Newsroom
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.
Prop 55 campaign gathers momentum with local events
In Orange County today, Andrew Tonkovich was dressed up as Uncle Sam, complete with pasted-on white beard. He clutched a thick sheaf of Prop 55 flyers in his hand, just a few steps away from a table with more literature, buttons, posters, voter registration forms, and an urn of free coffee, which he explained was to “stimulate” conversation about Prop 55.
Freeway Flyers: Local action & quick news
New study explores sociology adjunct working conditions
As the only part-time faculty member of an American Sociological Association taskforce assembled to investigate the teaching of sociology within community colleges, Peralta Federation of Teachers member and Laney College instructor Cynthia Mahabir co-authored a scholarly study of data collected from part-time sociology instructors in the nation’s community colleges.
Falling enrollment, cancelled classes, and part-time faculty
FIRST PERSON | Renee Fraser
Many of us have been teaching in community college for 20 years or more, and we remember the days when the mission was education, not production. Classes might have 25 or 30 students, so we could have seminar-style discussions and individual project presentations, and even memorize the names of our students. We might assign lengthy papers and essays, and we had time to read each one, make comments, and allow students to rewrite them.
Campus Equity Week can build adjunct-student solidarity
October 24-28 is Campus Equity Week
Most part-time instructors are aware of how damaging adjunct working conditions can be to our lives economically, physically, emotionally, and psychologically. You may also be aware of how these working conditions can hurt students, the institutions, and tenure-track, full-time employees as well.
But how aware are students?
Historic victory: New law brings reemployment rights for part-time faculty
Governor signs CFT-sponsored bills calling for districts to negotiate with unions
Community college districts will 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.
CDE releases request for proposals for credentialing program
Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing Program
Updated October 11, 2016
The annual budget passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor includes an appropriation of $20 million over five years to fund a CFT co-sponsored piece of legislation known as the California Classified School Employee Teacher Credentialing 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.
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.
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.
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.