See Adjunct Jobs back page

The Talk These days on community college campuses revolves around one major issue — jobs and the state bud-get crisis. In many districts, the

slashing of course sections in the spring semester has been draconian —100 to 150 sec-tions at some colleges. Many are reporting cuts for summer and fall as well. With little job security, adjunct faculty are most seriously impacted.

Allan Hancock College was particularly hard hit when the administration eliminated win-ter intersession altogether and cut 230 FTEs from the spring credit schedule. “The burden has fallen almost entirely on part-time instructors although some full-timers have lost over-load assignments,” said Mark James Miller, president of its Part-Time Faculty Association.

In addition, the administration

was an unfair labor practice. The administration decided to rescind that particular action.”

At a workshop at the CFT Convention, activists from around the state discussed part-time faculty layoffs and shared stories about the loss of income and health benefits. “It’s frustrat-ing that we have no data on the real impact of the budget crisis on adjunct faculty,” said John Govsky, Cabrillo College Federa-tion, who facilitated the session.

While concrete data is hard to come by, Part-Timer has heard from adjuncts around the state. One adjunct, who did not want to be identified said, “I have been very affected by the budget problems. I teach at three colleges, all between 30-50 miles from my home, and two of them have cut my assigned courses in half. My husband and I bought our first home this summer, and we arein the process of finalizing an

Part-TimerP R O M O T I N G Pa R T- T I M e F a C U lT y R I G h T s

If you do not have a summer teaching assignment or another job, you are entitled to unem-ployment benefits during the summer break.

If you are teaching summer school, you may qualify for unemployment benefits in the periods before or after summer session so long as you do not have reasonable assurance of further employment during a subsequent term.

This benefit is the result of a 1989 CFT legal challenge that led to the landmark deci-sion of Cervisi v. California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board, which held that temporary faculty (i.e., part-time)

are eligible for unemployment benefits between terms if they do not have reasonable assurance of reemployment. A future assign-ment that is contingent upon enrollment, funding, or bumping by a full-time faculty member does not provide reasonable assurance of reemployment.

If you still have work of some kind between terms, you may be eligible for partial unemploy-ment if your salary is less than what you would receive from unemployment.

If you receive payments from the EDD, be sure to report any and all other earnings. You are required to look for work, but not outside your field of exper-

tise or farther than 25 miles from your home. Save all documents related to your claim, such as letters from your district, and records of contacts made with potential employers.>To apply for unemployment, go to www.edd.ca.gov. If EDD denies your claim, contact your AFT local union to file a timely appeal.>If you get health benefits from the distict and you lose your assignment, you are now entitled to nine months continued cover-age under President Obama’s stimulus package, and the district must pay 65 percent of that amount. Previously, you had to pay the premiums yourself.

Adjuncts from unions around the state talked about jobs at CFT Convention.

About applying for unemployment benefits

announced that it intended to shorten all non-credit courses in the spring semester by

“We are contingent workers with no contingency. The cuts may be small at some colleges, but if you’re trying to make a living, even small cuts can be devastating.“three weeks. “We demanded that they bargain with us over this unilateral change,” said Miller. “Since the semester had already started, we held that it

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

Spring 2009 Volume 20, Number 2

Trying to gauge impact of fiscal crisisAdjunct faculty losing work as class sections cut

adjUNCT FaCUlTy FROM community colleges around the state waited for their turn at the microphones at CFT Convention in March, to speak to several resolu-tions impacting part-time faculty. Three resolutions, two originating in the CFT Part-Time Committee passed easily.

Mandate rehire rights Addressing the pivotal issue of rehire rights, one resolution asks CFT to pursue legislation to change the California Education Code to give priority rehire rights to temporary community college faculty who have worked at a college for six semesters

or nine quarters with satisfactory performance. This would not sup-plant stronger rehire seniority rights already negotiated in local contracts.

Promote adjuncts Another resolution asks the CFT to support

legislation that would require dis-tricts to promote an adjunct into a full-time positions if he or she has been teaching in the department for at least eight semesters and has a satisfactory performance record.

