November 2021
From the President
Greetings Friends,
Will student loan debt soon become a thing of the past? For the eight AFT members who joined Randi Weingarten in a lawsuit against Betsy DeVos and the DOE, their debt is a thing of the past! The settlement in the lawsuit included discharge of the plaintiff’s debt and a review of all applications for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program previously rejected. This is a huge victory with a significant impact on our members who are carrying student loan debt. (If that’s you, Summer may be able to help.)
At our workshop on student loan debt last week, we heard the stories of several of our members whose lives are constrained by debt. Anitra, a paraeducator, wants to continue her education and earn her B.A. but is daunted by the debt she holds from her A.A. degree. Discharge of that debt would be a big first step toward her goal. Paul is retired and prior to the workshop anticipated he’d pay off his debt at the age of 80…the PSLF rule changes suggest some of his debt will be discharged much sooner.
Discharging debt is one part of the solution to the financial crisis faced by 777,000 Washingtonians, but not all borrowers work in public service and so aren’t eligible for the PSLF program. We don’t want to maintain the national level of 43,000,000 people carrying $1.7 trillion in debt into the future: it’s damaging our economy, as well as harming borrowers and their families.
The defunding of higher education in recent decades has contributed to this harm and it’s time to change course.
Ending the need for student loans to further one’s education is the path we need to pursue. Post-high school education credentials are necessary to achieve economic security in today’s society, and a well-educated public contributes to a thriving democracy, but the cost of college is too damn high! Washington’s generous college grant program helps, but neither it nor the federal Pell grant covers the full cost of college, or apprenticeship, or technical college. While we want free college for all, until we get there our work to make college affordable is multi-pronged, because the problem is too. It includes:
- Passage of SB 5194 in coalition with Communities for Our Colleges coalition (C4C)
- A community outreach grant from AFT to increase access to underserved students in partnership with C4C
- Workshop on student loan debt followed by a debt clinic for borrowers, and plans to regularly offer the debt clinic
- Advocacy for higher education investments in Biden’s Build Back Better (BBB) plan
- 2022 legislation to increase knowledge of and access to PSLF
- 2022 legislative agenda to expand wrap-around services
- Likely support of legislation to establish a 1% student loan program and increase the Washington College Grant
These are goals we’ve achieved or have set, and they reflect the importance of electing leaders who will make investments in both Washingtonians and the social contract, at the state and the federal level. The changes to the PSLF are one of the most salient examples of this fact and the BBB plan, even in its disappointingly shrunken form, invests in the social contract in the form of universal preschool, affordable childcare, increased Pell grants, increased funding for HBCUs and Minority Serving Institutions, and other student supports. These supports allow students to achieve economic security, and that strengthens our communities. They wouldn’t have occurred if Biden had lost the election.
As we’ve said all along, elections matter and the AFT Washington Advocacy Team is gearing up for the 2022 election cycle. We are in a world of hurt nationally with redistricting plans that increase the number of solid Republican seats and ongoing voter suppression and misinformation campaigns. We can and have made valuable strides at the state level, however, and we will continue to support candidates who prioritize legislation that most favorably impacts our members – investments in education from early learning through higher education, fair and progressive tax laws, social justice, and worker’s rights.
Our COPE committee will begin crafting our endorsement questionnaire and implementing our endorsement process for 2022 after the first of the year. Do you want your local to have a voice in that process? If you have at least one member contributing to our COPE fund, you’re entitled to representation on the committee, so look to your membership and identify one or two members to join. Political organizer Anna-Marie Magdalena (amagdalena@aftwa.org) can talk to them about the work. This work happens behind the scenes, but it is critical to ensuring our members’ voices are a part of our endorsement process and conveying to candidates that they need to keep our members in mind as they make decisions about policy.
Being involved in the endorsement process is a way to continue the work you and your members do every day, whether that’s getting students to school or giving them nutritious lunches or engaging them in learning that allows them to thrive. It’s all about investment in people and ensuring we elect leaders who will invest in us.
As union leaders and educators, you have many challenges and demands, and those have been greater and more complex over the last year and a half. As we wrap up 2021 and move into 2022, I urge you to lighten your load by bringing more members into building the union’s power. The power of our movement lives within the people, and the power of the people lives within our relationships with one another.
