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Volume 42, Number 2 February 2011

State budget proposal imperils community colleges

Page 4

No, it’s not a metaphor. This Reedley College professor competed in the quadrennial world competition of the best. Now she’s a union leader.

page 3

An Olympian in the classroom

“Completion by design”The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is widening its gaze from K-12 charter schools to community colleges. What is it after?

page 7

Marching to a different BEATA new San Diego City College intern program brings students together in the political process.

page 8

Community College Council of the California Federation of TeachersAmerican Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO

The California Federation of Teachers is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO.

The CFT represents over 120,000 educational employees working at every level of education in California. The CFT is committed to raising the standards of the profession and to securing the conditions essential to provide the best service to California’s students.

President Marty Hittelman

Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Smith

Perspective is published three times during the academic year by CFT’s Community College Council.

Community College CounCil

President Carl FriedlanderLos Angeles College Guild, Local 1521 3356 Barham Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90068Email cfriedlander@aft1521.orgDirect inquiries regarding the Community College Council to Carl Friedlander

Southern Vice President Mona Field Glendale College Guild, Local 2276 1500 N. Verdugo Road Glendale, CA 95020

Northern Vice President Dean Murakami Los Rios College Federation of Teachers AFT Local 2279 1127 - 11th Street, #806 Sacramento, CA 95814

Secretary Kathy Holland Los Angeles College Guild, Local 1521, 3356 Barham Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90068

Editor Fred GlassLayout Design Action Collective

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONSDirect editorial submissions to: Editor, Community College Perspective. California Federation of Teachers1201 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 115Alameda, CA 94501Telephone 510-523-5238 Fax 510-523-5262 Email cftoakland@igc.org Web www.cft.org

TO ADVERTISEContact the CFT Secretary-Treasurer for a current rate card and advertising policies.

Dennis Smith, Secretary-Treasurer California Federation of Teachers2550 North Hollywood Way, Ste. 400Burbank, CA 91505 Telephone 818-843-8226 Fax 818-843-4662 Email smithd13@aol.comAlthough advertisements are screened as carefully as possible, acceptance of an advertisement does not imply CFT endorsement of the product or service.

Perspective is a member of the International Labor Communications Association and AFT Communications Association.

Perspective is printed and mailed by the all-union, environmentally friendly Howard Quinn Company in San Francisco, California, using soy-based inks.

2 PERSPECTIVE February 2011

869-M

editorial

Three years ago the offi-cers of CTA’s Commu-nity College Association

(CCA) contacted me to suggest that we get together to explore the idea of unifying CCA with our Community College Coun-cil. The idea was to create a single community college con-stituency organization (referred to here as the Newly Merged Organization, or NMO) where everybody would be affiliated with CFT, AFT, CTA, NEA and the AFL-CIO.

About two years ago, these conversations between CCC and CCA officers evolved into regular formal meetings involving representatives of the state and national affiliates from both sides and including a formula-funded staff person and a representative of CFT’s Field Representatives Union (FRU). The issues have been complicat-ed and the pace of progress has sometimes seemed glacial, but we’ve resolved a lot of tough issues and now have a frame-work that locals can look at, dis-cuss and assess. In about a year, CCC, our locals, and the 2012 CFT Convention will need to decide whether to approve the new merged structure or con-tinue with the status quo.

The following are answers to some Frequently Asked Ques-tions about merger:

Will the everyday function-ing of my local change if CCC-CCA merger takes place?

There will be no change in bargaining representation or contracts. Operations at the local level will remain the same and servicing by CFT field represen-tatives and/or formula-funded staff will not change. (Locals, if they choose to, can, in col-laboration with CFT and CTA, work out new servicing arrange-ments.)

How will per capitas change as a result of the merger?

State and national per capi-

tas will not change, but a $60 annual per capita for fulltime faculty ($30 for parttime faculty) to fund NMO staff and opera-tions will be phased in over three years.

How will NMO governance differ from CCC gover-nance?

CCC currently meets three times a year (plus a shorter meeting at Convention) and has no board. NMO will have an annual delegate assembly, an elected board (with committee structure) that meets at least four times per year, and a Council of Local Presidents (which meets at least twice a year and, like CCC, holds meetings open to other local leaders and staff).

What are some of the major advantages of merger?

The voice of community col-lege employees would be uni-fied in Sacramento and have more strength and power behind it. That voice would also be sig-nificantly amplified within CTA (where NMO would become the largest single affiliate). NMO locals would have access to the membership list and political expertise and outreach of both state affiliates during local trust-ee, parcel tax and bond elec-tions. NMO would have its own PAC. For community college employees, NMO would pro-vide a statewide structure with which to thoughtfully process policy questions, formulate a legislative program, and develop and implement a comprehen-sive community college agenda. In addition to CFT and CTA staff and muscle, NMO would have a small specialized staff to help implement this agenda in Sacramento. Individual NMO members would have opportu-nities to participate in the train-ing, conferences, conventions and member benefit programs of both state (CFT, CTA) and national (AFT, NEA) affiliate organizations (with funding pro-vided on the CTA/NEA side). Participation of locals and mem-bers in NMO activities would

be largely funded by NMO, relieving locals of the costs of this participation.

How will the decision on whether to merge be made and what is the timeline?

• InSeptember2011theCCCwill vote on whether to move the merger proposal to a vote of CCC locals.

• Within60days,amajorityof CCC locals will need to approve the proposal.

