United Teachers of New Orleans

2nd Special Session: Week Two!

This week we conclude the second week in the ongoing Special Legislative Session, bringing us to nearly the half way point. Due to the oncoming Hurricane Delta, some meetings were moved up until earlier in the week, most notably both the House Education and Senate Education Committees conducted their weekly meetings at the same time on Wednesday morning. They both considered important legislation, but here are some of the highlights:

One of the most important bills that we will hear in this abbreviated legislation is Senate Bill 31 by Senator Cleo Fields. If passed, this bill would prohibit the use of statewide student assessments conducted during the 2020-2021 school year from being used to evaluate teacher performance. Essentially, schools could (and likely would) still have testing this year, but the scores couldn't count against a teacher's performance evaluation.

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Workplace Checklist for Prevention of Exposure to SARS-CoV-2 Virus in K-12 Education

This checklist is a tool to help employers, unions, and workers in school districts to assess workplace
exposure, and identify prevention and control measures for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19 disease. Key exposure risk factors include working within 6 feet of people who are known to be or are potentially infected with the virus and working with equipment, materials, and/or surfaces that are potentially contaminated with the virus. Get the Checklist Here

On July 8th, six organizations came together for a virtual town hall: UTNO, FFLIC, RETHINK, STEP UP Louisiana, OPEN, and Familias Unidas en Acción. Community feedback was collected during break out sessions, which allowed participants in small groups to voice their concerns and raise questions about the upcoming school year. We want to share these notes publicly in order to continue the conversation, especially as schools will eventually need to recalibrate as they consider transitioning from phase I to phase II. We believe strong and safe decisions are made when we incorporate as many directly impacted voices as possible, including parents, students, teachers, and school staff. We want those making decisions about our lives to read and listen to the comments and concerns of over 300 people in our community. Together we can improve the decisions about teaching and learning for the 2020-2021 school year.

Read the 46 Questions here.

Reopening School Buildings

School buildings cannot open for in-person instruction until the below conditions are met:
- Community transmission of COVID-19 is under control in the region;
- There is a public health infrastructure to support effective disease surveillance, tracing and isolation in schools;
- Staff who are at high risk have access to special accommodations;
- The district and school have funded safeguards and implemented protocols, including physical distancing, face coverings, access to hand-washing facilities, cleaning supplies, and updates to ventilation and;
- AFT members and leaders, families and community partners are included in the reopening planning process.

Louisiana Federation of Teachers has compiled the following resources to help inform members of their rights as schools begin to reopen in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic:

AFT Frequently Asked Questions Q & A

AFT Know Your Rights

U.S. Dept. of Labor Employee Rights

U.S. Dept. of Labor FFCRA Excerpt

U.S. Dept of Labor FFCRA Q&A