Perspective, Nov 2009

CaliforniaFederationofTeachers

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Volume 41, Number 1 November 2009

The human face of theGreat Recession inCalifornia’s communitycolleges page 4

Local collective bargaining and the possibility fordelivering quality education will be tightly constraineduntil the game is changed in Sacramento.

page 3

Fight for California’s future

State community collegebudget in a death spiral.The numbers have gone from bad to worse.

page 7

Big organizing victoryin Grossmont CuyamacaFaculty in the newest bargaining unit in the CCC choseAFT over an independent union because they realizedthey couldn’t solve all their local problems locally.

page 8

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

RecentHistory

of

the Cost of Liv

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in California

Community

Colleges

The California Federation of Teachersis an affiliate of the American Federation ofTeachers, AFL-CIO.

The CFT represents over 120,000 educationalemployees working at every level of educationin California. The CFT is committed to raisingthe standards of the profession and tosecuring the conditions essential to providethe best service to California’s students.

President Marty Hittelman

Secretary-Treasurer Dennis Smith

Perspective is published three times during theacademic year by CFT’s Community CollegeCouncil.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE COUNCIL

President Carl FriedlanderLos Angeles College Guild, Local 15213356 Barham Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90068Email [email protected] inquiries regarding the CommunityCollege Council to Carl Friedlander

Southern Vice President Mona FieldGlendale College Guild, Local 22761500 N. Verdugo RoadGlendale, CA 95020

Northern Vice President Dean MurakamiLos Rios College Federation of TeachersAFT Local 22791127 - 11th Street, #806Sacramento, CA 95814

Secretary Kathy HollandLos 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 510-523-5238Fax 510-523-5262Email [email protected] www.cft.org

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

Dennis Smith, Secretary-TreasurerCalifornia Federation of Teachers2550 North Hollywood Way, Ste. 400Burbank, CA 91505Telephone 818-843-8226Fax 818-843-4662Email [email protected] advertisements are screened ascarefully as possible, acceptance of anadvertisement does not imply CFT endorsementof the product or service.

Perspective is a member of the InternationalLabor Communications Association and AFTCommunications Association.Perspective is printed and mailed by the all-union,environmentally friendly Alonzo Printing inHayward, California. It is printed on 20% post-consumer content recycled paper using soy-based inks.

2 PERSPECTIVE November 2009

EDITORIAL

On front cover: Students, faculty and staff are all feeling the squeeze ofthe Great RecessionPHOTOS BY MARILYNE CLEEVES AND RICHARD COLEMAN

OnOctober 17 sixtyelected leaders of Cali-fornia community col-

lege locals and chapters gatheredat the Four Points LAX.Whatwas ground-breaking about thisgathering was that the partici-pants came from both CFT andCTA bargaining units. Unionleaders representing more thanhalf the State’s colleges attended.In addition to the manyCCC/CFT local leaders present,top officers of CTA- affiliatedfaculty bargaining units camefrom Shasta, College of theDesert, Sierra,Mt. San AntonioCollege, Gavilan, Rancho Santi-ago, Rio Hondo, Long Beach,Merced, Southwestern andKern.

No fights broke out and notempers flared. Despite the his-tory of sometimes contentiousrelations between the twounions, the focus on Oct. 17 wassquarely on the challenges of thepresent and future, not the inter-union battles of the past. Facedwith the worst budget in thehistory of California Communi-ty Colleges, tens of thousands ofpart-time faculty losing assign-ments, rapidly escalating threatsto pensions, and an astonishingnumber of colleges on someform of sanction from theAccrediting Commission, unionleaders gathered at the FourPoints to put their heads togeth-er and join hands, not to replayold arguments.I co-chaired the meeting with

Ron Reel, my counterpart fromCTA’s Community CollegeAssociation (CCA). We set outfour objectives for the day: CCCand CCA local leaders shouldbegin to get to know each

other; develop an agenda forjoint activity; hear some outsideperspectives on unification; andget input for future gatherings.Judging from the tone of the dayand comments on written evalu-ations, participants enjoyedinteracting with colleagues fromthe other union. In their evalua-tions, they provided valuableinput on how to make futuregatherings as worthwhile as pos-sible and expressed strong inter-est in attending such gatherings.

Strong, unified voice inSacramentoAssemblymanWarren Furutani

(D-S. L.A. County), founder ofthe Legislature’s CommunityCollege Caucus, told attendees

that community college employ-ees needed a strong, unifiedvoice in Sacramento. But Furu-tani cautioned that this voicecould not defend the status quo.Despite the change in theWhiteHouse, calls for reform andaccountability were going to getlouder, and not go away. Heurged union leaders to step upand take charge of the reformprocess.Attendees heard from Greg

Mulcahy, President of the Min-nesota State College Faculty, theunion representing all facultyfrom Minnesota’s technical andtwo-year colleges and a part ofEducation Minnesota, thestatewide merged union of edu-cators from pre-K through uni-versity. Every member ofEducation Minnesota is affiliatedwith both AFT and NEA, andMulcahy talked about what lifewas like for community collegefaculty in a merged state.A large portion of the

meeting was devoted to discus-sions of joint CCC-CCA pro-jects that were alreadyunderway, how they could beexpanded, and ideas for newjoint projects that could beundertaken. Reel and Idescribed the recent agreementthat allows CCC and CCAlocals to access full membershiplists (including K-12) of boththe CFT and CTA in localtrustee elections.This newmutual support pact has alreadybenefited a couple of CFT andCTA community college localsin elections November 3.CarolynWidener, the elected

community college representa-tive to the CalSTRS board,madea compelling argument that thereare issues in CalSTRS unique tocommunity college faculty—fulltime faculty and, even morecritically, part-time faculty—andthat it would be very difficult toaddress these issues within thecurrent organizational structuresof CFT and CTA.Carolyn rec-ommended creation of a jointCCC-CCA workgroup to fullyexplore these issues and shaperecommendations that bothstatewide unions could pressCalSTRS and the legislature toimplement, a recommendationenthusiastically embraced bythose present. Part-time facultyin attendance were similarlyenthusiastic about the idea ofjoint meetings between the twounions’ part-time committees,meetings where not just retire-ment issues but a whole array of

issues affecting part-time facultycould be considered.During a discussion of joint

activity regarding accreditation,Friedlander distributed copies ofa PERB charge against LassenCommunity College for unilat-erally requiring employees tocomplete and submit a plan forthe assessment of SLO’s withtheir course syllabus. CFT willlikely file an amicus letter in sup-port of the CTA complaint.

