Newsroom
Governor signs COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave
Most California workers can get two weeks of paid sick leave if they get COVID
On March 19, 2021, Governor Newsom extended COVID-19 Supplemental Paid Sick Leave to provide California employees with two weeks of paid sick leave when they cannot work for reasons related to COVID-19. To qualify, you must work for an employer with 25 or more employees. This legislation applies to both public and private sector workers.
- SB 95 takes effect on March 29, 2021, and will be retroactive to January 1, 2021.
- It expires on September 30, 2021.
CFT analyzes governor’s proposed education budget for 2021-22
Research Brief
Governor Newsom introduced his proposed $227 billion budget for 2021-22 on January 8. The proposed budget is starkly different from what lawmakers anticipated when they finalized the 2020-21 budget, largely because of much larger than expected tax receipts.
CFT sponsors California tax on extreme wealth
Why tax extreme wealth?
Since the beginning of the pandemic last March, while our families and our communities have suffered gut-wrenching pain and loss, billionaires in our state alone have increased their wealth by over half a trillion dollars.
And their numbers and their extreme wealth just keep on growing. In March 2020, just as COVID began, there were 154 billionaires in California – with a total wealth of $688.3 billion. In January 2021, there were 169 billionaires in California – with a total wealth of more than $1.2 trillion.
CFT joins campaign to forge a New Deal for Higher Education
With the new Biden administration and Congress come new opportunities to ensure significant, sustainable public investment in higher education.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the long-standing crisis in public higher education. Declining state support, the erosion of tenure and shared governance, the increased use of contingent appointments, and the loss of the faculty voice on campus are threatening the core mission of higher education in our society. Now is the time to stand up for a just, inclusive system of higher education — one that can help transform our society.
California education unions release school reopening plan
CLASSES — A Pathway to Bringing Students Back to Schools
California teachers and classified employees want nothing more than to be back in our physical classrooms and school sites and know first-hand there is no equal substitute to regular, in-person learning.
California’s schools are the heart of their communities. For many of our most vulnerable and underserved populations, they are lifelines. The educational, social and emotional needs of California’s students, particularly those who often lack the technological and additional education support to sustain distance learning, are of paramount concern.
Governor releases new “Safe Schools for All Plan”
Consolidated website for K-12 schools, proposed guidance for in-person instruction
On January 14, the California Department of Public Health released several important resources related to the state’s K-12 schools and COVID-19. Our summary below is meant to guide members and local unions through the new materials, especially the changes and most critical elements. The governor and the CDPH are still developing additional resources, so watch for updates about the plan in the coming weeks.
Read the CFT press release here.
The key changes announced on January 14 include:
- A new website, the Safe Schools for All Hub, with all key information regarding K-12 education during the pandemic
- An updated public health guidance document that consolidates and supersedes most previous state guidance documents.
- A new checklist that all schools must follow, publicize, and submit to the county and state if a school is in a Purple Tier county.
Governor proposes record education funding in state budget
To cap a tumultuous week, today Governor Newsom announced his state budget proposal for the coming year. Despite a struggling economy, and high unemployment, the top line budget numbers are hopeful for public education: a record $85.8 billion for K-14 schools, along with additional funding for teacher recruitment and training, and special education, among other programs. Additionally, the governor estimates that there will be an additional $6.7 billion from the federal government for K-12 as part of the most recent stimulus package.
Another round of federal stimulus signed into law
$900 billion COVID relief package extends unemployment benefits
On December 21, Congress passed a long-anticipated additional round of COVID relief legislation as part of the Bipartisan-Bicameral Omnibus COVID Relief Deal. The legislative package — the result of last-minute frantic negotiations — provides more much-needed relief to individuals, education, hospitals and businesses in response to the economic distress caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
CFT website, UTLA strike series capture triple first place honors
Union wins nine first place awards for communications
The CFT won nine First Place awards in the International Labor Media Communications contest for work published in 2019, in a competition delayed by a few months because of the pandemic.
2019 was a busy year for the CFT and for union communications. In the first three months alone, the union experienced the UTLA strike, the launch of the new CFT website, and CFT’s 100th Anniversary 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.