Just Between Us by Stacie Thurman, OEA President

Oxnard Educators Association Newsletter Amanda Wilson, Vice President, Editor-in-Chief Vol. 11 Issue 3 Jan./Feb. 2019

To Teachers By Teachers For Teachers B u i l d i n g C o n n e c t i o n s a n d C o m m u n i c a t i o n w i t h i n o u r A s s o c i a t i o n

leaving the state in droves. Teachers were barely making a living wage and often times working two and three jobs to supplement their teacher salaries. The problem had been obvious for years. But the strike pointed to a solution: Replace lawmakers who don’t prioritize education with those who will. In West Virginia, labor laws prevent teachers from legally striking as they are able to here in California. On February 22, 2018, teachers, parents, students, and community members came out state wide, shutting down schools in all fifty-five of West Virginia’s counties. Strike members wore red as a symbol of union solidarity and the fiscal crisis many states find themselves in when funding public education. While the wins were largely positive, the attention West Virginia drew moved west to states like Oklahoma, Kentucky, Arizona, Colorado and now California. The basic tenants of the RedForEd movement as outlined on the National Educators Association website are as follows, We are fighting for our students- Budget cuts and underfunding have made it harder for educators to prepare our students. That’s why we push public officials to make funding

Making a Difference

Judith Chavez, San Miguel

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OEA Scholarship Opportunity The Oxnard Educators Association will award four OEA Scholarships for Dependent Children for the 2019-2020 school year. $500 awards will be given to children of OEA members who will be entering college next fall. These scholarships recognize academic achievement and leadership as expressed through co-curricular activities, community involvement, work

experience, awards and honors. The applicant’s parent(s) or legal guardian must be an OEA member. All applicants must be high school graduates for the current year. The Scholarship Committee will use the following criteria for selection: Academic Achievement, Leadership, Essay, and Letter of Recommendation. Call the OEA office at 981-6424 or email oxnardea@gmail.com to request an application. The deadline for submitting an application is 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20, 2019 (postmarked date not accepted).

Judith Chavez joined our Oxnard Family, in 2011, when she accepted a contract as a Pre-School Special Education teacher for San Miguel. Judith grew up in Boyle Heights and attended Cal State L.A., where she obtained her General Education and Special Education credentials, along with a Master’s in Early Childhood Education. She began her teaching career as a Primary General Education teacher for LAUSD. Judith taught Gen.Ed. for four years at four different school sites while employed with LAUSD. She noticed an increase in the number of students with special needs in her classroom, which inspired her to take additional classes to better meet the needs of her students. Before she knew it, she was only a few classes shy from obtaining a Special Ed. Credential. Encouraged by her Cal State L.A. counselor, she took the additional classes and earned her SpEd. Credential. Judith has always loved learning new things. She began to tutor kids in her community when she was only sixteen years old. She continued to tutor while she was in college and ultimately fell in love with preschool aged kids while working for a preschool during her undergraduate work.

When I originally sat down to write this article, thirty thousand educators in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) had gone on strike. What began as long and tedious negotiations (they had not settled in almost two years), had become a fight for the future of public education. Teachers, families, and community members stood in the pouring rain for six days straight with no pay, to prove that the future of education is all of us. Many of us watched the blogs, read the press releases, and followed the movement on social media. Some adopted schools, while others joined the march. We wore red. We pledged support. The nation watched. As our colleagues in the Oakland Educators Association (OEA) prepare to carry this fight north, and West Virginia goes back on strike, what does this mean for all of us? What really is RedForEd? Where did it come from? Wear Red For Public Education (#RedForEd) was born out of a grassroots movement in the red state of West Virginia in the Spring of 2018. Historically known for strong labor movements in the railroad, timber and coal industries, the West Virginia teachers strike was decades in the making. Legislative tax cuts led to funding cuts, and great teachers were

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Why Are We Wearing Red?

RED FOR ED!

United we stand with our fellow educators!

