If you have just become eligible to be a new HCAFA member, or if you have been a Fair Share member (not a full member), now is the time to support your fellow adjuncts and your union by changing your status to full membership! Click on the link below for a sample membership form. You will find more details by clicking on the Join link.
Membership Enrollment Form 2017
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HCAFA INVITES ALL ADJUNCTS TO OUR NOVEMBERFEST!
Join Us
For a casual dinner, a little adjunct gemütlichkeit, and lots of fun!
Date: Friday, November 3, 2017
Time: 4:00 – 6:00, (Come and go when you’d like.)
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Your personal copy of The Harper Adjunct Advocate will be in your mailbox soon. If you’d like to check it out now, click on the link below.
Harper Adjunct Advocate – October 2017
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Nomination Form for the IEA RA Delegate Election
The Illinois Education Association Representative Assembly, otherwise known as the IEA RA, will be held on April 19-21, 2018, in Rosemont. The election for this position will be held on December 15, 2017.
IEA RA delegates will be responsible for approving the IEA budget, establishing a dues amount, modifying the Legislative Platform and Bylaws and conducting other business of the Association.
A dues-paying member may either nominate another dues-paying colleague or himself/herself for this position by completing and submitting this form. The Elections Committee recommends that should you choose to nominate someone else, please make sure he/she is a dues-paying member, wants to be nominated and can attend this Assembly. All forms must be sent to the Elections Committee Chairperson, Julie Simpson by November 8, 2017.
Please complete and return form to:
IEA
Attn: Region 42 – Julie Simpson, Elections Chair
553 N. North Court, Suite #210
Palatine, IL 60067
Nominee’s Name: _____________________________
Address: _____________________________
_____________________________
Phone: _____________________________
Email: _____________________________
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by Félix Pérez
It’s all but impossible to spend more than five minutes on social media and not see some mention of the plight of students brought to the United States as children, also known as Dreamers, and other young immigrants who qualified for a temporary, renewable stay under a program started five years ago, formally known as the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA.
Raise your voice to support DREAM Act 2017. Click here ›
The Dreamers and young immigrants who have qualified to study and work under DACA and whose DACA authorization expires between the dates of September 5, 2017, through March 5, 2018, have until October 5 to renew their status. Renewal paperwork must be physically received by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services at the proper filing location.
President Trump prompted widespread fear and concern among DACA recipients last month when he announced his administration was rescinding the DACA program as of March 5, 2018. Following are some key facts about DACA.
What are the qualifications immigrants must meet to qualify for DACA?
Individuals had to pay a $495 fee and meet each of the following criteria to qualify on a case-by-case basis:
DACA permits must be renewed every two years. The program does not give recipients legal residency. Instead, they get temporary reprieves from deportation and temporary permission to study and work.
How many DACA recipients are students?
The Migration Policy Institute estimates that 365,000 of about 1.2 million DACA-eligible young people are high-school students and another 241,000 are enrolled in college.
What will happen to DACA recipients once the program expires March 5, 2018?
The 800,000 DACA recipients, many of whom were brought to the United States as toddlers, will be subject to deportation.
Are there any teachers who are DACA recipients?
An estimated 20,000 teachers in the U.S. could be deported because of President Trump’s cancellation of Deferred Action for Childhood Arrival (DACA). Meet two here and here. The costs of replacing just one teacher is estimated to cost as much as $17,872, according to the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. That means replacing the 20,000 could cost school districts — and local taxpayers — as much as $350 million
Must public schools accept students whose DACA status has expired or any undocumented student?
The U.S. Supreme Court handed down a ruling 35 years ago, Plyler v. Doe, that held that states cannot constitutionally deny students a free public education because of their immigration status.
What recourse do DACA recipients and Dreamers have to address their predicament?
Educators, Dreamer students and other DACA recipients are seeking a permanent legislative solution through Congress. They are urging Congress to pass the Dream Act of 2017. A bipartisan and bicameral bill by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC), the Dream Act (S. 1615/H.R. 3440) would offer permanent legal status to qualifying young people who arrived in the United States as children.
Do Americans support permanent, legal residency for young immigrants brought to the United States as children?
Eighty-six percent of Americans support a right to residency for undocumented immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, with support crossing the political spectrum, according to an ABC News/Washington Post poll last month. Americans were asked whether they support “a program that allows undocumented immigrants to stay in the United States if they arrived here as a child, completed high school or military service and have not been convicted of a serious crime,” all DACA requirements. Support for legal residency includes three-quarters of Republicans and conservatives, 86 and 87 percent of independents and moderates, and 97 and 96 percent of Democrats and liberals.