• InJanuary2012,theCFTExecutive Council will vote whether to recommend the proposal to the 2012 CFT Convention.

• Atthe2012Convention,theConstitutional changes nec-essary to implement merger

must be approved by a two-thirds vote of the Convention.

• Ifthesestepsarecompleted,the AFT Executive Council approves and CTA/NEA completes its approval process, NMO will begin meeting in Fall 2012.

I have many questions. How can I get them answered?

The other CCC officers and I are available to come to your local to discuss the framework for the merger in much greater detail, to answer questions, and to get your input. Email me at cfriedlander@aft1521.org if you would like to schedule a discus-sion with your local. This spring we will be providing all locals with written material on the merger.

Taking the leadCarl Friedlander, CFT Community College Council President

Some questions and answers about CCC-CCA merger

The issues have been complicated and the pace of progress

has sometimes seemed glacial, but we’ve resolved a lot of

tough issues and now have a framework that locals can look

at, discuss and assess.

Cover: The San Diego City College student intern program set up this impromptu graveyard for public education before a rally against budget cuts last October 7. Kelly Mayhew photo

MArk Your 2011 CAlendAr

March 18-20 CFT Convention, Marriott Manhattan Beach, Manhattan Beach

April 1-3 AFT Higher education Conference, Sheraton Philadelphia City Center Hotel, Philadelphia, PA

April 9 CFT Committees, Crowne Plaza, Burlingame

May 13 Community College Council, Crowne Plaza, Burlingame

May 14 State Council, Crowne Plaza, Burlingame

June 27-29 CFT leadership Institute, uClA

February 2011 PERSPECTIVE 3

MeMBer ProFile

Barnes’ life, by her own account, has defied stereotypes and low expectations. “I’m the seventh child from a family of eight children. Although I never really felt poor growing up, we certainly were deemed so by society’s standards,” she remembers. “I’ve faced adversity and managed to evolve into a relativelywell-adjustedstudentof life. That couldn’t have been predicted from my childhood.”

Barnes grew up in one of the five African American families inasmalltownintheMojaveDesert. Her parents never had the chance to go beyond high school. “They may have had little formal education, but they constantly encouraged us to lis-ten to our teachers and get the most from school we could,” she says. “My teachers encour-aged me not to give up on my

aspirations. I heard them. And I became one of them.”

Cost of being different

Nevertheless, in a Black fam-ily in an overwhelmingly white community, she grew up with an intimate knowledge of not justbeingdifferent,butofthecost that being different could impose. “Being Black in Amer-ica, you live that reality,” she emphasizes. “I can’t express in words the feeling of being dis-

criminated against. It simply cuts to the core. It hurts.”

So Barnes had the good for-tune of finding teachers who could look beyond her skin color to see her potential as a per-son. And what they saw in her was athletic ability. She credits five teachers with playing criti-cal roles. As early as the fourth grade, Mrs. Dix encouraged her to take up tennis, saying she’d be the next Steffi Graf. She wasn’t. But in high school, Linda Rolfs, who she calls her second mother, taught both history and track. Together with Fred Parker, they looked into books and taught her to throw the discus.

“Actually, they taught me incorrectly, as we later found out,” Barnes laughs. “But Linda loved kids, and recognized that in Ridgecrest, education was the key to transcending our stations in life. She lived her belief, and taught 35 years in the same sev-enth grade classroom.”

Whenshegottohighschool,Barnes met Alan and Rita Ste-

phens. Rita passed on a love of literature, while Alan became her coach and corrected her throwing technique. Together, they helped get her an athletic scholarship to California State University, Fresno. By that time, Barnes was a rising star, and was recruited by two other campuses as well.

At university, Barnes honed her athletic skills and began to see a world beyond sports. “People said I was very easy to talk to,” she explains. “I could see I had a knack for psychology. It was almost like it chose me.”

the light bulb

Teaching also became part of her life. “I thought that to get people to understand ideas, they had to be presented in the sim-plest form possible, because that’s what I needed,” she says. “And I discovered how rewarding it is when you see the light bulb start to flicker on in students who haven’t really seen anything beyond their own existence.”

She tried out for the Olym-pic team in 1988, and while she didn’t make it, she did get an internship and started teach-ing. In 1992 she tried again and failed. By that time teach-inghadbecomeafulltimejob.Then, in 1996, when she was already on the faculty at Reedley College, she made the team and

went to the Atlanta Olympics. “It was a great experience,” she recalls. “I have a girlfriend who’d been there three times before, and she told me when we were walking into the stadi-um during Opening Ceremonies that this was the only one that meant anything to her, because I was there with her.”

Barnes was the best on the U.S. team, but the Americans didn’t do well that year, and she got 33rd place. She did become U.S. champion three times, however. “I chose a perfect career to continue with athlet-ics. It was actually a good fit with teaching, since it gave me a chance to train, and our com-petitions were in the summer,” she says. “There’s no way I’d be who I am had it not been for athletics. The need to work to achieve athletic goals carried over to other areas of my life. It’s the same work ethic, and it gave me the confidence that I needed to succeed in the class-room.”

Linda Rolfs gave Barnes more than an opportunity to excel athletically; she modeled union involvement as a union steward and president of her local faculty union for many years. “Her actions for unity became an indirect part of my upbringing I suppose.”

Several hundred delegates to the 2011 California Federation of Teachers

convention will meet in the Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel, March 18-20, to determine future policies and practices of the statewide organization.