“Working at San Miguel doesn’t feel like work,” Judith exclaimed. She teaches two SDC preschool classes daily with students ranging from 3-5 years. As the number of preschool kids with special needs increases, so has the staff at San Miguel. Judith shared her excitement over the increase in staff because San Miguel has felt like its own little island in our huge district. That is also the reason she enjoys being a part of the union and attending Rep Council meetings because she is able to get to know people from other school sites. When I asked her what her favorite quote was she shared that quotes resonate with her at different moments of her life, teaching career, and classroom. Currently her favorite quote is by Rita Pierson, "Every child deserves a champion: An adult that will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection and insists they become the best they can possibly be." Judith stated, “This quote resonates with me because as I child I was always surrounded by supportive, caring teachers. To this day I still maintain contact with my preschool teacher, Letty, and remember every teacher I have had since preschool. I was lucky to have amazing teachers who inspired me to be the best I could be and I feel that is what inspired me to go into the teaching field.” Judith has a great grasp of a work-life balance. Her energy and passion for her job and family share the same amount of enthusiasm! Throughout the interview I found myself thinking, “Wow! I wish she was my teacher or mom!” Judith spends a lot of time with her husband and three-year old boy outdoors, taking in nature, through hikes, bike rides, and walks. Her son shares her love for the water. She hopes her son will share her and her husband’s appreciation for taking road trips! Judith starts each day grateful for the life that she lives with her adoring family and understands that these moments will not last forever.

Making a Difference

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Wellness Health Strategy: Think about the last 24 hours and list 3-5 things you are grateful for, curious about, surprised by, or something new you learned? The magic happens within the next 24 hours because you will find yourself focusing on the wonderful things around you! Financial: It is your fiscal responsibility to check your paycheck and know your disability benefits. Always check with the benefits department at D.O. For retirement, CTA now offers a 403B plan and will help prepare you for your future. For more information go to CTAinvest.org

Read Across America 2019 NEA’s Read Across America originated on March 2, 1998 to motivate and bring awareness to the power of reading across our nation. Celebrate this year on Friday, March 1

st! You

can find suggested books and resources on the NEA website. This 2018-2019 year, NEA has put together a calendar of suggested books and activities to celebrate the diverse backgrounds of our students every month. This can be found on www.readacrossamerica.org/. CTA also sponsors Read Across America and has worked with NEA to expand reading throughout the year with the “California Reads” program, cta.org/californiareads. In honor of Read Across America, OEA donates books to each school’s library every year. Please reach out to Stacie if you would like her to read to your classroom on Friday, March 1st! “Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.” –Frederick Douglass

State Council Report

“When we strike, we win!” There was a celebratory mood at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel, as 800 delegates gathered for State Council during the last weekend of January. UTLA had just victoriously ended their strike. The power of collective bargaining was made manifest. So much so, that another local charter school strike was settled that Saturday evening! But, just as the good news permeated the hall, some of the struggles our state continues to face were brought to light. Teachers and students from Paradise continue to face difficulty dealing with rebuilding due to last year’s devastating fire. Oakland teachers were getting ready to vote for whether or not to go on strike. Still, a sense of purpose and unity permeated the weekend. Delegates got straight to work on their respective committees. I counted at least eighteen various committees. I was assigned to the Student Support Services Committee. Here, we looked into forthcoming education legislation issues particularly ones that dealt with mental health. Bills were read through and dissected word by word. Our job was to give them recommendations of support, oppose, watch, or no position. The weekend was capped off with encouraging words from our newly elected State Superintendent, Tony Thurmond. All in all, State Council offered me a deeper understanding of how our collective UNION POWER, through CTA, just, for lack of a better word, works.

choices that better impact school needs. Upholding our value- Students benefit from educators who know them by name, know their community, and have a say in policies that govern their schools. We must ensure that educators can afford to stay in the profession that they love. We are giving educators a voice-to advocate for better pay, benefits, and working conditions that have long been ignored. We deserve and have earned pay and benefits that match our expertise, education, and professional experience. As members, when we wear red, we are standing in solidarity not only with teachers on strike, but with those who want to make public education not just a local, but a national priority.

by Alejo Perez, Ritchen School Continued from page 1

Just Between Us

Jan. 31, 2019 Executive Board OEA Office, Oxnard

Feb. 15-18, 2019 Presidents’ Day Holidays Feb. 6 & 20, 2019 School Board Meeting OSD Board Room