What can people do to support Dreamers and DACA recipients?
You can urge Congress to give Dreamer students and DACA recipients certainty and permanent protections by passing the Dream Act of 2017. The bipartisan bill includes multiple pathways to citizenship via higher education, military service, or employment. To qualify, individuals must have entered the United States as minors and have had a continuous presence in the United States for four years before the date of the bill’s enactment.
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Register for the IEA One Conference
Dine and discuss higher education funding or other concerns with state legislators Friday evening during the One Conference. The higher education dinner is scheduled for Oct. 20, followed by the conference on Saturday at the DoubleTree by Hilton in Oak Brook.
Sessions include an update on unemployment insurance benefits for contingent faculty; understanding the implications of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) on college students; and workshops on activism, crafting resistance, engaging students with online sources to enhance discussion, and developing engaging presentations.
For my money, the best part of the conference is getting to know other activists and getting more involved.
Contact Stuart Templeton, HCAFA membership chair, at hcafamembership@gmail.com if you are interested in attending. You may be able to attend with HCAFA at no cost to you!
One Conference links:
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The Illinois Senate on Tuesday passed a school funding plan that revamps the way schools are funded, but also implements a temporary voucher program and allows districts to ask for fewer physical education classes and hire outside companies for drivers education classes.
The bill passed on a 38-13 vote. It will now go to the desk of Gov. Bruce Rauner for his approval. The bill struggled a bit more in the House the night before — first failing to pass, prompting Representatives to vote on an override of Rauner’s amendatory veto of the original school funding proposal of Senate Bill 1, a vote which also failed. And, then finally passed upon a reconsideration.
IEA President Kathi Griffin urged Rauner not to sign the bill because it takes money away from public education and gives it to wealthy tax donors through a personal tax break in the same bill that finally provides fair funding to Illinois schools — and there is no funding set aside for this voucher program.
“In addition, provisions in this bill that allow districts to outsource drivers education programs and cut back physical education classes hurt students and their families,” Griffin said. “The IEA will be working to educate communities and families on how to minimize the negative impact these provisions could have on their communities.”
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Supreme Court Ruling Sidesteps Questions Regarding State Constitutional Protections for Public Education
By Staci Maiers
Supreme Court affirmative action: In a narrowly written decision, the Supreme Court held in Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer that Missouri could not refuse a playground grant to a church solely due to the fact that the church is a religious institution. In so holding, the court noted that the case involved express discrimination based on religious identity with respect to such a grant, and that the court was not “address[ing] religious uses of funding or other forms of discrimination.”
The court’s refusal to rule broadly will surely be a disappointment to school voucher proponents who had sought to use the dispute over playground resurfacing grants to undermine state constitutional protections for public education. Continue reading
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It’s very important for each of us to take action regarding the budget impasse in Springfield. We have a lot at stake. Please read the following letter from IEA’s Higher Ed Council Chair and then click on the link below to contact your representatives and senators. We must work together.
HCAFA President, Charmian Tashjian
Dear IEA Higher ED Leaders
The budget impasse in Illinois is nearing the cliff with the end of the fiscal year on Friday, June 30. There’s a real possibility that higher education funding will once again be kicked to the curb. This time, as recent news reports (https://www.usnews.com/news/ best-states/illinois/articles/ 2017-06-28/illinois- universities-in-jeopardy-of- losing-accreditation) have suggested, the result may be a loss of accreditation for Illinois colleges and universities. This is unacceptable!
Please contact your Representatives and Senators on Friday, June 30, urging them to pass a budget which restores funding to higher education and averts the disaster of continued defunding and loss of accreditation. Our members (faculty, staff, graduate students), the students who are building their futures in public higher education, and the communities which benefit in so many ways from the presence of colleges and universities, need the support of responsible legislators in Springfield.
Follow this link to contact your legislators: http://www.capwiz.com/nea/il/ home/
Also coming up: we’re looking for volunteers to do canvassing on higher education issues among union members in targeted legislative districts in the near future (the weekends of July 8 and July 15). Stay tuned for more details.
Please send this request to your members. It is up to us!
In solidarity,
Beverly Stewart
Higher Ed Council Chair
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Harper College Adjunct Faculty Association 