Joint activitiesAttendees had plenty of ideas

for joint activities: a unifiedwebsite and listserv, a jointresearch project and public rela-tions campaign focusing oncommunity college student suc-cess; suggestions for specificpieces of legislation and a jointlegislative task force; and jointconferences on retirement, bene-fits and part-time issues. Thesewere just some of the suggestionsmade.October 17 certainly increased

the bandwith of communicationchannels between CCC andCCA.These had been limitedpreviously to the electedstatewide officers of the twogroups, all whom had been par-ticipating in the ongoing unitydiscussions.With another gather-ing already being planned forFebruary 20 and a long list ofideas for joint activities, the con-versation will now be takingplace on a scale that would havebeen hard to imagine just oneyear ago.

Taking the LeadCarl Friedlander, CFT Community College Council President

MARK YOUR 2009 CALENDAR

December 5 CCC meeting, Hilton Oakland Airport

January 23 CFT Committees, Hilton Oakland Airport

February 4-5 CFT Leadership Conference, Crowne Plaza, San Francisco

March 19-21 CFT Convention, Wilshire Grand, Los Angeles

March 25-28 Joint AFT/NEA Higher Education Conference,

Palace Hotel, San Francisco

Frank Espinosa, vice president of the San Jose Evergreen AFT Local6157, speaks during the CCC/CCA meeting October 17.

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Print is nice.Electrons are faster.

The Perspective brings you information you need to know on a quarterly basis. Forthe most current union news, recent media coverage of education issues, and keyinformation about the California Federation of Teachers and its activities, visit the CFTwebsite regularly.

www.cft.org It’s not an either/or. Come see us online.

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It didn’t have to be this bad.The effects of the economic

downturn have been greatly exac-erbated due to the Golden State’sintractable Legislative gridlock.While the public has a universallypoor opinion of the Legislature,relatively few people understandthe heart of the problem: threestates need a supermajority for abudget, and several require one topass a tax. California is the onlystate in the nation that requires atwo-thirds legislative vote to passboth a state budget and any newtax.With the Republican Legislative

caucus hovering just over one-third in each house, and all but oneof these elected officials signatoriesto Grover Norquist’s “no new tax”

pledge, the Democratic caucus,although by far the majority, can-not enact a program that mitigatescuts to education and social ser-vices with tax increases. If by“democracy”we understandmajority rule, then democracy hascollapsed in California.Things haven’t gotten bad for

everyone. In its recent report, Inthe Midst of the Great Recession: TheState ofWorking California in 2009,the California Budget Projectnotes that the top one percent oftaxpayers in California has nearlydoubled its share of adjusted grossincome since the early 1990s, from13.8% in 1993 to 25.2% in 2007.These taxpayers average $1.6 mil-lion in income per year.The statetax rate of this superrich group has

been reduced during that timefrom 11.3% to 9.3%. Why? Thiswas but one of the tax loopholesopened up each and every yearduring state budget deliberations inorder to persuade a few Republi-cans to vote for the state budget.This small-seeming differencemeans billions of dollars in lostrevenue to the state each year.If one wants an explanation of

California’s budget woes, this is theproper place to begin.Californiacan still be a good place to live inthe future,with a decent educationsystem and adequate public ser-vices, safe streets and healthy peo-ple. But to get there from here, tobe able to invest in our future,wemust overturn the undemocratictwo-thirds rules that are diggingour structural budget deficit deeperand deeper.That’s why CFT has kicked off a

long-term education and activismproject, the Fight for California’sFuture. Its goals are to help ourmembers better understand thestate budget process and what hashappened to income distribution,

and to help build a movement forfair tax policies that ask those whohave benefited the most from ourstate to contribute their propershare to the common good.The campaign task force has

produced printed materials and aslideshow for presentations tomembers and the public. It isholding speaker training work-shops around the state. It is con-ducting outreach to other unionsand community organizations tobuild a coalition that shares these

goals. It is considering local andstatewide direct actions for thisspring.And it is working closelywith locals to improve their capac-ity to elect local and state govern-ment officials who support publiceducation and public services, andbelieve in progressive tax policy asthe mechanism to invest in Cali-fornia’s future.

By Fred GlassFor more information on the Fight forCalifornia’s Future campaign, go towww.cft.org.

November 2009 PERSPECTIVE 3

SOLIDARITY

The Great Recession has slammed California about as hard asany state. Our 12.2% official unemployment rate is fourthworst in the country. The impact on community colleges, via

increased state budget deficits, includes turning away students, higherfees for the ones that remain, and reduced staffing and services. Theseeffects add up to a severe hit on our ability to deliver the quality edu-cation the public needs and deserves.

Fight for California’s future

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Especially in the University ofCalifornia and California StateUniversity systems, organizing hascentered on broad demands, suchas fighting student fee increases,layoffs and furloughs, pay cuts, andprivatization of public education.

UC rockedIn July,UC Regents granted

emergency financial powers to UCPresident MarkYudof,who issuedorders for furloughs, and over theobjections of theAcademic Senateson all ten campuses,mandated thatthey take place on non-instruc-tional days. Senate faculty, invok-ing shared governance,declaredthat some of the furloughs must

occur on instructional days so thatstudents and the public wouldunderstand the impact of the cuts.When the Regents andYudofrefused, faculty from each campus,in an open letter, called for a walk-out and day of action.According to Mike Rotkin,

longtime lecturer at UC SantaCruz and UC-AFT vice-presi-dent, “I haven’t seen senate facultyso angry and politically active sincetheVietnamWar.”On September 24,members of

the University Professionals andTechnical Employees,CWA,walked off their job at each UCcampus and were joined on picketlines by members of other UC

unions, senate and non-senate fac-ulty, and students.Throughout the day, across the

state, faculty, staff and studentsorganized teach-ins about UCfinances, the state budget and howit works, protecting the "public" inpublic education, and many moretopics related to education,politics,economics and society.Levels of involvement varied

from relatively limited walkouts tocomplete disruption of business asusual in Santa Cruz and Berkeley.The largest gatherings of the daywere the noon rallies. Five hundredshowed up to the Santa Cruzevent, and a like number in River-side and Irvine. San Diego hadover a thousand participants,UCLA seven hundred. At leastfive thousand filled historic SproulPlaza at UC Berkeley, promptingmany speakers to compare theimport of the day's events with theFree Speech Movement in the1960s.The rally then transformeditself into a massive impromptumarch through downtown Berke-ley, where chants of “Whose uni-versity? Our university!”ricocheted against the office build-ings.