Feb. 21, 2019 Rep Council CTA Office, Oxnard March 1, 2019 Read Across America March 1 – 3, 2019 Equity & Human Rights San Jose March 6 & 20, 2019 School Board Meeting OSD Board Room March 7, 2019 Executive Board OEA Office, Oxnard March 22-24, 2019 Good Teaching Conf. Garden Grove

Contact Us

Oxnard Educators Association 2775 N. Ventura Road, Ste. 108

(805) 981-6424 oxnardea@gmail.com

www.oxnardea.org

Calendar

Communications Committee Amanda Wilson...Writer, Editor-in-Chief Stacie Thurman...Writer, Co-Editor

On December 7-9th, I was one of 381 educators attending the 2018 CTA GLBT Issues Conference held in Palm Springs, California. Many topics dealing with GLBT students were presented. Among those topics: “Creating Safe Spaces,” “If You Are LGBTQA+…, You Are a Superhero,” and “A Guide to Supporting LGBTQA+ Students” were the ones I found most interesting and relevant to our school population. “Creating Safe Spaces” dealt with our ability, as educators, of creating a place in which students would feel safe to be who they are, a place where students would be willing to take risks, and participate without fear. Creating trusting relationships between educators and students encourage students’ engagement in learning without worries. The presenters showed us different activities that students could practice in class to make them feel comfortable around people, especially in new settings. When teachers create safe spaces where religion, race, social class, and sexual orientation do not matter, students’ comfort level is most likely to increase. “If You Are LGBTQA+… You Are a Superhero,” was about the roles of teachers and students in the classroom. A superhero does not always wear a cape; a superhero is someone who makes sure everyone is treated with dignity and respect. We are all amazing in our own way and expecting certain behaviors according to the way we “look” causes trauma in our students.

Letting them be themselves increases self-esteem and creates a sense of community in which we all belong. Our

students are superheroes themselves. We do not know every child’s story, and just by being present every day, our kids show us that “superpower” they possess. When teachers try to impose norms onto students, they just hide who they are. Our students deserve respect and we should focus on the positive rather than the negative. We need to keep an open mind and make them feel welcome. “A Guide to Supporting LGBTQA+ Students” listed a series of laws that protect our students in a school setting. The number of students harassed due to their religion, ethnicity, and/or sexual orientation in schools gets worse every year. Our LGBTQA+ students are less likely to report such abuse. In many situations, students have a hard time differentiating someone just being mean from being a bully. Our LGBTQA+ students are more likely to get harassed and, as educators, we must know that there are certain laws that we must follow: AB 9 Seth’s Law, named after a 13- year- old student who committed suicide after being bullied in school, and the school’s failure to act on the parents’ complaints. Ed Code 220/ Penal Code Section 422.55 No person shall be subject to discrimination. SB 48 Fair Act 211, which prohibits discrimination in contents. Students have the right to know of contributions made by LGBTQ historical figures.

CTA GLBT Issues Conference by Juan Oy, McKinna School

New Educator’s Conference Gardy Borromeo (Driffill), Allison Martin (Ramona), Valeria Valencia (Haydock), & Tracy Takahashi (Haydock)

This was our very first teacher conference where we represented OSD, and we had so much fun representing our family! In this event, we each attended different seminars that have enriched our knowledge in the profession. The seminars gave us valuable information related to various topics such as the utilization of Smarter Balanced, unionism/teacher rights, Universal Design Learning (UDL), and promoting college and career readiness in our classrooms. Most importantly, we met a great number of teachers from all over California. We were able to share and learn from each other’s experiences with teachers from the Oregon-California border to the MexiCali communities. This gave us the opportunity to put Oxnard on the map!

Special Education: Rights and Responsibilities Workshop

CTA is providing a workshop to all teachers covering Teacher Rights, IEPs, Discipline, Changes to Service Delivery, Ed Code and MTSS. The workshop will be held on Monday, March 11th at the CTA office from 4pm-6pm. RSVP by February 28, 2019 to: (805)922-5707, jbender@cta.org