Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1535219
then into the summer to support our impacted members," Galindo says. "We're trying to organize in every space that we can to get our message out and save positions in any manner possible." Q: What would these layoffs mean for your students and school communities? Galindo: Our district has been strug- gling to fill elective positions in our elementary spaces. Last year, our high schools didn't have enough foreign language teachers, so students were forced to learn online. We're hurting our students and how we're preparing them for their future. We're not preparing them to be a part of a global economy. These layoffs are going to exacerbate the inequity that some elementary and secondary students face. If we can't offer students electives, we're just hurt- ing them in the long run. The district is trying to save costs by increasing class sizes and that's just going to hurt stu- dents currently and in the future — we shouldn't be doing that. Q: What are your plans for the rest of the school year and looking ahead to the next? G: Reaching out to parent groups because these layoffs will be affecting their students. We're also contacting Parent Teacher Associations across our school sites. Our membership should have noticed now that the work we did with our PAC bore some really good fruit. Our next steps will be to once more have our PAC build campaigns to fill open positions on our school board — and we're going to start that work next year. Q: What advice do you have for members in other locals on organizing to fight educator layoffs? G: I don't think anybody understood how important it was going to be to elect our candidate to the school board. All locals should consider and think about how they work to structure their school board. You can fight RIFs before they even begin if you have the right people on your school board. Also, bring in the community and share your thoughts with board mem- bers about how students will be hurt, through public comment, emails and on social media. Share news and effects of layoffs with your community to let them know what is going on in the school district and how their students will be impacted. Flood meetings where finan- cial and programming decisions are being made. Make sure you are sharing that narrative of how students get hurt if positions are eliminated. Attention SLPs! On Dec., 27, 2024, the California Department of Education (CDE) Special Education Division rescinded its letter to the field on pro-rated caseloads for Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) who work with a mixed caseload of 3–5-year-olds and 6–21-year-olds. This means that: 1. We can no longer file CDE complaints over a lack of prorated caseloads for mixed-age groups on SLP caseloads unless the caseload exceeds 55. 2. If an SLP has a mixed-age caseload, the average of 55 is the maximum permitted under the Ed. Code. 3. Relevant Collective Bargaining Agreement language must still be followed. This does not impact any negotiated case- load provisions. Our union wants to hear your story: How has this policy change impacted your caseload numbers if you are working with a mixed caseload of ages 3–21? Tell us at actionnetwork.org/forms/share-your-story-slps. We'll be collecting stories through this fall. Share Your Story Has a state policy change impacted your work? SPEECH LANGUAGE PATHOLOGISTS: 38 cta.org Advocacy