Inability to prioritizeCFT sent representatives from

K-12 and community collegelocals to most of the rallies tospeak. A dozen CFT locals dis-tributed blueAFT t-shirts to theirmembers along with flyers askingthe membership to wear them onSeptember 24 for two reasons: to

protest and publicize cuts to K-14education, and to stand in solidari-ty with their UC brothers and sis-ters.CFT President Marty Hittelman

told the crowd at the UCLA rally,“UC administrators and the gover-nor share an inability to prioritizestudents. A quality education forall should come before tax loop-holes for the rich and corpora-tions, and student access toeducation should come beforeenormous salaries for administra-tors.”

Oil severance taxTwo weeks later, during the

week of October 12, the Califor-nia FacultyAssociation organizedrallies at CSU campuses.CFT sentK-12 and community collegespeakers to the CSU rallies as well.The union for CSU faculty had asharply focused agenda in theseevents, bringingAssemblymemberAlbertoTorrico (D-Fremont) tokeynote several of the gatheringsand highlight his bill,AB 656,which would dedicate revenuefrom an oil severance tax to Cali-fornia higher education. AB 656would bring an estimated $100million per year to the communitycolleges, and split the rest of its rev-enue (based on a 9.9% tax)between UC and CSU, for a totalof about $1 billion per year. Cali-fornia is the only state among

twenty-one oil-producing stateswithout an oil severance tax.Throughout the state and in UC

and CSU events alike, remarkablyconsistent messages have beenemerging, including vows of coop-eration between K-12 and highereducation advocates, broadeningthe field of struggle to defend allvital public services, and mostimportantly, a growing awarenessof the root of the problems in thestate’s dysfunctional legislative rulesand inequities in a tax system thatredistributes wealth to the alreadywealthy while starving public edu-cation and services.The spirit of the events and

determination to fight did not endwith the September and Octoberactions. Ad hoc groupings andother more formal structures arecontinuing to coalesce and growand plan at the time of this writ-ing, often with a strong directaction orientation. Students “lib-erated” theAnthropology Libraryat UC Berkeley over the October9 weekend for a teach-in, keepingit open despite UC administrationdecisions to close it each Friday at5 pm. On October 24,hundredsof education activists in northernCalifornia converged on UCBerkeley, answering the call of astudent based GeneralAssembly todeliberate the next steps in defend-ing public education at all levels.

By Fred Glass

Anew wave of campus activism is on the rise, propelled bydraconian state budget cuts. Since summer, students, staffand faculty have come together to defend public higher

education, in the process forging promising new coalitions acrosstraditional divides.

Solidarity growing across systems of higher educationWhose university? Our university!”

SDCC food service workers wear their AFT blue t-shirtson September 24.

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Pajaro Unified School District board member Karen Osmundson joinsteachers in a demonstration that connects the dots between localschool budgets and the dysfunctional state Legislative budget process,which requires a two thirds vote instead of simple majority.

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GREAT RECESSION

David Robinson, who’sworked since he was 14, hopedhe’d get automotive mechanictraining, and a good job at theend of it.“But by cutting theseprograms and raising fees,” hesays,“you're cutting opportuni-ty for a lot of people who needit."Another endangered student

is TinaVinaja, a mother of threeteenagers whose husband tooka weekend job to help pay hertuition hikes.Monica Mejia, a single mom,

wants to get out of the low-wage trap. "Without commu-nity college,” she says,“I'll endup getting paid minimumwage. I can't afford the feehikes. I can barely make endsmeet now.”

Small part of the pictureThese students make up a

small part of the picture of suf-fering engendered by the eco-nomic crisis in the communitycollege system. According to

Marty Hittelman, president ofthe California Federation ofTeachers, and a community col-lege math instructor for morethan thirty years, the systemwill turn away over 250,000students this year alone.“Where can they go?” he asks.“UC? CSU? The workforce?None is a viable option—forboth economic and politicalreasons.”California has a 12% unem-

ployment rate, one of thenation’s highest. During arecession, the need for commu-nity college typically rises witha flood of economic refugees.Yet, due to the state budget cri-sis, community college fees,once non-existent, rose 30%just last year, and colleges arereducing course offerings.“As a result,” Hittelman says,

“hundreds of thousands of stu-dents enrolled in Californiacommunity colleges are unableto get the classes they need andthousands of part-time facultyare without classes to teach. So,as in the universities, the stu-dent returns for paying higherfees are increased class size andfewer available classes.”

Kind of invisibleBrenna Fluitt will face an

especially difficult situationbecause of class cuts. Fluitt is ahomeless student at CuestaCollege in San Luis Obispo.“I’m not the only one,” shesays. “I see them on the cam-pus a lot, although to mostpeople, we tend to be kind ofinvisible.”Fluitt’s been on the streets for

three years. Part of what keepsher there is anxiety itself, whichis so serious that she’s classifiedas a disabled student. Clearlybudget cuts produce even moreanxiety. The two programs shedepends on to keep in school,Disabled Students Programsand Services (DSPS) andExtended Opportunity Pro-grams and Services (EOPS), areboth facing cuts. “The reality isthat people who need theseservices won’t be able to getthem,” she predicts. While sheoften says that a homeless lifedoesn’t bother her, she some-times lets another view revealitself. “I’m sick and tired ofbeing homeless,” she declares.“The cops harass you here, andit’s a very expensive communityto live in.”

Fluitt sees education as herpathway to a good job, perma-nent housing, and a life off thestreets. Right now, though, shelives in a van. She gets her mailat her parents’ home, whileother homeless students receivetheirs at two local agencies thatoffer mail-receiving services topeople who don’t have a fixedaddress. “I need school,” sheexplains. “Before I started, Ifelt I had a label on my fore-head saying ‘I’m homeless.’ Ijust wanted to be by myself,and stay in the car.”Fluitt wants to study

accounting, and knows that shecould make a living with an AAdegree if she can get throughthe next two years at Cuesta. “Ilike math and I’m good at it,”she says,“and I find computerscience easy for me as well.”But when she went to get herclasses this fall, she couldn’tpre-register and had to addthem as she could get them.And she was lucky. Many otherstudents found themselvesturned away from overflowingclassrooms. “I don’t know whatclasses they’ll cut next,” shesays. “One class I need is onlygiven this fall, and they’re cut-

ting it next spring. Idon’t know if I’ll beable to get what Ineed.”

