Resolutions and Policy

Whereas, the community colleges regularly hire temporary part-time educators to fulfill teaching and counseling needs; and

Whereas, temporary part-time educators are required to hold the same academic qualifications and credentials as their full-time colleagues; and

Whereas, in the event of an emergency or lockdown, educators become disaster service workers (California Education Code, Sections 3100-3109) and are expected to serve the institution and students; and

Whereas, the CFT recognizes that student testing, when not misused, is one tool that informs teaching; and

Whereas, the purpose of education is to educate a populace of critical thinkers who can shape a just and equitable society in order to lead good and purpose-filled lives, not solely teaching to a standardized test; and

Whereas, all students should have access to full, rich learning experiences that prepare them for life, citizenship, career and college, and for the resources to make that vision a reality; and

Whereas, the proliferation of charter schools has caused many public and charter schools to be under-enrolled; and

Whereas, many neighborhoods are saturated with schools; and

Whereas, traffic and safety concerns are often ignored when new charter schools are built; and

Whereas, renters and homeowners are being pushed out of neighborhoods they’ve lived in for decades through gentrification; and

Whereas, the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has determined humanity has 12 years to act to avert the worst effects of a climate catastrophe; and

Whereas, climate change poses an immediate and long-term threat to all working people, our communities and our economic security; and

Whereas, workers, communities of color and low-income people suffer disproportionately from environmental degradation and climate change; and

Whereas, the U.S. Department of Justice has adopted a “Zero Tolerance” policy toward individuals apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border, which calls for the criminal prosecution of all migrants entering the U.S. outside of ports of entry; and

Whereas, this “prosecution-first” mentality is costly, unnecessarily punitive, and is harming family units; and

Whereas, for decades, Central American migrants have been forced to leave their countries of origin, refugees of wars, natural disasters, extreme poverty, lack of jobs and opportunities, and rampant gang violence. These conditions have become even more acute over the past few years, and have been fostered by a history of extremist and repressive right-wing militarist regimes supported or managed by the U.S. government; and

Whereas retired member activists have had their talents enriched by decades of effective dedicated service and productive labor activism; and

Whereas retired members are often a more readily available, invaluable resource to locals for their institutional memory, their understanding of issues affecting the working conditions of bargaining unit members, their organizational experience and expertise, and their dedication to the interests of working people; and

Whereas, the CFT Convention in 2016 passed Resolution 30 “Promote and support Classified School Employee Week” which stated, “that the CFT create a task force to look into a name change for the California Federation of Teachers”; and

Whereas, several meetings were held with members from the various constituency groups to discuss all of the possibilities of a name change; and

Whereas, because of our name, the CFT is known as a teachers’ union; and

Whereas, the leading scientific bodies both nationally and internationally agree that the earth’s climate is changing and that humanity’s release of heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere is the greatest contributor to that change; and

Whereas, the effects of climate change are already being experienced throughout the world, and noticeably in California, with an increase in average temperatures, wildfires, and sea levels, stressing water supplies and local ecosystems; and