Newsroom
French language school staffs choose AFT as their union
Workers at three Bay Area private schools gain a stronger voice in the workplace
When math teacher Cheryl LaBrecque joined the staff of the French American International School in San Francisco in 1999, the preK-12 school was small and “things worked better.” Staff members “had a closer relationship with administration,” she says. Since then, it has become “more corporate, more top-down, more about money.”
Adult educators gain stronger voice for teachers in consortia
Expert panel ramps up educator involvement as two-year planning process nears end
Adult educators have demanded to be included in planning the future of adult education. Led by the CFT Adult Education Commission, members are taking action to make the process as outlined under Assembly Bill 86 more inclusive.
Earlier this year, adult educators stood in line to testify before a Joint Informational Hearing of the Assembly Higher Education and Senate Education Committees.
California districts roll out LCAPs to mixed reviews
Degree of teacher and classified input to local plans varies widely
Ray Gaer sees the Local Control Accountability Plan, or LCAP, as “a different forum for unions to talk about things that matter and an opportunity to build more cooperative relationships. The president of the ABC Federation of Teachers says, “We can talk about how programs are selected and developed and how money is spent before getting to the bargaining table.”
November 4 is our opportunity to elect an ally and defeat a self-appointed reformer
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
The CFT’s priorities in the November 4 General Election are straightforward: Reelect Tom Torlakson Superintendent of Public Instruction, elect Betty Yee for State Controller and pass Propositions 45 and 47.
In the remaining weeks before the election, we need all of our members to get involved with their local unions and their central labor councils. We have to approach this election as if the future of public education depends on it, because it does.
Rank & Files, Sep-Oct 2014
Adam Siegel, UC Davis librarian and grievance steward for Local 2023 was awarded a $12,500 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to translate a contemporary Russian work of fiction into English. Siegel, a translator of numerous languages, will use the grant to translate Vasilii Golovanov’s The Island: or, A Justification for Meaningless Travels.
CalSTRS contribution rates rise to rebuild pension fund
Union’s full court press succeeds
Three bills on fair accreditation signed into law
Community colleges Legislative action has demonstrated that Gov. Brown and the California Legislature believe that the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges was out of line.
Propositions 45 and 47 protect consumers and communities
Proposition 45 With increasing health insurance costs continuing to burden consumers, Prop. 45 is designed to reduce the pace of premium increases. The measure requires insurance companies to justify rate increases prior to passing additional costs on to consumers and gives the insurance commissioner the power to approve rate increases. A similar system of checks and balances in the auto insurance market has saved consumers billions of dollars.
Local Wire, Sep-Oct 2014
LOCAL 1603
Protecting the rehire pool…When administrators at
Oakland’s Laney College chose not to rehire part-time sociology
professor and Peralta Federation of Teachers Part-time Faculty
Representative Cynthia Mahabir, and two other members of the
Part-time Faculty Rehire Preference Pool, the faculty rallied
quickly.
About Proposition 2 and capping K-12 district reserves
Many members have inquired about the budget trailer bill that places a much-needed cap on K-12 district reserves and adds more transparency and public accountability measures for these districts.
Betty Yee: The qualified candidate for State Controller
A young Betty Yee worked in her immigrant parents’ laundry and
dry cleaning business, where she dealt with customers, and with
money.
After graduating from the University of California, Yee held jobs
in which she was responsible for analyzing and collecting
billions of dollars, including senior fiscal positions for the
state Legislature.
New organizing chief embraces democracy campaign
“You See (UC) Democracy?”aims for systemwide change and a fully enfranchised faculty
Chris Hables Gray is widely known in academic circles for his research on the U.S. military post-World War II. The UC Santa Cruz lecturer has also written extensively about how technology is transforming humans.
Legislature acts on EpiPens, teacher dismissal, drought, pesticide use on campus
FROM THE STATE CAPITOL
During the driest calendar year on record, Gov. Brown declared a statewide drought emergency, which spurred a concerted push for a new water bond.