“Why not give priority to instruc-tors who are familiar with the college?” asked Mike Dixon from the Ventura Federation. “If that instructor was good enough to teach a partial load in that depart-ment for the past four years, he or she should be good enough to teach a full load and have the sal-ary, benefits, and security that their full-time colleagues enjoy.” Ph

OTO

S: T

OP,

jO

hn

gO

VSkY

, BO

TTO

M, S

hA

rOn

BEA

lS

Faculty Profile | Julie Miller

26-year adjunct honored for dedication to union

2 Part-Timer Spring 2009

jUlIe MIlleR ReTIRed this year, after teach-ing part-time in the early childhood education department at Cabrillo College since 1982. For her years of service to the union, the Cabrillo College Federation of Teachers honored her at a luncheon. “I felt incredibly honored by the award from the union,” she said. “I feel at home in CCFT — I’ve been part of a really fine local.”

Part-time teaching was perfect for Miller, who had three young children, ages 2½, 4, and 5 when she started. But she missed the opportu-nity that full-time faculty have to work together collegially. “My major frustration as a part-timer was not being more involved in campus life,” she said. She soon got her chance when people began to form the local.

Miller quickly became involved and was appointed part-time rep. She served on the Northern California CFT Part-Time Commit-tee when the Part-Timer began publication (see page 3). “It was so exciting to be with other part-timers. With 12 of us in the room, we knew 40 campuses. Part-timers have a broader view of the system because they’ve taught in so many schools.” She later became the local’s membership co-chair, head of its Part-Time Committee, and a member of the negotiating team.

“Some colleges have two unions, one for full-time and one for part-time. This has never been the case at Cabrillo. Disagree-ments and arguments do happen here, but always among equals.

My views were listened to; I always felt like a full member of the community. I made wonderful friends in the union.” One reason for the collab-orative spirit, she believes, is that adjunct faculty pay is tied to the full-time salary schedule; cur-rently the salary is at 62 percent pro rata. “That unites us.”

The camaraderie and sense of purpose kept her active, and so did the desire to solve the problems she encountered. “It’s frustrat-ing to teach the same classes for half the pay,” she explained. “For 26 years, my office space on campus was one file drawer and a shelf in a shared office. We should have job security, health benefits, and equal pay. It’s humiliating to be a second-class citizen.”

Miller is planning to spend time in retirement taking care of herself, exercising, reading fiction, and sorting through years’ worth of handouts. She may substitute teach or work with children.

“I grew a whole lot from my work in the union,” she concludes. “It was satisfying work and gave me a sense of self worth.” Her hope is that more part-timers will become active.

“There’s no way for things to get better with-out the union. Our collective voice is stronger than our individual voices. The CEO of a major auto company said recently, ‘Unions are an anachronistic structure.’ I disagree. We need unions more than ever. The inequities are so deep across the system; it’s only through the union that we’re ever going to change things.”

“We need unions more than ever. The inequities are so deep across the system; it’s only through the union that we’re ever going to change things.”

CFT Convention passes three resolutions affecting adjuncts “One person, one vote” The

third resolution calls for adjuncts to have an equal voice in the elec-tion of department chairs. At most colleges, adjuncts are not allowed to vote in department chair elec-tions at all. At San Francisco City College, adjuncts are able to vote, but their votes count as only one-half of a vote.

“A less than full vote demeans part-timers and disrespects our con-tributions to our departments and our colleges” explained Carmen roman-Murray, from the San Francisco Federation, which brought forth the resolution.

Mike Dixon said there is precedent for rehire rights in several districts.

PhO

TOS:

TO

P, j

Oh

n g

OVS

kY, B

OTT

OM

, Sh

ArO

n B

EAlS

FaCUlTy IN Santa Clarita have declared impasse in contract negotiations with the district that began last June. “If College of the Canyons can afford to give us a raise, it can and should put us on a track to some kind of priority assignment system,” says Beverly Cope, president of Part-Time Faculty United.

