Attorney General Rob Bonta sues Trump admin for illegally freezing school funds
Earlier this week California Attorney General Rob Bonta, with a coalition of 22 other attorneys general, sued the Trump Administration over its unconstitutional, unlawful, and arbitrary decision to freeze funding for six longstanding programs administered by the U.S. Department of Education just weeks before the school year is set to begin.
In California, an estimated $939 million in federal education funding was initially frozen, jeopardizing key programs for after school and summer learning, teacher preparation, and to support students learning English. LAUSD alone is facing a loss of over $100 million.
When the Trump administration made its initial announcement we released a statement slamming the illegal move, and CFT President Jeff Freitas joined State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond at a press conference demanding the federal government reverse course.
With pressure rising across the country, just today the Trump administration announced it was unfreezing some of the funds for before- and after-school programs. Let’s keep up the pressure!
AB 84 update: Charter reform bill clears key Senate committee
This week AB 84, a key charter school reform bill sponsored by CFT, cleared the Senate Education Committee, despite fierce opposition from the corporate charter school movement. The bill, authored by Assemblymember Al Muratsuchi, would implement the core recommendations from a report last year issued by the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office and FCMAT that highlighted problems with non-classroom based charter schools.
The LAO/FCMAT report was released following a series of charter school scandals, including a San Diego-based charter school called A3 that defrauded the state of $400 million by falsifying records to artificially boost the number of students enrolled, and another recent $180 million scandal in Sacramento
If you haven’t already, please take a moment to sign the CFT letter urging our state legislators to support the bill, which now moves to the California Senate Appropriations Committee.
UC-AFT demands regents reverse course on cuts
At the UC Regents meeting earlier this week, members of UC-AFT joined fellow unions to demand the immediate repeal of severe cuts being made across the UC system. UC-AFT rallied and testified at the regents meeting in response to the layoffs, reductions in time, and non-reappointments that will impact at least 180 UC employees.
According to UC-AFT President, and CFT Universities Council President, Katie Rodger, UC-AFT is demanding action from the regents because campus administrators are making unnecessary cuts that will not only harm UC-AFT members, but undergraduate instruction, and will undermine future goodwill from the Governor and state legislature.
August 7 – LGTBQ+ rights virtual workshop
All CFT members are welcome to attend our virtual training on LGTBQ+ rights set for Thursday, August 7 from 4:00–5:30 p.m. Presented by trainers from Equality California, this workshop will provide an overview of existing California policies protecting LGBTQ+ students, educators, and school workers, as well as current proposed legislation in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. The workshop will also include a collaborative working session to generate strategies for supporting LGBTQ+ students in the classroom and on campus. Open to all CFT members. Register here.
Good Trouble day of action
A shout out to the members of the Salinas Valley Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1020, (pictured above) and all those across the state who took part in the July 17 Good Trouble day of action.
