager to commit unprecedented resources to the expansion of unregulated, non-union charter schools, billionaire privatizers have declared war on public education in Los Angeles, with the goal of moving half of LA’s students out of the district and into charters.
Every Student Succeeds Act: Coming soon to your classroom
State regulations being crafted for new federal law to replace NCLB
Jeni Nudell started this school year like most others, focusing on setting up her classroom, getting to know her students, and administering the California English Development Test to her students at the Rosa Parks Learning Center in the San Fernando Valley.
The Every Student Succeeds Act isn’t high on her radar. The new federal law to replace the one-size-fits-all testing fixation of the Bush administration’s No Child Left Behind Act doesn’t take effect until next school year.
CFT positions on the ballot measures
General Election 2016
After careful consideration, the CFT makes the following recommendations for November 8. On measures not listed here, the CFT has taken no position. Props 57, 62 and 66 reflect the CFT’s progressive positions on criminal reform.
Yes on Proposition 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.
San Francisco faculty struck for a day and won
Local unity gains good contract, overdue pay raises
The faculty union at City College of San Francisco pulled off a one-day strike on April 27, despite the administration’s claim that the strike was illegal. To avert another strike, the college agreed to a union contract with substantial raises by July.
Rank & Files, Sept-Oct 2016
Jennifer Russell, psychology teacher and member of the Novato Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1986, was selected as the Marin County Teacher of the Year for 2016-17 and honored for helping students learn about themselves through portfolio assignments and equipping them with skills necessary for college success in her AVID courses. Marin County’s superintendent said to her, “You have mastered the art of teaching students that achievement is much more than a number or letter.”
Book review: From Mission to Microchip, A History of the California Labor Movement
Working people have been organizing in California since the 18th century. And, as Utah Phillips says, we workers do not get benevolent gifts from enlightened management.
Union celebrates banner year for legislative action
Union celebrates banner year for legislative action
Through the hard work and advocacy of leaders, members, and staff, the CFT recorded one of its most successful legislative sessions ever. During the 2015-16 session, the union sent an unprecedented five CFT-sponsored bills, and helped send another three priority bills, to the governor for his signature. Gov. Brown had until September 30 to sign or veto the bills, which are listed below.
Local Wire, Sept-Oct 2016
LOCAL 6554
Contagious…This spring Ann Marie Wasserbauer, president of the
Association of College Educators, delivered 513 petitions from
faculty and students to the West Valley-Mission Community College
Board of Trustees with the message: “Come back to the bargaining
table!”
Yes on Prop 58: Return language instruction that helps students succeed
Reverse Proposition 227 after 18 years of bad policy
In 1998, Proposition 227 essentially ended bilingual instruction in California schools. It forced English learners into one year of “sheltered English immersion,” hindering their ability to learn academic English and achieve at grade level. Many continued in those classes or were then placed in regular classrooms to sink or swim. The CFT strongly opposed Proposition 227.
Family engagement coordinators perform vital outreach
New classified positions flourish under Local Control Accountability Plans
The first time most parents or guardians of a Berkeley student meet Jocelyn Foreman is soon after bad news has knocked on their door. Be it a death in the family, an eviction notice, a pink slip, or any crisis that throws a household into chaos, Foreman is there to help.
Choose the best candidates
Hillary Clinton for U.S. President
The AFT and the CFT have endorsed Hillary Clinton for President of the United States in 2016. In vision, experience and leadership, she is the candidate working people need in the White House.
The first 100 years of the AFT
From eight local unions to 3,000 locals and 1.6 million members
World War I and the Depression: The American Federation of Teachers was founded in Chicago, with eight locals signing on as AFL President Samuel Gompers welcomed the union into its fold in 1916. The union operated from one room of AFT Financial Secretary Freeland Stecker’s five-room bungalow in Chicago. President Charles Stillman lived next door.
Women leaders bring powerful traits to union work
How the female perspective helps new local presidents succeed
Five women spoke to California Teacher about their first months as new presidents of AFT local unions. These leaders relate how their perspective as women shapes their approach to the challenges unions face.
Honoring “letter carrier who sings” turned teacher
Old school troubadour and modern Joe Hill among top labor artists and activists
Jimmy Kelly comes from a union family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where his grandfather, father and two brothers were all union members. “I grew up in a different era, in a town that traced the origin of its labor movement to the great strikes in the steel mills,” he recalls. “We learned labor terms in fourth grade.”
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.
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.
Rank & Files, Apr-May 2016
Jennifer Foreman, an English teacher at North Monterey High School in Castroville, and member of the North Monterey County Federation of Teachers, Local 4008, was named a Unionist of the Year at the annual Monterey Bay Central Labor Council awards banquet in late April.