Cope says there is “absolutely no system to allow part-time faculty to gain any kind of job security from one semester to the next. While they claim they need the flexibility to choose ‘the best person for the job,’ some part-time faculty have served the school for many years. A stellar job performance over several semesters does not seem to qualify a current part-timer over a new hire.”

Faculty member Pete Virgad-amo knows firsthand the devas-tating impact of not having job security. Despite having taught

three classes a semester at Col-lege of the Canyons for the past 18 years, receiving “glowing” evaluations, and publishing articles in academic journals, Virgadamo, who has a Ph.D., was told that there were oth-ers with “more expertise and currency” and he would not be needed to teach. His courses were given to a recent CSUN graduate. “It’s unprofessional-ism at its worst,” he says.

“Instead of looking at one’s achievements and tried and true record, department chairs can manipulate the assignment list in any way they want,” said Virg-adamo, who is vice president of membership for Local 6262.

Local President Cope con-cludes, “This is a no-cost item to the college but, so far, they are unwilling to budge at all on this issue.”

The UNITed PROFessORs of Marin is currently in the fact-finding stage of contract negotiations, with a strike con-sidered a “very real possibility,” according to Local 1610 Presi-dent Ira Lansing. “Our district has announced that they have no intention of resolving any-thing, but will wait for the fact-

IN OaklaNd, the Peralta Federation of Teachers is work-ing to ensure that its prior-ity rehire pool is functional so long-time adjunct faculty have some job protection. “We nego-tiated the rehire policy several years ago and the administra-tion and faculty have been lax in making sure that the evalu-ations of part-time faculty

2009 MaRks TweNTy years of Part-Timer, a CFT newslet-ter dedicated solely to the con-cerns of part-time faculty. In the spring of 1990, the Part-Time Committee launched the news-letter to “forge a new determina-tion among part-time teachers to regain our professional dig-nity, restore academic freedom and its mother right — freedom of speech — to our beleaguered ranks.” Under the slogan, Equity, Parity, Unity, the Part-Timer aimed to unite adjuncts working

finding report and then ‘pick’ the items in that and in their last offer that suit them.”

Among other items, the local is trying to move from 95 percent pro rata pay for adjuncts to 100 percent, as well as increase the limits of benefit coverage and expand eligibility.

for the rehire pool were com-pleted,” explains Debra Wein-traub, the local’s president. To encourage people to complete the evaluations, the union streamlined the process and got the district to agree to pay part-time faculty $60 for each com-pleted evaluation of another part-time instructor.

in AFT-repre-sented districts throughout California, and to communi-cate the union’s progress in making the workplace more equitable for adjunct faculty.

There’s no argument — we have a long way to go — back then and today. But the issues shown here recap the CFT’s major victories for adjuncts in the past 20 years.

College of the Canyons adjuncts go to the mat for rehire rights

Marin local seeking 100 percent pro rata facing takebacks

Oakland rejuvenates rehire pool

Part-Timer celebrates 20 years!

FreewayFlyersNews from part-timers around the state

Spring 2009 Part-Timer 3

With a new gover-

nor in Sacra-

mento, the time

is ripe for long overdue leg-

islative change. You can help

influence the process May

17 at the second annual

CFT-sponsored Rally for

Full-Time Jobs and Part-

Timer Rights. The 11

rally on the north steps of

the Capitol is part of CFT’s

Lobby Day, at which you

can also lobby on behalf of a

$40 million full-time jobs

bill co-sponsored by CFT,

and the omnibus part-timer

equity legislation now before

the Legislature.

Rather than proposing

several bills for part-timer

PART TIMERPART TIMER

It’s summer break, and

you’re without a job.

Are you entitled to

unemployment bene-

fits? When in doubt, file a

claim with the California

Employment Development

Department (EDD).

If you are a part-time

employee, a freeway flyer, or

whatever you call yourself,

and you do not have a sum-

mer teaching assignment or

another job, you are enti-

tled to unemployment ben-

efits during the eight- to

ten-week summer break.

If you are teaching sum-

mer school, you qualify for

unemployment benefits in

the periods before or after

summer session.