Shared insecurityThat insecurity is shared with

teachers and classified workersas well. Emily Haraldson, afreeway flyer who teaches arthistory, found herself withoutone of her two jobs when thefall semester began. She gother first position as an instruc-tor at Mount San Antonio Col-lege in 2004, after getting herdegree at Cal State Northridge.That gave her two classes.Then, in 2005, she got anotherthree classes at Glendale Com-munity College.She tried working at the

Carnegie Museum in Oxnardthree years ago, but living inLos Angeles, curating inOxnard, and teaching inWalnutled to putting 20,000 miles ayear on her car. And she foundthat part time community col-lege positions, for all theirproblems, pay a lot better thanmuseums.This summer she got a letter

from her department chair atMount SAC, noting that thecollege “was cutting 5% off thetop,” and telling her she mightnot get as many classes as shewanted. After sending herschedule in to her supervisor,however, she was told therewere no classes available for herat all.“That cut my income by a

third right away,” she says. “Wefell a month behind on ourmortgage, so we don’t eat out,go to movies or rent DVDs. Ididn’t buy new clothes for mytwo boys, and don’t have themoney for preschool for theyoungest.” Fortunately, Harald-son’s husband is a musicianwhose steady gig is at night.That helped make up for thelack of

The human face of budget cutsCesar Cota, a student at LA City College, was the first in his

family to attend college. "Now it's hard to achieve mydream,” he says, “because the state put higher fees on us, and

cut services and classes."

“Hundreds of thousands of students enrolled in California

community colleges are unable to get the classes they need

and thousands of part-time faculty are without classes to teach.

The student returns for paying higher fees are increased class

size and fewer available classes.”

Top: Brenna Fluitt, homeless student at Cuesta College. Middle: Karen Schadel, administrative assistant in Yuba College (center) with supportive colleagues.56 classified employees at Yuba have received pink slips. Right: Emily Haraldson, art instructor at Glendale College, has lost her classes at another college.PH

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preschool, and even moreimportant, for the lack of money.“As it is, we’re considering sell-ing my car,” she notes.Haraldson sees students suffer-

ing the consequences as well.“At Glendale, I’ve had studentsbegging to get into my classes.We can only accept three to fiveover our cap,” and the collegecan’t accommodate everybody,she says.It’s hard to envision a future as

a teacher in these circumstances,says Haraldson. “Teaching willalways be part of my life-—I’mcalled to do it. But I may not bedoing it here. Full time jobs arenext to impossible to find, andnow adjunct jobs are getting cut.Still, I can’t complain. A lot ofother people have it worse off.”

Sudden decisionOne of them might be Karen

Schadel, an administrative assis-

tant to the dean of social sci-ences atYuba College inMarysville. Schadel has notonly done that job for 14 years– she practically invented it, or“massaged it,” as she puts it. “Ischedule 200 classes everysemester,” she explains. “I workwith 15 full faculty members,and over 30 part time instruc-tors. The relations you form inthis job are very strong. NowI’ve been told this job can bedone by a secretary.”Schadel, a member of the Cal-

ifornia School Employees Asso-ciation, says the decision toeliminate jobs was very sudden.District administrationannounced it was cutting thepositions of 56 classifiedemployees and two managers.The Board of Trustees “rubber-stamped” the decision onOctober 14, she says.These positions account for

590 years of service. Therewon’t be an interpreter for dis-abled students, or a science labtechnician. The transfer centercareer counselor, who’s beenthere for 24 years and is fight-ing cancer, will be gone. Theathletic facilities maintenanceperson, with 35 years, will beeliminated, along with threecustodians. “This place isalready dirty, and withoutthem, it will be filthy,” she pre-dicts. “And if you call to getsomething cleaned, there won’tbe anyone to answer thephone.”The district eliminated thirty

classes this semester, and hascancelled summer school 2010.The college library, alreadydown to four evenings a week,will only be open two now.Increasing the frustration, the

district has refused to releaseany budget information.“They tell us we don’t need tosee it,” Schadel fumes. Andwhile the state only mandates a5% reserve, the district is insist-ing on upping that to 7%.“They’re balancing their bud-get on classified employees,”she declares. “I don’t feel anyconfidence in their ability tomade good decisions. If they

won’t show us the budgetnumbers, how do we knowthey’re telling us the truthabout the need to do all this?”

Elimination of programSusan Downing, the campus

operation specialist for theYuba College site located onnearby Beale Air Force Base,has similar doubts. “They’relaying off all the staff that pro-vide the services to a thousandstudents here,” she says. “WhenI asked them what the plan wasfor continuing, they said therewas none.”That could lead to elimina-

tion of the program itself, sincethe district has a memorandumof understanding with the mil-itary specifying the kinds ofservices it will provide to thecurrently enlisted personnel,their families, veterans, andother civilians who take cours-es at the base. Some soldierseven take classes online, whilethey’re serving in Iraq andAfghanistan. The district paysnothing for the buildings andfacilities it uses on base.“I’m 57 years old, and I’ve

been doing this job for 22years,” Downing says. “I haveno retirement rights, so I’ll be

put on the street. My husbandis a veteran disabled since1990, and I survived cancer ayear ago. It took all we had.Economically, this will put usin a very bad position. They’renot only breaking our heartswith this, but they’re breakingour spirit.”While Schadel will be able to

bump a less senior employee,she has no guarantee that thesecond job won’t be eliminatedas well. “Bumping someoneout makes me feel crummy tobegin with,” she says.“But myhusband is disabled, and if myjob goes away, we’ll lose ourhouse and car.”The official unemployment

rate inYuba County is 17.5%.Says Schadel,“Everything is upin the air right now. I’m awreck.You can’t talk to anyonefor five minutes around herewithout them breaking downand crying. Morale is belowzero.”That describes pretty well

the feelings of too many com-munity college teachers, work-ers and students throughoutCalifornia. This is the humanface of budget cuts.