The CFT’s annual conven-tion is the organization’s highest decision-making body—part union meeting, part education conference, and always a cel-ebration of the membership’s creativity and courage. This year

the convention theme is “Standing Up, Standing Together, Speaking Out!”

There will be spirited discussion on a wide range of issues that concern union members, beginning with the governor’s proposed budget. The delegates will likely take up analysis and action on Governor Brown’s approach to state finances, and craft responses.

Brown is one of several invited plenary speakers. SDCC

LaborStudiesprofessorJimMiller will be honored, along with the other core marchers from last year’s March for Cali-fornia’s Future. CFT president Marty Hittelman is not seeking re-election, and there will be elections of new CFT officers.

The CCC will present its usual bank of workshops examining education policy as well as ‘nuts and bolts’union issues.

Although speakers and work-shop presenters provide inspira-

tion and food for thought, in the end it is the membership that puts on the best show. “At my first CFT convention, I was really impressed and moved by the work of the delegates,” says Matthew Goldstein of the Peralta Federation of Teachers. “Now I try to go every year. It’s one of the best things about being a union member.”

For more information on the 2011 CFT convention, go to www.cft.org. If you wish to be a delegate, contact your local.

lacy Barnes: An olympian in the classroom

69th Annual CFT Convention: union democracy in action

new local president

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Lacy Barnes in her Olympian days.

Today Lacy Barnes teaches psychology at Reedley College, and is president of the State Center Federation of Teachers, AFT Local 1533. She holds a PhD, speaks out on the rights of faculty, and defends the educational aspirations and welfare of her students. Fifteen years ago, though,

she was in the Olympics. As a teenager she became a single mom, and before that, as a 12-year-old living in tiny Ridgecrest, California, she almost died of cancer and lost a kidney.

“There’s no way I’d be who I am had it not been for athletics.

The need to work to achieve athletic goals carried over to other

areas of my life. It’s the same work ethic, and it gave me the

confidence that I needed to succeed in the classroom.”

Continued on page 4

CFT president Marty Hittelman presented Julia Brownley with the annual “Legislator of the Year” award at the 2010 convention. Hittelman will be retiring after presiding over this year’s convention.

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Lacy Barnes working with her students at Reedley College.ph

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4 n PERSPECTIVE February 2011

Brown faces a $25 billion deficit over the next 18 months. He has outlined a relatively bal-anced approach, with roughly half of the deficit to be dealt with through cuts, and half through extension of temporary tax increases put in place two years ago (along with closing some business tax loopholes). A relatively modest $2 billion fix comes from account shuf-fling, and he places $1 billion in reserves. He is also proposing an historic shift of responsibility for local service funding back to local governments, to be paid for through part of the tax package.

Brown is holding to his oft-stated promise not to raise taxes without a vote of the elector-ate. At the time of this writing it remains unclear whether the tax package requires a two-thirds vote of the Legislature. To put thisontheJuneballotinaspe-cial election may be possible throughamajorityvote,butno one seems to know for sure. In any case, the entire budget

proposal will come apart at the seams if the tax package doesn’t makeitontotheballotinJune.

terrible cuts

The damage that would be done through the proposed cuts is horrific. Among the largest is more than $3 billion to social services, consisting of $1.7 billion to Medi-Cal, and $1.5 billion totheCalWORKs(welfare-to-work) program. The Medi-Cal reduction proposal would limit doctor visits to ten per year per Medi-Cal patient, after which there is no reimbursement. The reality is that people with chron-ic conditions would quickly reach their limit, resulting in providers seeing patients for free, or patients using the ER as their frontline provider.

AnthonyWright,directorof the advocacy group Health Access, notes that 7.7 mil-lion Californians are covered by Medi-Cal. He says, “This means the sickest ten per cent of

Californians—people on che-motherapy, for instance—would have to stop treatment a couple monthsintotheyear.”Wrightalso points out that the million children in the Health Families program(justabovepovertylevel) would lose their vision care coverage, potentially result-ing in tens of thousands of kids unable to see the blackboard.

After three years of cuts to K-12totaling$18billion,thissector—the largest single piece of the state budget—would see relatively little additional harm in this year’s proposal. Higher edu-cation takes the next highest hit after social services. The Uni-versity of California and Califor-nia State University systems are each reduced by $500 million.

State employees not repre-sented in collective bargaining would suffer a 10% pay cut, which comes to $300 million.

Community colleges

The community colleges will

face a $400 million apportion-ment reduction, or about 7% of its total funding. Brown proposes that students pay $10 moreperunit,asteepjumpfrom the current $26/unit, or a 38% increase. Full-time students would pay $1080 per year in the formerly free system.

A less visible reduction would be through deferral of an addi-tional $129 million in funding, bringing the total system funding deferred over the past several years to nearly $1 billion. And a devil-in-the-details item would be an unspecified change in the student census date, the goal of which would be to encourage student retention by prioritizing course offerings that have higher retention rates. Currently one in six community college students drop out of class before the end of the semester. This proposal would move back the census date, presumably forcing colleges to discontinue low retention course offerings and boost higher retention classes (see “Comple-tion by Design” on page 7 for what’s behind this push).

According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the impact

of student fee hikes should be minimal, since fee waivers are available for students from fami-lies making under $65,000 per year, and families making up to $160,000/year are eligible for federal income tax credits. But experience shows a differ-ent outcome, say long-time Los Angeles community college fac-ulty leaders.

