Read CFT President Jeff Freitas’s op ed on the dangers of school waivers
CFT President Jeff Freitas has penned an op ed in CalMatters this week in a piece titled “California’s school waivers place the safety of students, teachers, families at risk.”
Freitas notes that COVID-19 infections in the state are approaching the half million mark, which is almost 100 times higher than it was in March, when schools first closed to in-person learning. He argues that discussions about the re-opening of our schools this fall must place sound science and the health and safety of our school communities at the forefront.
A key concern is that the process for re-opening remains confusing and elementary schools can apply for “waivers” that seem to have very little, if any, criteria attached. Freitas says, “As a math teacher, I always demanded that students ‘show their work.’ With the lives of students, educators and families at risk, we must hold the governor and our state lawmakers to that same standard. Scientific evidence on how kids spread COVID-19 is preliminary at best and inconclusive at worst, making any waiver that does not adhere to strict scientific protocols positively reckless.”
Last week, the AFT announced that it will support educators who make the choice to strike for safer schools. While CFT hopes it won’t come to that in California, the leadership of CFT is prepared to do what it must to protect our members, their students, and their school communities. As Freitas concludes in his op ed, “make no mistake, everyone wants to return to in-person instruction. But until it is safe to do so, educators with the California Federation of Teachers will continue to provide the best distance learning possible and provide the support every student needs to succeed now and throughout their academic life.”
AFT delegates endorse former VP Joe Biden for President
On Wednesday, delegates to the AFT Convention voted overwhelmingly in favor of endorsing former Vice President Joe Biden for President.
The resolution lays out the reasons why AFT members must unite behind Biden this November, stating “Biden has spent his career championing the values of strong public schools and higher education; understanding that healthcare and college are rights, not privileges; and that a strong labor and civil rights movement are essential.”
The Biden resolution passed by AFT Convention delegates is the result of the most extensive presidential endorsement process in the AFT’s history. For much of 2019 and into early 2020, more than 300,000 members participated in town hall meetings with the candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination, giving each an opportunity to lay out their vision for public education, among other topics, if elected. In March, the AFT Executive Council voted to endorse Biden. The resolution passed at the AFT Convention puts the full membership behind his effort to defeat Trump.
Key resolutions pass at the AFT Convention
A major role of the AFT Convention, our union’s highest decision-making body, is to pass resolutions that will guide the work and focus of the AFT for years to come.
At this Convention, one highlight was the delegates’ passage of a resolution “In Support of the Green New Deal.” Jim Miller, a member of AFT 1931 in San Diego, chairs CFT’s Labor and Climate Justice Education Committee, which passed a Green New Deal resolution several years ago, making CFT the first statewide labor organization to pass such a resolution. For that reason, Jim was the obvious choice to speak in support of the resolution on behalf of CFT on the AFT Convention floor and he stated that “this national resolution that will greatly aid us in our efforts to work with environmental allies to forge a sustainable future for our students and the communities we serve.”
Another resolution passed at AFT Convention is one that takes up the work of “Reimagining Our Society and Rewriting the Rules to Enable Opportunity and Justice for All.” This resolution began within CFT as another project of our Labor and Climate Justice Education Committee. Chair Jim Miller explains how it moved from a state idea to a national priority: “Our statement called for universal health care, robust worker protections and rights, addressing systemic racism, sexism, and homophobia, affordable housing, mending the safety net, ending privatization, and investing in a robust Green New Deal paid for by a range of progressive taxes on the rich and corporations.” Miller continues, “we are very pleased to see our national union take our input and put forth a visionary program for a robust social justice unionism.”
CFT members also had a hand in creating and passing the resolution, “Encourage Contingent Faculty Participation in Shared Governance.” This resolution focuses on the fight for contingent faculty to have a voice in the governance of our higher education institutions, which is one of the ways to reverse the ever growing inequality between workers in our nation's higher education institutions. It was authored by CFT members Geoffrey Johnson and Linda Chan, with much input from UC-AFT, as they have been demanding for academic freedom and faculty voices to be heard in their ongoing contract campaign. The passage of this resolution was a success for all contingent faculty as well as CFT as a whole.
Other resolutions passed by the AFT Convention delegates include expanding support within the AFT for early-career and young worker members; reaffirming the AFT’s ongoing commitment to combat sexual harassment, discrimination and violence in the workplace; and endorsing public spending to support the economy and rebuild crumbling infrastructure across the nation.
Monica Casey from AFT 1481 joins today’s Facebook Live broadcast
On today’s CFT Facebook Live broadcast at 3:00pm, CFT President Jeff Freitas will be joined by Monica Casey, President of the Jefferson Federation of Teachers, AFT 1481. Monica's local represents both certificated and classified school employees in the Jefferson Union High School district, which serves students in Daly City, Pacifica, Brisbane, and Colma.
Monica will speak about the hard work her local is engaged in as they prepare for the new school year in a way that ensures the health and safety of all members of AFT 1481, and she will talk about how her local is working to prepare for distance learning this fall.
To tune in, please head to the CFT Facebook page at 3:00pm today!
