ArtCenter faculty win union vote to join CFT!
Congratulations to the faculty of the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, who voted to become members of CFT in a union election certified this week. The nearly 700 part-time and full-time faculty at the college now comprise CFT’s newest local union and are part of a surge of organizing victories among private sector universities.
The ArtCenter faculty voted to form a union with CFT with 60% of those participating in the mail election voting in favor of the union. The National Labor Relations Board counted union recognition ballots June 21 in Los Angeles.
Faculty at the college are proud of their union victory and excited about this opportunity to improve the college for faculty and students alike.
“We are thrilled that both full-time and part- time faculty joined together to create a unified voice,” said Cole Case, a part-time faculty member in the Integrated Studies department. “This will make the ArtCenter we love an even stronger home for our students and faculty.”
CFT President Jeff Freitas congratulated the faculty on their hard-won union victory.
“We are elated to welcome the ArtCenter faculty into the CFT family and are eager to support them as they begin the process of negotiating their first contract,” said Freitas, who also noted that ArtCenter net assets are up 63% since 2014-15. “We look forward to helping faculty obtain the professional wages and benefits they need and deserve to do their important work.”
For more on this incredible victory, check out this write up on the CFT website. And make sure to congratulate these courageous workers on their instagram page.
CFT president Jeff Freitas gives a call to action on gun reform
In his latest UP Front column, CFT President Jeff Freitas gives a call to action on gun reform. “We must work together to build a society that places the safety of school children above an unfettered access to deadly weapons. We must demand sensible gun laws that protect our original constitutional rights and concurrently protect our students and communities,” writes Jeff. “We must take a hard look at what is killing our kids, have the strength to admit that we may have been wrong about some things, and have the courage to really fix things."
Read the full column here.
Supreme Court erodes separation of church and state in Carson v. Makin decision
In a decision that will have wide-reaching implications for our public schools, the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled in Carson v. Makin that the state of Maine must allow tuition given by the state to go to religious schools as well as nonsectarian private schools. The ruling was the latest by the court in recent years that have eroded the constitutional separation of church and state.
In a statement released following the ruling, AFT president Randi Weingarten slammed the decision as bad for our schools, bad for our most vulnerable students, and bad for religious institutions themselves.
“Now more than ever, we must prioritize our public schools, not marginalize them; we must invest in them, not divert money away to private programs,” said Randi in the statement. “The power and purpose of public schooling is to educate every child, regardless of geography or demography. This decision fails that basic test.”
Celebrating 50 years of Title IX
Thursday was the 50th anniversary of Title IX. This landmark legislation transformed America, changing the lives of countless women and girls, with these 37 words: “No person in the U.S. shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
As a result of Title IX, girls’ participation in high school sports has increased more than 1000% since it was signed into law in 1972 – increasing from 300,000 to well over 3 million today.
But we know there is still much more work to be done. So on this milestone anniversary for Title IX, we not only celebrate the progress we’ve made, but also commit ourselves to strengthening the law for all girls and women, especially women of color, disabled, and LGBTQ+ youth who have been left behind by the law.