By David Bacon

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“They’re laying off all the staff that provide the services to a

thousand students here. When I asked them what the plan was

for continuing, they said there was none.”

Thanks to the state budgetcrisis—and if the Oakland dis-trict is any indicator—this is nota farfetched scenario.“In Oak-land, we lost 120 teachersovernight. We lost over 260classes. We lost more than sixtycommunity partners, who pro-vided space for classes in theirfacilities. Those agencies areessential.”Adult schools, until very

recently, provided a lot of com-munity services that cities andcounties don’t furnish, includingsome types of mental health.AEP served parolees, and manymarginally functional indi-viduals. “Now,” saysTuretsky,“they will be outon the streets without anyservices: older adults, adultswith disabilities, peoplewho need special programs,parenting programs, com-munity based learning forparents who have kids inpublic schools. And thesepeople, many of themimmigrants and Englishlanguage learners, won’t be

capable of college work.”The state Legislature and gov-

ernor has slashed the AEP bud-get by 20% since 2007-08. Andbecause they also eliminatedrules for categorical funding, K-12 administrators desperate forcore program maintenance have,in many districts, drasticallyreduced their Adult educationcourse offerings and workforce.Four have shut their doors andmore are slated to close nextyear.Turetsky, who teaches in

CareerTechnical Education andESL, thinks most of the basic

skills education tasks traditionallyshouldered by AEP will simplyvanish, and what’s left of adult edwill probably be absorbed withinthe community colleges in a fewyears. But, she warns,“Very fewcommunity colleges currentlyserve the truly low proficiencyreading level students—except-ing San Francisco, San Diego,Glendale, maybe a few others.But most community collegesare not well set up to handle thisconstituency.”According to a recent study by

the California BudgetProject,Basic Skills Education inCalifornia: At a Crossroads, nearlyone in four adult Californianscannot read and understand anewspaper. This is a major con-stituency served by AEP.Turetsky predicts that “there is

going to be a dumbing down, a

less literate group that willswamp basic skills classes incommunity colleges. It willlower the proficiency levels, theliteracy levels.”Another reasonthat community college facultyshould be concerned aboutwhat’s happening in AEP is that“this will widen the number oftemporary teachers out therewithout work, increasing com-petition for jobs, more skilledteachers vying for same posi-tions.”Turetsky thinks other agendas

are at work behind the bud-getary issues. “The budgetcrisis has been used to justifyunion busting, removing unionrights, health benefits. Mostadult school teachers are tempo-rary teachers, and this has givenadministrators license todo a sweep.”

For instance,“Now that theK12 general fund has the money,the Oakland administration hasdecided to entirely eliminateadult educator health benefits.”At the same time,Turetsky haslost all but one member of herbargaining team to layoffs.She has this message for com-

munity college faculty: “We’reall in this together. Because weserve so many of the same stu-dents, we can’t afford to be iso-lated anymore from one anotherin defense of our budgets.”

By Fred Glass

No, that’s not a typo in the headline. Where the state’s AdultEducation Program (AEP) is headed is clear enough to AnaTuretsky, longtime Oakland adult educator and president of

AFT Local 771: “If something doesn’t change, soon, very soon, wewon’t have adult education in California.”

Wither Adult Ed?

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Our two-thirds threshold forpassing the state budget allowsthe Legislative minority to refuseto look at a balanced solution tothe fiscal crisis.As CFT works tochange current realities, Repub-licans who deviate from caucuspositions face severe retribution.Assemblyman MikeVillines (R-Clovis) and Senator DaveCogdill (R-Modesto) lost theirminority leadership positionsafter budget votes. AssemblymanAnthony Adams (R-Hesperia)cast a deciding “aye” budget votelast year with full knowledgethat “this will probably be theend of a political career for me.”

Republican Adamstargeted by RepublicansWhen Adams voted, he

became a target, because theplan included $12.8 billion intemporary tax increases. Repub-licans plan to recall Adams forhis principled stand, to “bringback accountability to run-a-muck politicians, and put the taxhiking Sacramento machine onnotice.” Elected to the Califor-nia State Assembly in 2006,Assemblyman Anthony Adamsrepresents the Lake Arrowhead

area, plus surrounding commu-nities in Los Angeles County,

and wouldlike to con-tinue doingso. "As acommunitycollegegraduate Ihave seenfirst handhow Cali-fornia'sCommuni-

ty Collegesshape and prepare students to beproductive members of ourstate's workforce and contributeto the economic success of ourstate. I am committed to ensur-ing all students have access toaffordable higher education andhave the opportunity to achievetheir dreams."Most elected officials do not

come to Sacramento to cut edu-cation. We ask them to considerlegislation that will enhance stu-dent learning at our colleges bymaking the teaching professionattractive to the professors oftomorrow, whether they comefrom graduate schools or as sec-ond-career educators from other

fields. Some have answered ourrequest to carry bills called forby our CFT convention.

Ruskin carries FACEElected to the Assembly in

2004, Ira Ruskin represents Dis-trict 21, encompassing much ofSiliconValley, and serves on theHigher Education Committee.He carried FACE (Faculty andCollege Excellence) this year asLegislative Resolution 31through the Higher EducationCommittee on to the AssemblyAppropriations Committeewhere policy-makers held on toit, deciding that fulfillment of itsintent would create undue pres-sure on the state budget. Ruskincarried ACR 31 because full-time faculty members are centralto academic excellence, integrity,and freedom,which in turntranslate into better service ofstudents.The current full-time/part-time ratio stands at57/43, and part-time facultyteach an increasing percentage of

communitycollegecourses;moreover,collegescompensatepart-timefaculty atsignificantlylower wagesand benefitsthan full-

time faculty and they too oftenlack basic supports such as paidoffice hours. Ruskin believesthat pay and benefit increases forpart-time faculty, and ensuringthat these faculty members havea process to become full-time

faculty, will allow communitycolleges to better serve their stu-dent population.

