Key checkpoints for physical reopening in the time of the coronavirus

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, schools and colleges across California were shuttered to prevent further spread of the coronavirus. Staff remaining on campus performed the challenging duties of distance learning support, meal preparation and pick-up, and deep cleaning to maintain educational services during shelter-in-place orders, as well as prepare for eventual physical reopening. In the union’s document, Checklist for Safely Reopening Schools & Colleges,the CFT does not encourage the physical reopening of school sites until it is safe to do so. 

At a minimum, the CFT recommends coordination with state and local public health guidelines on every checklist item in this document to help prevent further spread of the coronavirus. This document identifies the growing number of issues that should be addressed prior to the physical reopening of a school district through a Memorandum of Understanding, or MOU, between the local union and the district. As such, this is a working document that may evolve with changing science and health guidelines from public health and safety agencies.

This helpful checklist list was compiled through a collaborative process between the educational divisions of the CFT, the CFT standing committees, and the California Department of Education Taskforce on School Reopening. The CFT urges AFT local unions to tailor this checklist to local conditions to best assist in ensuring a safe working environment for educators and students now and in the near future. The checklist covers three key areas: General Conditions, Infection Prevention and Labor Relations.

On July 1,  California Secretary of State Alex Padilla announced the 12 measures that have qualified for the November election, along with their ballot numbers. Schools and Communities First, the CFT’s top statewide priority in November, will appear as Proposition 15.  CFT will be urging its members to vote “Yes on 15!” to close corporate property tax loopholes and raise up to $12 billion a year in revenue for schools and local communities.

While this measure has long been a priority for CFT members so that we can move California from the bottom of per pupil education spending in this country to the top, it will be even more critical as our schools and the communities they serve begin to deal with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.  

Proposition 15 qualified in April 2020 with a record number of 1.7 million signatures, more than any measure has ever gathered. Grassroots support has steadily been building for this measure, and it has earned the endorsement of prominent Californians, like State Superintendent of Instruction Tony Thurmond and big city mayors like Libby Schaff in Oakland, Eric Garcetti in Los Angeles, and MIchael Tubbs in Stockton. Vice President Joe Biden also registered his support early on for Schools & Communities First.

As the union’s political efforts get underway this fall, members can expect to hear more about why this measure is so critical to our work as educators and classified employees. There will be many opportunities to get involved and ways to help spread the word about why this revenue measure will be so critical to the long-term health of communities across the state of California.  Let’s all work together to make sure this measure passes in November: Yes on Prop 15!

Source: https://www.cft.org/article/schools-communities-first-gets-its-ballot-number