“Historically, the commu-nity colleges lose ten thousand students for every dollar fee increase,”saysJoanneWaddell,president of the Los Angeles Community College Faculty Guild, AFT Local 1521. “The forms alone are daunting,” attests JohnMcDowell,whotriedtofill them out for his daughter. “It’s page after page that you can’t understand. But there are many hurdles besides the forms,” he says, ticking off the costs of books, tools, childcare, and transportation, on top of which a fee increase can and often does push the student out. “Fewer than half of eligible students ever apply. And with a fee increase, theyjustleave.”

Fred Glass

SacraMento

Inheritingachronicallyoutofbalancebudget,GovernorJerryBrownhassettoworktorighttheship of state. He promised in his campaign he would forego the accounting gimmicks employed for years to keep California’s budget afloat, because these have failed to address the underlying

problems of the deficit. He has mostly kept his promise with his first budget proposal, and the result is not pretty for any state funded program, including the community colleges.

A “tough budget for tough times” includes student fee hike

Governor’s budget proposal

more than just the benefits

Barnes sees the union as important protection for faculty salaries and working conditions, but believes that “we have to see theunionasmorethanjustthebenefits.” In part, that means looking at its role in what she views as the changing terrain generally.“Whateducationused to mean a long time ago hasshifted.Wenowseemoreof a bottom-line business men-tality that’s all about economics. Weneedtoteachourstudentsto think, to learn about society and our interdependency on each other, to make a better world.”

At the same time, faculty and the union have to look at the problems of the whole educa-

tion system. “Fewer and fewer students come to the 13th grade prepared,” she asserts. “Teach-ersintheK-12systemhavetoteach to tests rather than teach-ingactualsubjectmatter.Bythe time they get to community college, I have students who are barely reading at an eighth grade level. I have to give them basic skills, and at the same time ask them to think beyond what is in front of them.”

For Barnes, “I’ve always beenanadvocateofjustice,especially for those people who may not have a voice. That’s why I choose to teach at the community college level. I’ve been asked to consider applying at Fresno State, but I think those students are going tobeOK.Thestudentswho

arenotgoingtobeOK,andwho need a little more help, are many of the ones I see every day.”

Building a deep bench

Barnes is only in her second six months as a new local union president. But already she’s fac-ing severe challenges from the district. “As in other parts of the nation, here in the Central Valley, public education is per-ceived as much of the problem,” she charges. “Our district does not seemingly acknowledge the “professionalism” of higher edu-cation.” She cites as an example a requirement that faculty hold office hours on days when they have no classes. “Faculty must be on campus every day, even if the students they serve aren’t.

This thought is disconnected from behaviors which ensure that students are getting what they actually need to succeed.”

Historically, the local has stayed out of politics, concen-trating on compensation and benefit issues. Barnes seeks to move the local membership into greater community activity, and the local’s vice-president for COPE, Bill Turini, is heading an effort to organize that effort. Eventually she sees the possibility of running candidates for the district board of trustees.

The district has avoided pink slips and rollbacks, and maintains substantial reserves. “This has led some people in the district to believe that layoffs and cutbacks

happen to others. And while our district has thrived for ten years or so, these times are ending given the state’s economic crisis.” Barnes’ response is to try to build leadership in the union. “I’m working hard to ensure the organization will survive with-out me, what every leader shoulddo,”shelaughs.“Weneed a bench with depth.”

Recently the local held its first retreat. “Our new executive board is committed to knowing the contract and what the union standsfor,”Barnessays.“We’regoing to make the union an organization our members want to be part of.”

David Bacon

olympian in the Classroom continued from page 3

February 2011 PERSPECTIVE n 5

caliFornia

CFT task force

The CFT formed this task force because “whatever it was we had been doing, it wasn’t working well enough,” accord-ingtotaskforcechairJoshuaPechthalt, a CFT vice president and president of United Teach-ers Los Angeles/AFT. Despite electing many friends of educa-tion and labor to state office in each election, and a substantial majorityinthestateLegislature,nonetheless each year state bud-get cuts reduced the ability of CFT members to deliver quality education.

2009 was no different except in scale. In order to convince a few Republican legislators to vote for the budget, Demo-cratic legislators agreed to nearly two billion dollars in corporate tax loopholes. This followed a twenty-year pattern in which the Legislativemajoritywasham-strung by state laws requiring two-thirdssupermajoritiestopassa budget or increase taxes. Over that period more than $14 bil-lion had been removed from the budget permanently in the form of tax rescissions and other revenue reductions and loop-holes. Although the recession playedamajorroleinharm-ing the state’s current revenue stream, the long-term problem for the California state budget has been its crippling two-thirds rules.

A new approach

The task force decided that rather than being driven by the election cycle to accomplish political and legislative goals, the CFT should take a new approach.Withtheapprovalofthe CFT’s Executive Council, the task force set three long term goals: overturn the two thirds rules for state budget and for passing taxes, and educate the membership and electorate about the need for fair taxes on the rich and corporations to fund educa-tion and other social services. It called the plan the “Fight for California’s Future.” This cam-paign was to be open-ended, “ oruntilweachieveourobjec-tives,” said Pechthalt.