Eng a CFT memberAssemblymember Mike Eng

represents the 49th AssemblyDistrict, within eastern LosAngeles County. Eng is also apart-time community collegeinstructor, and a proud memberof the AFT College Guild Local

1521. Engagreed tocarry AB1267 toextend theStateTeach-ers Retire-mentSystem’slongevitybenefit eventhough itstood little

chance of reaching the governorthis year.This longevity bonus,created by statute in 2000,encourages educators to provideadditional service in the profes-sion in order to qualify for anincreased retirement benefit.However, the law limited eligi-bility for this bonus to a 10-yearperiod so the state could reeval-uate the need for continuing itindefinitely. Eng agreed with theCFT that it was worth the fightto extend the benefit, scheduledto end on December 31, 2010,despite its cost, because it offersa continued benefit to thosemembers who will have servedan extraordinary number ofyears at the point of retirement.

Ma helps part-timersElected in 2006 to represent

the people of California’s 12thAssembly District—includingSan Francisco, Daly City, Colmaand Broadmoor—Fiona Ma alsoengaged in an important retire-ment struggle by carrying AB360, calling for a comprehensivestudy by STRS to examine thefeasibility of either creating anew program for part-timecommunity college instructorsor modifying current programsto make retirement benefitsmore equitable for part-timeinstructors. "As the state's fiscalsituation continues to worsen, itis these instructors who will bethe first to feel the effect of thereduced funding. Because theteacher’s retirement system wasoriginally created for full-timeemployees, many part-time fac-ulty lack the equitable benefitsthat full-time faculty receive.Although there have beentweaks to attempt to repair thesystem, the current options forpart-time community collegeinstructors remain inequitable."

We thankthese legisla-tors, andthose whovoted forthese bills,for standingwith us. Billsmovingthrough thelegislature,whether ornot they

reach the governor, allow officialstatewide debate on principlesimportant to our members.Wecannot allow budget constraints,even of this magnitude, to divertus from our purpose.

recalls. “We didn’t have muchexperience, and he turned out tobe a real champion of teachers.Some faculty were suspicious atfirst, thinking the AFT just wantedto take us over. But they could seethat Jim was just there to help, thathe didn’t have some ulteriormotive.”“We just want as many educa-

tion-friendly boards in our regionas we can get,” says Mahler, whobelieves solidarity between teachersand unions should naturally lead toconcrete cooperation.Overall, all candidates in the

2006 board election spent morethan $260,000, and in the end Barr

took 55% of the vote, enough toavoid a runoff.

Political programBecause of that experience,

Grossmont Cuyamaca facultybegan to develop a political pro-gram. In November 2008 theysupported Mary Kay Rosinski, aspeech/language pathologist innearby National City, who’d twicebeen president of the city’s teach-ers’ union. Rosinski emphasizedthe need for attracting more fulltime teachers and classifieds, andshe was endorsed by United Facul-ty and the San Diego-ImperialCounties Labor Council. Heropponent, 12-year-incumbentTimothy Caruthers, was supported

not just by the local RepublicanParty, but also by the ultra-conser-vative California RepublicanAssembly.This time Grossmont Cuyamaca

teachers were even more successful.Rosinsky took 69% of the vote.At the same time, Graham herself

ran for the San Diego CommunityCollege Board. In June last yearshe was forced into a runoff withDwayne Crenshaw, a director of anon-profit agency. Both wereendorsed by the AFT and laborcouncil. In November she waselected with 57% of the vote.During that fall campaign, Gross-

mont Cuyamaca faculty also decid-ed to join forces permanently withthe San Diego AFT local. Card

circulation began, and by March ofthis year, the petition to make AFTtheir bargaining representative wasfiled with the signatures of 72% ofthe combined full time/part timeunit. “We wanted access to expertleadership, and we needed it rightaway, not at the end of a longtraining process,” Graham says.“Joining Local 1931 meant wecould grow at a faster pace, withthe infrastructure already in place.”In June Local 1931 won 64% of theballots cast.“There are a lot of problems we

have to work on now,” Goldensays. “Part timers are woefullyunderpaid, with no healthcare.”The old union contract expired inJune, but remains in effect until

new bargaining begins.Grossmont Cuyamaca faculty

have 12 seats on the Local 1931executive board, out of 67. Eachbargaining unit chooses its ownrepresentatives, and mixed teamsbargain contracts so that each unithas the benefit of the wholeunion’s expertise. Contracts areratified by the members of the bar-gaining unit they cover.Now Grossmont Cuyamaca

teachers have their eyes on the2010 election. Three seats areup—Barr’s, and those of two con-servative incumbents. “We’regoing to change that board,”Michael Golden predicts.

By David Bacon


LEGISLATION

Working the FloorJudith Michaels, CFT Legislative Director

Community colleges wrestle with hard choices due to the signifi-cant drop in state revenues, coupled with Legislative reluctanceto enact taxes to address California’s needs. Part-time faculty lose

significant portions of their livelihoods, while students and faculty strug-gle with increasing class sizes and inadequate support services.Meanwhilethe state Board of Governors debates revisingTitle 5 regulations pertain-ing to implementing Fifty Percent Law requirements that each commu-nity college district spend at least half of its “current expense ofeducation” each year for salaries and benefits of classroom instructors, andagain decides that declining state revenue means that full-time facultyhiring obligations will remain unchanged for Fall 2010.

Legislative perils and progress

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Anthony Adams

Fiona MaIra Ruskin

Mike Eng

Local Action continued from page 8

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FISCAL CRISIS

The July budget packagereduced community collegeProp 98 funding by $812 mil-lion. This represents a 12.53%budget cut. When you combinethat with the loss of our statuto-ry Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) of 4.24%, communitycollege Prop 98 funding is downby 16.77%. In addition, $1.03billion (yes, with a B) of ourfunds will be deferred. Thefunding from January to June in2010 ($703 million) is deferreduntil July 2010, the next fiscalyear. This will make it difficultfor many districts to meet pay-roll and other institutional costs,and may force many to borrowfunds. Many of us are con-cerned about these deferralsbecause; 1) they create a $703million deficit the followingyear’s budget, 2) the legislaturemight cut the deferrals to bal-ance the 2010-11 budget, and 3)these deferrals may become apermanent feature of the com-munity college budget.