Thanks to CFT’s legal

challenge that led to the

landmark 1989 decision of

the California Court of

Appeals,Cervisi v. California

Unemployment Insurance

Appeals Board, community

college part-time faculty are

eligible for unemployment

benefits if their employ-

ment contract does not

guarantee reason-

able assurance of

reemployment.

The fact is, part-time fac-

ulty are not guaranteed

reemployment for fall

semester or summer session,

since their teaching assign-

ments are contingent on

enrollment, funding, and

program changes.

If EDD denies your

claim for unemployment

benefits, file an appeal, and

contact your local AFT

union for assistance.

Should you receive an

unemployment award and

begin to receive payments

from the EDD, be sure to

report any and all other

earnings. You are required

to look for work, so check

the want ads. Contact pub-

lic and private schools.

However, you are not

required to look for work

outside your field or farther

than 25 miles from your

home. Documentation is

important, so save anything

� -

It’s Unemployment Time Again!

Some tips from CFT, the folks

who won you the right to

unemployment benefits

See EDD benefit, back page

See Rally, back page

Part-Timer Rally!

May 17, 11 A.M., State Capitol

Join your part-time colleagues

May 17 at the State Capitol

The largest-ever mobi-lization of part-timefaculty, full-time facul-ty, and everyone in theunion led to the gover-

nor’s Oct. 8 signature on themuch heralded part-timefaculty “bill of rights,”the most comprehensivepackage of improvementsfor part-time faculty todate.

The new law increasespart-timers’ access tohealth benefits,increases studentaccess to faculty byexpanding theoffice hour pro-gram, and calls fora comprehensivestudy to examineduties of part-time faculty as comparedto full-time faculty, including classroomteaching, class preparation, office hours,record keeping, student evaluations, writ-ing student recommendations, and more.

“The goal of AB 420 was to make deep,permanent systemic changes in the histor-ical treatment of part-time faculty in com-

munity colleges,”says Tom Tyner,president of CFT’s

Community CollegeCouncil. “Because of its scope and power,the bill gained national attention amongeducators. Faculty leaders from severalstates requested copies for their own leg-islative consideration.”

Many California part-timers became

PART TIMERPART TIMER

� -

What’s the buzz?

Students are becoming awarethat there are two distinct

groups of instructors, two castes.They are learning that we aren’tgetting a fair shake. The lack ofequity in office hours is especial-ly getting their attention.

Charles Johnson, part-time reading

instructor,Yuba College Federation

Assembly Bill 420 was myfirst full experience nurtur-

ing a piece of legislationthrough all the steps toward passage. It gave me a sense ofempowerment to finally be ableto air part-timer grievances inan arena where I felt listened to.

Phyllis Eckler, part-time dance

instructor, Glendale College Guild

T he real beauty of AB420 rests in how it has

energized part-time faculty andin how it has educated so manyoutside of the usual loop —students, legislators, and com-munity members.

Homer Arrington, part-time English

instructor,Ventura County FederationSee Historic bill, back page

It’s a bill…it’s a signature…

It’s Super NewsGovernor signs historic bill to improve benefits, mandate study

How new law will affect adjunctsUnion wins new law raising part-time load to 67 percentBeginning in January, adjuncts will be permitted to teach up to 67 percent of what constitutes full-time employ-ment for a contract faculty member. Although this may seem like a small percentage increase, it’s a big deal to Sarah Harmon, an adjunct instructor of 10 years who teaches at two Bay Area campuses, Cañada College and San Jose City Col-lege. She is a member of two local unions, the San Mateo College Federation of Teach-ers and the San Jose/Evergreen Faculty Association. Because of the passage this summer of AB591 (Dymally, D-Los Angeles), adjunct faculty like Harmon have reason to celebrate this landmark legisla-tive victory that will allow some faculty to teach more hours in one location.