The Executive Council allo-cated resources to produce educational materials on pro-gressive tax policy and to bring those materials to the members through the CFT’s publications, local presentations, and training (see them at www.cft.org). Many locals have held trainings, or sent members to regional trainings, which continue to take place throughout the state.

march for California’s Future

Following a months-long discussion, the task force picked

a second activity: the March for California’s Future. The brain-child of task force member Dean Murakami, the idea of the March resonated strongly with the CFT Executive Council. “The March was our attempt to stimulate action,” said CFT president Hit-telman. “If you look at history, sometimes an exemplary event like a march can inspire and motivate people to become a movement.”

The March in spring 2010 succeeded in bringing the CFT’s message to thousands of people who wouldn’t have otherwise heard it in the Central Valley over the 48 days it took to walk from Bakersfield to Sacramento. The final rally, on April 21, was one of the largest the Capitol had seen in years. And the March solidified ties between the CFT and the other organizations—AFSCME/United Domestic Workers,andtheCaliforniaSchool Employees Association, among others—that helped with the March.

Proposition 25 victory

Those ties proved critical in the next step: placing a measure on the November 2010 ballot to reduce the 2/3 Legislative super-majorityonthestatebudgettoasimplemajority.ManyCFTmembers who had been through

the Fight for California’s Future training on progressive tax policy were excited to see the FFCF vision begin to be engaged in the Prop 25 campaign, and were energized by its victory.

Task force members knew however, that “Taking on the two-thirds budget requirement will be nothing compared to what we have to do to overturn the two-thirds rule on taxes,” as Pechthalt said. Here is where the thirty-year war by conservatives, beginning with Prop 13 in 1978, to convince the public that taxes are always bad and government should always be smaller, has framed the political discussion.

Lately, that one-sided war has become even nastier. “You can’t turn around without reading or hearing that our economic prob-lems and state budget deficits were caused by greedy public employees and their unions,” says Alisa Messer, president of the San Francisco Community College Federation of Teachers,

AFT Local 2121, and a member of the task force. “The other side is so well-funded and deliberate.Wehaveourworkcut out for us to remind the public about who actually crashed the economy, and to show them that the superrich and the corporations are behind this idea about the bad public employees as a way of diverting attention from their responsibil-ity for the recession and their low tax rates.”

Accordingly, the task force is now working on opinion research about the best ways to talk with the public to connect thedots.Whentheresearchis completed, we will launch the next phase of the Fight for California’s Future. Along with a media campaign, there will be a strong community organizing component. So don’t worry: there will be a place for you in the campaign, too.

Fred Glass

The Fight for California’s Future continues

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Dean Murakami, president of the Los Rios Community College Federation of Teachers, speaking at a CFT-sponsored fair taxes rally outside the Capitol. Murakami came up with the idea of the March for California’s Future.

Shortly after passage of the disastrous 2009 state budget, which cut the state education budget by billions of dollars, the California Federation of Teachers convened a task force. The individuals serving on the task force represented a cross section of the organization, and included CFT

president Marty Hittelman, secretary-treasurer Dennis Smith, as well as a number of local presidents and state federation staff.

“We have our work cut out

for us to remind the public

about who actually crashed

the economy, and to show

them that the superrich and

the corporations are behind

this idea about the bad

public employees as a way of

diverting attention from their

responsibility for the recession

and their low tax rates.”Students at Planada Elementary School in the Central Valley came out to join the marchers during the March for California’s Future. They will benefit when the goals of the Fight for California’s Future task force become reality.

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6 n PERSPECTIVE February 2011

Part-time faculty and compensation equity

CFT locals continue to make progress on a variety of part-time faculty issues through local bargaining. Last March, the statewide CFT convention voted to take two important issues into the legislative arena because of their importance to the system as a whole. One bill, introduced as SB 114 by State Senator Leland Yee (D-SanFrancisco)onJanuary19, would require that part-time community college faculty be placed on similar steps to full-time faculty with similar academic preparation and years of experience. Although faculty who teach part-time hold the same academic credentials and qualifications as their full-time colleagues, and spend the same number of non-classroom hours as their full-time colleagues preparing lessons and grading assignments, a variety of com-pensation patterns, including hourly pay schedules, occur across the 73 college districts.

Some districts—for example,

San Francisco and Los Rios—have already created part-timer schedules that mirror

full-timers’ schedules in their structure. The schedule has columns, which reflect increas-ing amounts of education, and rows, sometimes called “steps,” which reflect years of experi-ence. In the interest of equity, we must encourage other dis-tricts to move in this direction. (SB 114 would not require pro-rata pay, a related but separate issue.)

Part-time faculty and retirement

Another feature of this bill will be to ask community col-lege districts to report part-time faculty salaries to the California State Teacher’s Retirement System (CalSTRS), and to the affected employees, as a per-centage of full-time salary. The current variety of compensation

methods makes comparisons about the status of part-time faculty very difficult and results in inequities in salary and ser-vice credit when districts report salaries to CalSTRS based on classroom hours. Problems continue to occur, with calculations and report-ing of service credits from districts to CalSTRS and from CalSTRS to part-time faculty members, with particular detri-ment to part-time faculty mem-bers who work in more than one district.

In 2009, the CFT sponsored AB 360 (Ma), which asked the retirement system to study the feasibility of either creating a new program for part-time community college instructors or modifying current programs to make retirement benefits more equitable for part-time

instructors. Although the bill stalled, STRS did establish a task force to address issues of inequitable retirement benefits for part-time faculty, and has begun printing articles regard-ing part-timer issues in its semi-annual publication CalSTRS Connections.

