May 2020 Advocate: How to safely re-open schools & communities

IMPACTS OF COVID-19

AFT is making recommendations for how to safely re-open schools & communities: Faculty input needed

The AFT has published a set of recommendations on how to move forward to safely re-open our schools and communities. Following up on the AFT statement, the California Federation of Teachers (CFT) has asked its local unions for feedback on this proposal. The CFT Higher Education Committee would like to hear from higher ed. faculty. Members who have thoughts or suggestions regarding the following questions, should email AFT 1493 negotiating team member Monica Malamud at malamud@aft1493.org. Monica is also Co-Chair of the CFT Higher Education Committee.

• What should the best practices be for distance learning?
• Are there any specific platforms, professional development training, methods or practices that should be recommended?
• How should we approach the start of school in the Fall if we are still using any combination of distance learning, social distancing, and/or cohort rotation?
• Does addressing these require changes to our collective bargaining agreements, and what changes would be recommended?
• Is there a differential impact on full-time, part-time, and classified employees?

Answers to these questions are also likely to be considered as AFT 1493’s negotiating team discusses the possibility of a second MOU (memorandum of understanding) with the District regarding the impact of COVID 19 going into the Fall 2020 semester.