Categorical reductionsCategorical programs have

been reduced by $312 million($705 million in 2008-09 to$393 million in 2009-10), whichrepresents an overall 46% reduc-tion. Some categorical programs“without flexibility” such asBasic Skills, EOPS, and DSPSwere cut by 40%, while cate-gorical programs “with flexibil-ity” such as Matriculation,Transfer Education and Articu-lation, Part-time Faculty Com-pensation, Part-time HealthInsurance, and Part-time OfficeHours, were cut by 51%. Howwill our Basic Skills, EOPS,DSPS and Matriculation pro-grams meet student needs,especially since these programsserve some of our most vulner-able students?The cuts to the Part-time

categorical programs highlightthe targeted effect this budgethas had on part-time faculty.Districts around the state havebeen reducing class sections,

resulting in part-time faculty los-ing their jobs and income. Theloss of one class by a part-timefaculty member can mean thatthey no longer qualify for healthinsurance benefits. With thereductions in Part-time categori-cal programs they will lose evenmore.Federal stimulus funds from

the American Recovery andReinvesttment Act (ARRA),were supposed to help mitigatethe extreme cuts to the categori-cal programs. However, theanticipated $130 million inARRA funds trickled in at $35million, and could not even bedirectly allocated to categoricals.

Student fee increasesOne of the worst things that

passed in this budget was thestudent fee increase to $26 perunit. Students will be payingmore to find fewer classes, cou-pled with an unprecedentednumber of students from CSUand UC competing for thosesame classes, and with fewersupport services. For the firsttime student fee increases arenow used to directly fund com-munity colleges ($80 million).You only have to look at thetuition increases at CSU andUC to know how dangerous aprecedent this creates.We were always able to

effectively argue that studentfees were taxes on those whocan least afford it. The revenuethat student fees generate for thestate’s overall general fund isextremely small, but the impactthey have on enrollment and onaccess to higher education isvery large. This is why we havebeen able to keep student feesfrom skyrocketing over the past10 years. But now our opposi-tion can lobby,“Don’t you wantstudent fees to go up slightly tofund critical student services inyour community college dis-trict? Besides, students havefinancial aid.” Even some of thecommunity colleges’ administra-tive leadership supports thisidea.The future does not look any

better. The current state budgetalready has a $7.5 billion deficit,thus raising the specter of mid-year cuts. The budget in 2010-11 has an anticipated $15 billiondeficit when both the ARRAFunds and the tax exemptionssunset. The budget in 2011-12is anticipated to have more thana $15 billion deficit causedmainly by sunsetting temporarytax increases.We are headed into a death

spiral; we need to fight for Cali-fornia’s future.

By Dean Murakami

State communitycollege budget headed

into a death spiral

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It is hard to understand how reducing our investment in public education is good for the economic andsocial vitality of the community. The 2009-10 budget cuts to community colleges are having a significantnegative effect. Many students, faculty, and classified staff only realized the impact as we returned for the fall

semester.

California Higher Education Funding (General Fund Dollars in Millions)

AMOUNT AMOUNT AMOUNT CHANGE CHANGE2007-2008 2008-2009 2009-2010 2007-2010 PERCENT

University of California (UC) $3,257 $2,420 $2,636 -$621 -19.1%California State University (CSU) $2,971 $2,156 $2,338 -633 -21.3California Community Colleges $4,170 $3,948 $3,736 -434 -10.4

Recent History of the Cost of LivingAdjustment (COLA) in California

Community Colleges

2005-06 = 4.23%2006-07 = 5.92%2007-08 = 4.53%2008-09 = 0%2009-10 = 0%2010-11 = 0%

Gus Goldstein and Ed Murray hold up the banner for AFT 2121 at a CityHall rally on October 15 called by a coalition of students, faculty andstaff in K12, community college, and universities in support of AB 656,for an oil severance tax that would help fund public higher education.The bill, if enacted, would bring an estimated $100 million share tocommunity colleges.

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Los AngelesL.A. College Guild’s internprogram gets results

This summer Hosea Dixon par-ticipated in “Standup4CC,” a stu-dent internship program sponsoredby the Los Angeles College Guild,AFT Local 1521. He called hisexperience “overwhelmingly posi-tive,” and said he'd become “amarkedly different person because ofit. Not only has it given me a gen-uine feeling of control—controlover campus issues, control overstate and federal affairs, control overaspects of my life I felt I was farremoved from—but it has also givenme a sense of purpose.”As a result of his internship expe-

rience, Dixon is continuing to workon promoting access to educationand other community issues. “Forthe first time in my life I feel fullyinvested in the future of my com-munity, my state and my country,”he says.For Zack Knorr, coordinator of

Standup4CC, Dixon’s experienceshows the success of the program.“We develop student leaders,” heexplains, “who go on to do thiswork in unions, in politics, andthroughout their lives. As educators,that’s what we’re looking for.”Knorr, hired last semester to run

the program, is a full-time philoso-phy instructor at Valley College.According to John McDowell,Director of the Los Angeles TradeTech Labor Studies Department,Knorr has made an enormous differ-ence: “He’s really a dedicated orga-nizer. From a program with unevenresults over time, everything is nowclicking on all cylinders.”

New urgencySet up in 2003 by McDowell, the

program acquired a new urgencyand mission in the wake of Califor-nia’s extreme budget cuts, and theirimpact on community colleges.The internship program now

takes six students from each of thenine campuses in the Los AngelesCommunity College system.They’re trained in basic organizingtechniques for 18 hours eachsemester, through the LACCD’sDolores Huerta Institute. Theylearn how to put together events,rallies and visits to legislators, andbuild a committee of students oneach campus.They then put their skills to work

in three areas. They mobilize otherstudents on each campus, speakingin classes, getting postcards signedprotesting the budget cuts, andinviting legislators to speak at cam-pus rallies. They take that studentenergy and try to focus it on thestate legislators who make decisionsover the future of students and theircollege. And the interns take partin general election activity in Los

Angeles.Students in the program receive

$1000 per semester. They have toattend meetings and put in 5 hoursof work each week.

Legislators pay attentionThis past year student interns

organized meetings with every statelegislator in the area, sharing theirstories of the pain caused by the cuts,and establishing a regular relation-ship. They collected the signaturesof 30,000 fellow students on post-cards protesting fee increases andbudget reductions. “Legislators payattention to students,” Knorr says,“and see them as less self-interestedthan faculty. When students telltheir stories, it has a big impact, andif you multiply that by 2 millioncommunity college studentsstatewide, you can see the potentialpower they have.”Student interns put in thousands

of hours phone banking for thecampaign of President BarackObama before the November elec-tion, and in the spring contest overseats on the college district Board ofTrustees, turning out other studentsas well. They organized a studentmeeting with Senator DianneFeinstein, urging her to support theEmployee Free Choice Act andprogressive health care reform.“In 2010 we’re going to focus on

the governor’s race,” Knorr predicts,“as well as legislative seats and theinitiatives that will affect state bud-gets and community college fund-ing.”A former student activist himself

on the Riverside campus of theUniversity of California, Knorrhopes that the program will spreadto other community college districts.“Our local tried different ideas overthe years before setting up theinternships,” he explains. “Nowour members can see that this pro-gram works, that it gets results. Plus,working with students is inspiring.The interns have taken ownership ofit, and that’s what will make themobilization campaign programwork and continue to grow.”