The retirement system also started including a section for part-timers in its annual Mem-ber Handbook, and has begun to better train its counselors and district personnel to deal with part-timer issues. The new bill would not conflict with this good work, and would be an important step to help commu-nity college districts report part-time salaries consistently and assist STRS in more consistent calculations when part-time faculty work in more than one district.

overload limits for full-time faculty

The Convention also passed a resolution limiting full-time overload, believing that the assignment of excessive course overloads to full-time faculty can be detrimental to the quality of instruction, harmful to student progress, and impair the work of institutional development and performance of professional duties. These concerns have led some districts, and their unions, to negotiate limits on overload.

From the perspective of part-time faculty, when full-time faculty take overloads, not only doadjunctsloseincome,butthey may also lose their eligibil-ity for health benefits. In addi-tion, when full-timers teach excessive overload, part-time faculty are left without assign-ments, struggling for a limited number of classes, and mak-ing it easier for administrators and chairs to treat part-timers as expendable. Passage of this legislation would not prevent full-time faculty from travel-ing to a neighboring district or university to teach special-ized classes, and the curriculum would continue to be enriched bycommunitycollegeadjunctinstructors who have full-time jobsintheprivatesector.Partof the rationale for impos-ing limitations is concern that heavy schedules may affect performance—a situation that could apply to part-timers teaching an excessive number of units at a variety of campuses.

And we’ve not forgotten last year’s effort to gain the right of first refusal for part-time faculty. As more faculty nego-tiate this proposal in the dis-tricts, the statewide perspective becomes more achievable. Assemblyman Fong has agreed to reintroduce this important measure, which the California Federation of Teachers will co-sponsor.

Last August, the legislature passed ACR 138, expressing the intent of the Legislature that part-time and temporary faculty should receive pay and benefits equal to those of tenured and tenure-track faculty, and that 75 percent of community college faculty should be tenure-track. Although ACR

138 did not become law, its passage shows that legislators do pay attention to the inequities in the current staffing system in our colleges and believe that it is wrong.

Focus on faculty who work part-time

Legislative UpdateJudith Michaels, CFT Legislative Director

leGiSlat i o n

When full-timers teach excessive overload, part-time faculty

are left without assignments, struggling for a limited number

of classes, and making it easier for administrators and chairs

to treat part-timers as expendable.

many grievances

A year ago an arbitrator upheld a grievance UPM filed against the district for denying a full-time English department instructor an assignment to teach during sum-mer, and the district had to pay the professor for the class he was not assigned. In another arbitra-tion, the district was found to have denied work to a faculty member in violation of the con-tract.

Frierson was the attorney in both cases. He then went into

bargaining as the district negotia-tor. Observes Lansing, “At a time when the campus community needs trust and dialog, the District has devoted alarming amounts of resources to litigation.”

The union accuses the district of misplaced priorities, direct-ing attention and resources away from what counts—teachers and students. “As full-time faculty retirements leave holes in our col-lege, the District has refused to fill the vacancies, while increas-ing resources for public relations and administrative positions, and

pushing its reserves beyond the state mandated 5% to 14.7%,” charges Lansing.

Agreement rejected by 82% of faculty

In October 2010, the fact finder recommended an agreement that UPM put before its members. It wasrejectedby82%ofthosevot-ing. In December, a new Presi-dent, David Coon, arrived at the district.

The fact finder asked the union to list the main reasons for the

rejectionoftheagreement,andthat might cause a walkout. The union list included health care takeaways, inequitable salary pro-posals, and unpaid additional fac-ulty duties.

The union sought, and was given, strike sanction by the North Bay Labor Council two years ago, in February 2009. For Lansing,thejuryisstilloutonwhether the new president will bring a change in the district’s push to break the union.

“We’llseehowtheyrespondto

our five priorities,” he says. “So far, the district has appeared will-ing to force an imposed contract or strike situation by demanding take-aways with no increase in wages. So we can go on strike for the first time in the history of the College of Marin, or we can accept a contract that changes our wages, benefits and working conditions in extreme ways, and wipes out many of the accom-plishments achieved over the last 30 years of bargaining.”

By David Bacon

College of marin continued from page 8

February 2011 PERSPECTIVE n 7

education Policy

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationjoinedinatthisopportune point by announcing its $35 million “Completion by Design” grants, intended to assist low-income students from disad-vantaged groups (mainly Latino and African-American, who have the highest college drop-out rates) to complete degree or certificate programs. Grants, to be announced in spring, were to be awarded to colleges in nine states.

open access provides opportunity

The proposition that open-enrollment colleges waste money or fail because many students don’t complete a degree or certificate program has been advancedbysometojustifythe intervention of corporate reformers like Gates. One of the great benefits of the 112 open-

access community colleges in California, however, has been providing educational opportu-nity for students of diverse levels of academic ability regardless of degree or certificate completion. Some students drop out of col-lege when they feel they have satisfied their personal educa-tionalobjectivesorbecausetheyacceptajob.Othersdropoutdue to work conflicts, cultural disadvantages, family problems, or economic hardship.

The“Completion”projectpromises the use of technology to collect data about each stu-dent, which presumably could be used proactively to tailor a student’s financial aid package or schedule more classes at times convenient for groups of stu-dents with the same scheduling constraints. Reactively, tracking data of students working through lessons on computers at home or in the classroom would permit

timely “intervention” when a student falters academically in the form of counseling, tutoring, or redirection into a remedial mode.

