Moving Forward from the Election – Training Opportunity

Click here for this week's update

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In This Issue:

1) November Executive Board Meeting

2) Benefits Update

And More!

"According to the District’s audited financial statements, six years ago, the District spent 51% of its budget on instruction and by 2018 instruction funding fell to 41% of the budget. Now, Seattle Central has announced that 75% of 2020–2021 anticipated cuts should come from instruction. If North and South take the same path, instruction could fall to barely a third of the District’s operating revenue."

https://southseattleemerald.com/2020/11/06/opinion-seattle-colleges-in-c...

Patience—counseled by former Vice President Joe Biden all election week as Americans waited for votes to be counted—finally paid off Nov. 7, four days after Election Day, when Biden won in Pennsylvania and gained enough Electoral College votes to acquire a new title: president-elect. AFT President Randi Weingarten says the union’s leaders and members “can’t wait to get started” on the work ahead “with an administration that will embrace and fight for the values we hold dear.”

AFT-Maryland Locals and Other Union Leaders Join for Solidarity Press Conference on Safe School Reopening.

Leaders from AFT-Maryland's Baltimore Teachers Union (BTU) Local 340 and City Union of Baltimore (CUB) Local 800 joined with leadership from AFSCME Local 558 in protesting the planned reopening of Baltimore City Public Schools. The leaders each expressed their concern for the safety and welfare of students, staff, and families should any city schools reopen on Monday as proposed.

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November 10, 2020

In response to the School District of Philadelphia’s announcement to remain virtual, PFT President Jerry Jordan issued the following statement: “The decision to remain fully virtual for the foreseeable future will save lives. The science of COVID-19, paired with the massive ventilation and other facilities issues throughout the District, makes it clear: returning to school buildings, in any capacity, is unsafe right now."

November 4, 2020

In advance of the Trump campaign’s planned press conference in Philadelphia, PFT President Jerry Jordan issued the following statement: “The current occupant of the White House has led by lies, bullying, fear, racism, and hate. His absurd post-election approach is unsurprising yet nevertheless chilling. The fact that his campaign feels the need to bring in its top officials, who like the president himself, have zero credibility, to have a temper tantrum in the cradle of liberty, is just too on the nose. It’s what we’ve seen over the past four years."

October 22, 2020

Following the fatal shooting of Walter Wallace, Jr. at the hands of Philadelphia Police, PFT President Jerry Jordan issued the following statement: “I am heartsick, weary, and enraged. Again and again, for far too many, being Black in America has deadly consequences. The video of Walter Wallace, Jr. being shot and killed by Philadelphia police, followed by the guttural screams of his mother running to his fallen body, is too much to bear."

October 22, 2020

Today, as the School Board meets, PFT President Jerry Jordan issued the following statement on the proposed PreK-2 reopening model: “Yesterday, the PFT announced a tentative agreement and outlined the terms of our one year contract extension. While negotiating a one year extension, we simultaneously negotiated a separate Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding health and safety protocol around school building reopening."

October 14, 2020

Today, following the District’s release of its proposed reopening plan, PFT President Jerry Jordan issued the following statement: “First and foremost, any reopening plan will be contingent upon health and safety. Period. Any efforts to reopen school buildings without meeting a stringent set of safety criteria will not pass muster, and will be unacceptable. That is why our Union has taken a leading role in developing, identifying, and proposing what criteria must be met in order to reopen buildings. We issued our recommendations in July and have been negotiating with the District regarding the health and safety protocol since then.