In solidarity,
Karen Strickland, President
Local News & Highlights
Tell SBCTC: Now Is The Time For System-Wide Adjunct Equity - Public Comment on Dec. 1
By Enrie Marusya, Union Organizing Representative
Over 100 faculty, in locations from Port Angeles to Spokane, attended the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) meeting in October to deliver a petition signed by over 900 part- and full-time faculty. AFT Washington partnered with the Washington Education Association (WEA) to gather signatures, and each of the 34 Community and Technical Colleges were represented. We had a lively presentation featuring rank-and-file contingent faculty who shared their personal experiences of job insecurity exacerbated by COVID-19 and ctcLink; they highlighted their experiences of stress, overwork without additional pay, and financial disruption. The event marked a major step in our statewide Contingent Faculty Issues Committee’s (CFIC) Adjunct Equity Campaign.
Our remarks also gave an overview of the history of adjunct job precarity and pay inequity, and how AFT Washington and WEA affiliates have spearheaded efforts at the local and legislative levels, winning incremental progress. Working conditions for adjuncts in Washington are indeed slightly better than the national average, especially in terms of healthcare and the ratio of part-time to full-time faculty. But our message to SBCTC was clear: We are done with incremental progress. Now is the time for system-wide changes to these systemic problems, especially in the wake of the financial devastation of COVID and ctcLink.
How can this be accomplished? Our petition to SBCTC named three primary ways: Establishing a ratio of 75% FT/TT faculty as a goal for all colleges, as well as 85% pay parity per credit hour for adjuncts, and improving job security (and by extension health care access). It also implores SBCTC to advocate for funding for these issues at the state level. All these things are within SBCTC’s power to recommend to colleges, if not mandate.
What are the next steps? We need SBCTC to continue hearing our voices at their December 1 (exact time TBD, but around 4:30pm) meeting during public comment. We encourage contingent faculty to come prepared with two-minute remarks that answer the question, “How are you personally impacted by job insecurity and lack of pay equity in your workplace?” Please touch on the idea that now is the time for system-wide equity, not incrementalism. We especially seek comments that show how COVID and ctcLink have exacerbated longstanding issues. To take part, email cfic@aftwa.org.
Stand Up For Union Early Learning Jobs At Everett Community College
By Anna-Marie Magdalena, State Affiliate Political Organizer
The administration at Everett Community College is threatening the closure of the unionized early learning center and contracting out the jobs. This would convert the early learning center to a childcare center. Educators, workers, and the parents were not consulted in the process. The early learning center provides support for faculty, staff and students with young children, in addition to community members who rely on Early Childhood Education and Assistance Program (ECEAP) services. In addition, the Early Learning Center provide no cost services through the ECEAP to qualify family members. The same services may not be available if the program was converted.
We must stand together to demand respect and preservation of this Early Learning center that is improving families' lives in our community.
Please join us in taking action to protect the Everett Community College Early Learning Center by signing the petition.
One Week Left! Take A Survey On Institutional Equity and Accountability
By James To, Operations Manager
The Institutional Equity and Accountability Alliance (IEAA) is a new task force created by the AFT Washington with the goals of bringing together local leaders, community partners, and other allies in solidarity, and leveraging that power to combat issues of inequity at our workplaces, particularly in employer implementation of policies, practices, and contract language.
The IEAA is seeking feedback about how our members feel about the ways employers have been using and communicating about federal COVID-19 relief funds they have received. The IEAA intends to use the information collected from this short survey to guide its focus and priority for the coming months. We appreciate your participation and if you have questions about the IEAA or the survey, you can email IEAA@aftwa.org for more information.
We will close the survey on Wednesday, November 24th. Fill it out today!
AFT Creates Young Members Advisory Board
By AFT Washington staff
The Young Workers Movement resolution was passed at AFT’s 2020 convention, calling on AFT to acknowledge and act on the support of young people for the labor movement, the particular needs of young workers, and the strengths and perspective brought by young workers. As a result of the resolution, AFT is building a Young Members Advisory Board and we have the opportunity to nominate our members for appointment to the board. Additionally, the resolution calls on AFT to provide pathways into union leadership, amplify associate and student membership for students pursuing a career in education, public service or healthcare, and achieve demographic representation of the membership at our bi-annual convention.
This is a subject the leadership of AFT Washington has grappled with over the last several years, particularly in terms of the needs of parents. We want to engage all of our members, and young workers are an essential part of our membership. In addition to addressing workplace issues that have changed over time or risen with societal change, young workers also bring a valuable perspective on the interconnectivity of the quality of life on the job, in the community and in our global world. Generational change sometimes creates conflicts, but it has the potential to enrich and strengthen the work we do collectively to improve the quality of life for all.
Please raise the opportunity of appointment to the Young Members Advisory Board to your members and follow that up with outreach to those you think might be interested – remember, the most effective way of engaging a member in union activity is to ask them directly. If you have interested members, please connect us with them; reach out to aftwashington@aftwa.org. Another step you can take is to provide input into how we in Washington state can pursue greater inclusion of our young members in building our collective power.