Although combating low completion rates among disad-vantaged students is praisewor-thy, it is important to consider what the broader implications of “Completion by Design” may be for community colleges. Pressured by its administration to sign on to a Gates Founda-tion grant application it had initiallyrejected,SanDiegoCity College’s AFT included an incisive side letter expressing its concerns. (Cerritos, Los Ange-les Southwest, State Center, and Los Rios, among others, were targeted to participate in California.) The letter point-edly cited the Gates Founda-tion’s commitment to a funding formula based on completion numbers rather than enrollments as indicative of its business phi-

losophy. Although this approach would further cripple com-munity college budgets (16% of students are class dropouts), Sacramento State’s Institute for Higher Education Leadership has endorsed this formula, as did Governor Brown in his prelimi-nary, cost-cutting state budget.

In the face of defunding—and a burgeoning mass of students—advocates of expanding commu-nity college online offerings like the Legislative Analyst’s Office and UCB’s Center for Studies in Higher Education are gaining a more favorable hearing. Despite the incompatibility of the 20% higher dropout rates of students in online courses (Chronicle of Higher Education, 9/22/10) with any completion enhancement goal, the Gates Foundation has

in no way renounced the online alternative.

Hidden agenda

The San Diego AFT letter also alluded to a hidden, long-term agenda in the “Completion byDesign”project:ifitsunof-ficial goal of increasing disad-vantaged completion rates from 22% to “well above 50%” were attained at a tolerable cost, such self-defined “success” might be used to promote the Gates Foundation’s approach in the community college arena and market its mix of technology and business management stan-dards for expanded application. Another concern of SDCC’s AFT was that “Completion” staffing would rely excessively on low-cost, contingent faculty.

Because five long, embedded yearsofaGatesprojectcouldpush a college in an unwanted direction, SDCC‘s AFT wisely insisted on participation and representation throughout the entire grant process and a right to withdraw after the first year iftheprojecttookaturnwhich

it deemed was inappropriate for an educational institution. The Gates Foundation’s “New Gen-eration Learning Challenges,” a companionprojectestablishedto use technology to ”dramati-cally improve college readiness and completion,” provides an example of what might tran-spire once the Gates Founda-tion got its foot inside the door. “New Generation’s” October, 2010, grant proposal solicita-tion to information technology users and purveyors identified “interactive applications such as digital games, interactive video, immersive simulations, and social media,” as among the lat-est “challenges to be explored.” Wouldthisprojectultimatelycoordinate with “Completion by Design” by using the latter’s pool of disadvantaged students

for testing its new approaches? If so, would the quality of the learning—and its content—be reduced to digital fun and games?

It is somewhat hypocriti-cal that Gates, the billionaire software king of the computer, presents himself as an education reformer while remaining silent on the widely-recognized role of information technology in undermining the schooling of America’s youth. According to a 2010KaiserFamilyFoundationStudy, the average 8-18 year-old spends an astounding 7 1/2 hours per day outside school using various electronic media. And the International Herald Tribune reported (12/8/10) that by age 21, the typical American has spent 10,000 hours playing computer games. Although such figures represent a substantial devotion to trivial pursuits and time wasting, Gates apparently sees more—not less—technolo-gy as the solution to the educa-tion crisis.

By Greg Davis, AFT 1493

Bill Gates on the community college horizon

“Completion by design”

Bill Gates, the billionaire self-proclaimed education reformer who, along with New York’s wealthyhedgefundcommunity,pouredmillionsofdollarsintothecity’sK-12charterschools,nowhassethissightsoncommunitycolleges.InOctober2010,theWhiteHouse,concerned

aboutjoblessness,heldaCommunityCollegeSummitatwhichPresidentObamaemphasizedtherolecommunitycollegescouldplayintrainingjob-seekingworkers.Heannounceda$1billion,5-yearprogram linking community colleges to corporations such as McDonald’s, Gap, PG&E, and United Technologies.

Because five long, embedded years of a Gates project could

push a college in an unwanted direction, SDCC‘s AFT wisely

insisted on participation and representation throughout

the entire grant process and a right to withdraw after the

first year if the project took a turn which it deemed was

inappropriate for an educational institution.

8 PERSPECTIVE October 2010

San Diego AFT Student Interns: Marching to a different BEAT

On a cool December evening about one hundred San Diego City College students and faculty stood on the sidewalk outside the District Attorney’s office on Broadway in downtown San Diego chant-ing,“Justice,Now!”and“WeAre Diana!” The protesters, AFT student interns and other members of City College’s BEAT (Bringing Education and Activism Together) club were gathered to urge the District Attorney to respond to the questions and concerns of the family of murdered City College student Diana Gonzales, brutally killed by her abusive boyfriend on campus. The DA’s office has been less than forthcoming about its investigation of the case.

WhenAFTLocal1931’sLarissaDorman came down from the

meeting between the DA and the woman’s family, she was able to report some success in moving the DA’s office toward address-ing the issue. The crowd cheered and, after two and a half hours of marching and chanting, headed home. They left knowing they’d done their part to help assure that Gonzales, a working class student of color, would not become a nameless statistic because she hailed from the wrong zip code and rep-resented the wrong demographic for local media interest.

Reciprocal relationship

Violence against women, poverty and hunger on campus, homelessness, veterans’ issues, glo-balization, immigration, the effects of budget cuts and the meaning of education are the kinds of issues that BEAT tackles. This is what distinguishes BEAT from other student groups and what makes the relationship between BEAT andAFTspecial.It’snotjustaunion making use of students for their campaigns; it’s a reciprocal relationship between students and workers in education. It’s about creating new leaders and activists in the labor movement and else-where. Finally, it’s about a vision of unionism that moves beyond bread and butter issues and elec-toral politics to broader hope for

socialjusticeforeveryone—unionand non-union workers, students and the community at large.