By David Bacon

San FranciscoLocal 2121 cuts overloadto save jobs

When Gus Goldstein told themembers of the CFT CommunityCollege Council meeting what herlocal had done to protect currentpart-time faculty jobs, CCC repre-sentatives burst into applause. Why?Because it was so clearly the rightthing to do.Goldstein is president of San

Francisco Community College Fed-eration of Teachers, AFT Local

2121. Facing the prospect of reduc-ing class sections, the leadership ofLocal 2121 discussed options withthe chancellor at the negotiatingtable. As a result, the district agreedto the union’s proposal to “lay off”retired faculty first, and then toeliminate overload classes taught bycurrent full-time faculty before cut-ting part-timers’ jobs.

Organize against cutsThe proposal followed Local

2121’s adoption of a resolution toorganize against budget cuts and fora solution that will restore fundingfrom the state and at CCSF, activelyjoining efforts consistent with thispurpose. Included in the list ofactivities it pledged to initiate wereto “provide a voice for CCSF facul-ty against the layoff of our unitmembers,” and to “provide a voicefor faculty at the bargaining table byreaching out to our most vulnerableunit members and negotiating withthe District over the impact of thecuts on our unit members’ jobs andworking conditions.”2121 did have concerns about

unintended effects. As Goldsteinput it, “For instance, what wouldhappen if all the ceramic teachers inthe art department were retirees?We wouldn’t want to simply elimi-nate all ceramics classes—we don’twant to change programs in anunbalanced way.”

Saving jobsWithin the union the proposal

was controversial. Some facultywith overload classes were nothappy to see them cut. “But anoth-er teacher came to me,” she recalls,“a person with 60% overload, whosaid they knew that eliminating itmight save the job of a part-timer.Overall, I think there was more soli-darity than unhappiness.”So far it’s hard to gauge the pro-

posal’s effect, however. The districthasn’t been able to provide a list oflaid off teachers. “We don’t knowthe number of layoffs among part-timers,” Goldstein says.In anticipation of possible further

cuts, the union is asking faculty withany load reductions to fill out aninformation sheet on the union’swebsite. “We need people to self-report the results as they knowthem,” says Goldstein. “Then wecan put those reports together to get

a more complete picture for thewhole district.”

By David Bacon

El CajonBig AFT organizing win inGrossmont Cuyamaca

On June 26 the official resultswere announced in a long quest byfaculty at Grossmont CuyamacaCommunity College for effectiverepresentation in both bargainingand political action: AFT 439, inde-pendent union 230. Michael Gold-en, who’s taught biology andecology for seventeen years andhelped lead the AFT campaign, saidthe results “make me feel happy andoptimistic, much better about ourfuture. These are scary times, andwe need a strong, smart, democraticunion. Now we have one.”

Local 1931 already represents fac-ulty at next door San Diego Com-munity College, along with severalother bargaining units. GrossmontCuyamaca runs from the easternedge of the San Diego district toImperial County, and south to theMexican border. In 2008 the dis-trict had 362 full time faculty mem-bers, and 1037 part timers, on twocampuses: Grossmont, in El Cajon,and Cuyamaca in Rancho SanDiego.The decision by the Grossmont

Cuyamaca instructors to join Local

1931 followed a long effort toincrease its political strength in thedistrict. “We were getting our buttskicked,” Golden explains, “by avery conservative board. Onetrustee says teachers and firefightersare the most overpaid people in thecounty.”Mary Graham, chair of Cuyamaca

College's Communication ArtsDepartment and another leader inthe AFT campaign, remembers backfurther, to a time when “we had afriendly district, with little sophisti-cation or antagonism.” In thosedays, she says, the independentunion worked well. But both agreethat the situation of teachers becamemarkedly worse when the districthired a new human resources direc-tor. “He had no respect for us, andhadn’t even read the Ed Code.”

More corporate districtGolden says teachers also began

seeing that some of their biggestproblems couldn’t be resolved local-ly, like the erosion of tenure and theskyrocketing cost of health benefits.“In addition,” he explains, “the dis-trict became more corporate, andwould litigate every issue. An inde-pendent union didn’t have theresources to fight this effectively.One faculty member had to take outa $70,000 home equity loan todefend himself when they went afterhim for criticizing district man-agers.”In 2006 many United Faculty

members urged the union to runcandidates for the district’s board oftrustees. When the union said it hadno resources for such a campaign,Golden, Graham and others set upan independent political actioncommittee, Citizens for EducationalResponsibility. One of their candi-dates was Greg Barr, who’d taught

for 22 years at Fallbrook HighSchool, and was twice president ofthe union there. Barr was a strongcritic of the ratio of full time to parttime faculty at Grossmont Cuya-maca. His main opponent, incum-bent Arkan Somo, was a charterschool promoter endorsed by theChamber of Commerce.“Jim Mahler, president of the SanDiego AFT Guild, came as anindividual to help us,” Golden

ActionLocal

Teachers began seeing that some of their biggest problems couldn’t be resolved

locally, like the erosion of tenure and the skyrocketing cost of health benefits.

continued on page 6

Grossmont Cuyamaca science instructor Michael Golden.

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Student interns from Pierce and Valley Colleges and faculty coordinators ofthe Standup4CC program in the LACCD visit Bob Blumenfield, D-SanFernando Valley, to let him know how it is these days for community collegestudents. From left, Clay Gallardo, Elizabeth Valldejuli, Zack Knorr, EmilyHarake, Carl Friedlander, JoanneWaddel, JohnMcDowell, StateAssemblymember Bob Blumenfield, Marcos Perez, Jessica Gallardo,Esmerelda Catalan, Jacob Lynn, Samuel Lara.

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Documents

Perspective, Nov 2009