Responding to the Shortage of Emergency Substitutes In K-12
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
We’ve heard from the Washington Education Association that currently there is a shortage of substitute teachers in K-12. In conjunction with the shortage of classes and decline in enrollment at CTCs causing faculty, particularly contingent faculty, to face job loss and workload reductions, education is a very unbalanced field right now! One option that may help members who are currently not working in higher ed is to become a certified emergency substitute, which will allow members to take those jobs in K-12 and help close the gap as we work to address the other issues driving the student and instructor shortages.
The Emergency Substitute certificate is offered by Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction; you can find it here.
Survey on Contingent Faculty Working Conditions - Participation Needed!
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
Nolan Higdon, a university lecturer in the San Francisco area, is conducting a national academic study on contingent faculty in higher education. We ask that you send the survey on to your contingent faculty colleagues; the survey is intended to enrich the scholarship regarding the difficulties that contingent faculty face. The survey should take only a few minutes to complete, but responses are very helpful!
You can find the survey here.
Time is of the essence; responses are needed by December 1st. If you have questions or concerns, you can reach Nolan at nhigdon@ucsc.edu, or the CSUEB Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at irb@csueastbay.edu, or at (510) 885-4212.
From PSARA: Reparations for the African American Descendants of Slavery Webinar
At this webinar, Dr. Ron Daniels, the Convenor and Administrator of the National African American Reparations Commission (NAARC) will discuss the status of efforts to achieve reparations for the African American descendants of slavery.
Dr. Daniels is a veteran social and political activist, with a distinguished resume. The webinar will be co-facilitated by Larry Gossett and Alice Ito.
You can learn more about the National African American Reparations Commission here.
Register here.
Masks Available!
By Cortney Marabetta, Communications Specialist
As a reminder, the AFT Washington office has a supply of N95 and surgical masks, as well as face shields. The face shields are proving useful for teachers who work with students who have hearing impairments and use lip-reading as a means of communication, and can relieve the need to lecture for several hours in a mask, as well. If your local would like to get some masks and/or face shields, please contact Lydia Petroske at lpetroske@aftwa.org to arrange for pickup or mail delivery.
Union Tips And Reminders
Enrollment in the Long Term Care Program
The legislature approved the creation of a long-term care program that Washington workers pay for through a payroll tax. The program’s opt-out date is approaching and it’s being reported that some people are opting out of the program due to the perception of cost. The information about what happens if someone opts out is not very clear. In the interest of making informed decisions, here’s what we know.
- The payroll tax is .58% - less than 1% - of your wages, and you will contribute over the lifetime of your employment.
- You qualify for the insurance after 10 years; 500 or more hours worked annually is considered one year.
- There are exceptions to apply even if you did not contribute for 10 years, and the benefit can supplement private long-term care.
- The opt-out window is 10/01/21-12/31/22, and anyone who opts out must apply for opt-out and provide the approval letter to their employers.
You can view a recorded webinar here for more information about this.
The main thing to be aware of is that if someone opts out of the Washington long-term care program, it is permanent. Even if you get private or employer-provided long-term care insurance and lose it due to no fault of your own, you cannot opt in to the long-term care program. There are no qualifying events that will allow you back into the long-term care program once you have opted out. Given that 7 out of 10 Washingtonians will need long-term care at some point in their lives, and also given that the program is quite expansive in what it covers, people who choose to opt out should be very aware of what that entails.
Communications Help Is Available
Is your local not sure how to best use your website? Did you know you can have a free website? Would you like help with figuring out strategies for better communications outreach? Got something for the whole union to hear about? We can help with all of these, and more!
On top of helping your local, we can provide outreach to the union as a whole, through the Pulse and the Union Spotlight. We are actively interested in anything your members are doing, such as workshops or innovative problem solving.
If you have questions about them, want guidance, or are interested in learning more, please contact Cortney Marabetta at cmarabetta@aftwa.org.
AFT Connect: Better Data For A Stronger Union
Connect is AFT’s new, powerful, web-based, secure data management system. It provides a great way to record individual member data, and so much more!
- Track your local’s support from Community Allies.
- Record member event attendance.
- Create forms and surveys.
- Capture detailed employment and employer information.
- Manage COPE and other local committees.
Readily use these features and more through AFT Connect’s dashboard or let Connect help your local turn data into a powerful tool through easy, customizable reports.
Connect is replacing both Membership Suite and the Affiliate Toolkit Workspace. Get ahead of the rush and sign your local up to use Connect today!
To get started with AFT Connect, contact Christine Landon at clandon@aftwa.org.