Formed in 2009 with the sup-port of Local 1931, BEAT soon became the most dynamic student

group the City College campus has ever seen. The group held forums on political issues, did performanc-es of great speeches on people’s history, protested at the Governor’s San Diego office, and played a key role in the March 4th 2010 day of action. AFT became involved with BEAT through Dorman, a history and political science instructor, who encouraged the students to participate in the March forCalifornia’sFuture.WhenBEATjoinedintheyfilledabusto go to the kick-off rally in Los Angeles and later spent their spring break marching though Merced and Chowchilla rather than down-ing beers at the beach. Over the last two years, the relationship has grown between the BEAT students and the union, with Local 1931 providing financial and material support for BEAT’s rallies, student food pantry, and other activities.

Beginning in the fall semester of 2010, Local 1931 and BEAT formally launched a student intern program. Interns Anya Gomez, MarilynBenitez,JoseRodriguez,Taylor Lanore, Maurice Martin, JessicaMagpie,RyanWhiteandKatrinaCruzplayedacrucialrole doing shifts in the phone bank for our Brown/Prop 25 efforts as well as our Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College Board (GCCCD) races where they helped elect two new board mem-

bers. They also walked precincts with the labor council, registered voters, tabled on SDCCD and GCCCD campuses, participated in the Interfaith Committee for WorkerJustice’scommunityforums on the ballot propositions, and coordinated student teach-ins.

In addition to their electoral activities, BEAT founded a chapter in the GCCCD, continued their work on the food pantry at City, fed the homeless in downtown San Diego, collected signatures on postcards calling for an oil sever-ance tax to help solve the budget crisis, attended a seminar on labor history, took labor studies classes, did student outreach in classrooms on a variety of issues, and attended all of AFT Local 1931’s general meetings.

impressive beginning

It was an impressive beginning. Professor Dorman says, “It is really amazing to see students having a connection to labor and under-standing the importance of activ-ism. I never would have imagined that the relationship between BEAT and AFT would become so strong so quickly. As public edu-cation is being fiercely attacked, it makes sense that we would com-bine efforts and work side-by-side as faculty, staff and students for a better future.”

AFT intern Maurice Martin, a homeless vet who is putting his life back in order at San Diego City College, explains what the internship has done for him: “I’ve learned that history matters from our ongoing AFT training with Professors Miller and Dorman and the importance of community in times of trouble. It’s then that a coming together is the most heal-ing. And a sharing with others who have the least in our commu-nity is a win-win for all citizens.”

By Jim Miller

Mill Valley Four years in negotiations at College of Marin

The union contract at Marin Community College expired so long ago that its successor agree-ment, never completely negotiated or signed, expired as well. No contract has been successfully negotiatedsinceJuly2007.

United Professors of Marin, AFT Local 1610, may not like delay—may even hate it—but they’ve gotten used to it. The union went into fact finding two years ago to arrive at a new agree-ment, and the fact finder has yet to issue a report.

The root of the problem, says United Professors of Marin presi-dent Ira Lansing, is an attempt by the previous administration tobusttheunion.“Whenthecontract expired almost four years ago,” he explains, “the district sunshined 18 of the old agreement’s 26 articles. That’s an unprecedented number of clauses to put up for negotiation. Often the normal course is to offer money to avoid negotiating improved language, or even the reverse. But this district wanted to gut our language, and offer us no money at the same time.”

High living costs

College of Marin is the 47th lowest-paid district in the state, in a county with higher living costs than almost any other. Across the street from the college campus isKentMiddleSchool,where

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In Memoriam: Joe Mcdonough

As public education is being fiercely attacked, it makes

sense that we would combine efforts and work side-by-side

as faculty, staff and students for a better future.

Local Action

Larissa Dorman, faculty sponsor for BEAT (in dress 2nd from left), joins the student interns at a mock funeral for public education at SDCC.

Joe McDonough, former president of AFT Local 1493, clinical psychologist and longtime faculty member at College of San Mateo, passed away in October at 85. A World War II Purple Heart recipient, McDonough was the CFT’s Ben Rust Award winner in 2000.

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a teacher with a masters degree and15yearsonthejobgets$17,000 a year more. The district has offered 0% over three years. “They believe we’re paid too much,” Lansing charges.

Totrytobreakthelogjamayear ago, the union even made adrasticproposal.“Wesaidwe’d agree to all their changes in contract language, and there were many, if they’d agree with all our proposals on salaries and economics,” Lansing said then. Significantly, the district has never said that it couldn’t pay increases, and the union has even pointed to areas from which the money could come.

The district didn’t respond. Instead, district negotiators put on the table a number of changes that the union viewed as direct attacks. It sought to remove union advocates from the evaluation process entirely. It demanded that the union give up its office space on campus, and denied it the use of district repro-graphics, despite the fact that the union was paying for both things.

Although a fair contract was achieved in 2005, when negotia-tions began two years later the district turned them over to an attorney, Larry Frierson. He became its highest paid employee, earning over $600,000 in three years.Whilenegotiationsstalled,the district fought to arbitration grievances that should have been settled at a much earlier stage.

Continued on page 6