San Francisco City College faculty calls one-day strike
April 27 action protests college administration stonewalling
Rain, wind, and a four-hour round trip from her home could not keep English teacher Jessica Nelson away from City College of San Francisco to join a one-day strike on April 27, the first strike in the school’s history.
“I wanted to support my fellow faculty,” she said. “There’s a lack of respect for faculty here. That’s what led to this strike and all the time, energy and effort the union has put into it.”
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.
Enrollment in California’s teacher preparation programs has dropped by 76 percent over the last decade, far below what is needed to fill vacancies, according to Linda Darling-Hammond, faculty director at the Stanford Center for Opportunity Policy in Education.
Victory! Courts reject conservative anti-union lawsuits
Attacks on educator rights and union fair share halted…for now
On April 14, the California Court of Appeals unanimously
overturned the lower court’s decision in the Vergara v.
California case. The suit sought to dismantle seniority and due
process rights for teachers in the name of students’ equal access
to education. The appellate court wisely ruled that there is no
constitutional link between tenure and student performance.
Right for the job: When paras and classified become teachers
CFT sponsors bill to assist support staff transition to certificated status
When Shannon Ferguson was a 20-something, she didn’t really focus on her community college studies, and after a few semesters her father suggested she look for a job with good benefits.
“He said that soon his benefits wouldn’t cover me anymore,” Ferguson recalled. “Dad was a teacher and mom was a paraeducator, so I naturally thought of applying with the Oxnard high school district.”
CFT-sponsored bills advance in the State Capitol
Many bills that bring significant benefits or workplace improvements to teachers and classified employees are now wending their way through the state Legislature. Among them are these three union-sponsored bills CFT continues lobbying to pass.
Election 2016: Americans have shown they that are ready for populist change
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
There is a lot at stake in this coming November election. Not only will we elect a president and therefore shape the Supreme Court for years to come, but we also have a key U.S. senate race, a vital state ballot measure to extend Proposition 30, and important state and local legislative races.
Librarians negotiate professional development and salary
Entry-level pay lower than at CSU and the community colleges
The University Council-AFT is negotiating with UC over two key articles of its contract covering librarians — salaries and professional development funds — says Axel Borg, distinguished wine and food science bibliographer at UC Davis. He sums up the common concerns between the union and the university as competitiveness, compression, and consistency.
Primary Election 2016: CFT endorses proven leader Kamala Harris for Senate seat
California’s Attorney General brings educator values to a crowded field
With the retirement of Sen. Barbara Boxer after 24 years as a progressive champion, Californians are heading to the polls to fill the first open U.S. Senate seat in decades.
And the ballot is crowded: 34 candidates have filed to replace Boxer, although the clear front-runner is Democrat Kamala Harris.
Local Wire, Apr-May 2016
Community walks in for public education
Reclaiming schools…. On May 4, teachers, support staff, parents, students, elected officials and others participated in a series of walk-ins and other events in support of public education. Spurred on by the Alliance to Reclaim Our Schools, which held walk-ins across the country, CFT members in schools from districts in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Daly City and Morgan Hill, as well as Cerritos College, turned out to show support for the high-quality public schools that all our students deserve.
Educators work to preserve education funding, extend Prop. 30
CFT members collect signatures to place vital measure on November ballot]
Passing Proposition 30, officially known as the Schools and Local Public Safety Protection Act of 2012, turned years of cuts into a period of growth, CFT President Josh Pechthalt said at the CFT Convention. Not extending the law would be a huge setback for the state.
Accreditation reform: Final blows to the ACCJC
College presidents support move to new accreditor: On March 17, community college presidents from across the state struck a decisive blow with a more than 90 percent vote to reform the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and prepare to move to another accreditor. This vote of the presidents confirmed the consensus that the ACCJC is no longer widely accepted in its community, and does not meet the needs of California public higher education.
Restorative justice seeks to end the school-to-prison pipeline
How educators can help transform classrooms and school climates
If an African American male student is suspended, there’s a 90 percent chance he’ll end up in prison some time in his life. In 2013-14, there were half a million suspensions in California schools, many those of black and brown children. These statistics make equity in education one of the great civil rights struggles of our time, said Ali Cooper, the executive director of the Restorative Schools Vision Project.
Randi Weingarten: You bend the arc toward justice every day
You have created a mighty, mighty union with mighty, mighty values,” AFT President Randi Weingarten told attendees of the CFT Convention. “You bend the arc towards justice every day. Now we have a fight like never before, a fight to the finish, and we must win.”
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.