“This change will give me more options because I won’t be restricted to teaching only 3-unit courses,” she says. Har-mon, who teaches Spanish, a

15-unit discipline, would have liked to teach two 5-unit first-year courses but is not able to with the 60 percent restriction. “With a 5-unit and a 3-unit course, I have different prepa-rations, so being able to accept two first-year courses will reduce my workload.” It will also cut her commute time. “If I can teach 10 units in one place instead of my usual 8 units, I won’t have to travel to another district to pick up a 3-unit class just to be able to earn enough to live on,” she says. “It’s nuts to be running around like this.” Faculty in other disciplines with 5-unit courses, such as ESL and math, will similarly

benefit from the opportunity to increase their load. Even in disciplines with different loads, faculty will be able to add more

units, translating into higher earnings. In 12-unit disciplines, adjuncts will be allowed to teach 8 units, for example, a 5-unit ESL class and a 3-unit

Part-Timer Community College Council of the California Federation of Teachers

American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO

P r O M O T i n g Pa r T- T i M e F a C u LT y r i g H T SFall 2008 Volume 20, Number 1

Sarah Harmon, who teaches Spanish in two districts, can now teach two 5-unit

first-year courses instead of a 5-unit and 3-unit class with different preparations.

Counselor Sandra Rodrigues at Skyline College says the extra hours will really help at semester “crunch times.”

composition class. “This could be a good way to supplement my income, since I’m currently limited to teaching six units in the district,” says William Zhangi, from the Los Angeles College Faculty Guild. In 18- and 21-unit disciplines, faculty can teach two additional units, such as a 2-unit activity class.Sandra Rodrigues, a Puente counselor at Skyline Col-lege, and a member of the San Mateo Federation, says, “I’m really excited to know that part-timers will have the possi-bility to work additional hours, especially at those ‘crunch times’ at the beginning and the end of the semester when stu-dents need all the help they can get.” Currently, Rodrigues is lim-ited to an 18-hour week. “I always have students coming in, and even being on campus just two more hours a week, I would be able to counsel four

more students. I know that with the students I work with, if they hadn’t received the extra support we give them, they might have dropped out.”

“If I can teach 10 units in one place instead of my usual 8 units, I won’t have to travel to another district to pick up a 3-unit class just to be able to earn enough to live on. It’s nuts to be running around like this.” – Sarah Harmon, adjunct Spanish instructor

1989 AFT legal case wins adjuncts unemployment benefits,

1990 First Part-Timer

1996 Union-sponsored AB3099 gives more adjuncts health benefits

1997 Union-sponsored AB 301 provides for paid office hours

1999 Union-sponsored AB 420 expands office hours and access to health benefits

2007 AFT local unions top state in pro rata pay

2008 Union-sponsored AB591 raised part-time load to 67 percent

PROMOTING PART-TIME FACULTY RIGHTS

Spring 2007Volume 18, Number 2

TakeAction

Could the dream of

“equal pay for equal

work” become a real-

ity for contingent faculty in

California? It could if CFT is

successful in promoting the

passage of progressive legisla-

tion, as part of the national

AFT campaign to address the

academic staffing crisis in

higher education.

One of the principles of

the the newly introduced

Faculty and College Excel-

lence Act (AB 1343, Men-

doza, D-Artesia) is pro rata

pay—salary and benefits

equal to that of tenured and

tenure-track faculty doing

comparable work.

Current practice in most

districts is to pay part-time

faculty on a separate hourly

pay scale, and only for the

hours they are in the class-

room, not for preparation

and grading.Although adjunct faculty

are a long way from attaining

pro rata pay, many CFT

locals have negotiated with

their districts to set targets

for equity—some aiming for

100 percent pro rata pay.

Many are making incremen-

tal progress to reach these

goals as budgets allow.

In an agreement just nego-

tiated by the San Jose/Ever-

green Faculty Association,

adjunct faculty will be join-

ing those in other districts

whose salaries are tied to the

full-time salary schedule.

“This is of monumental

importance for adjunct facul-

ty in the district,” says Jory

Segal, adjunct PE instructor

and bargaining team member.

The hourly schedule will

cease to exist. Instead, part-

time faculty will be “rated

in” to determine their place-

ment on steps and columns

of a pay scale that takes into

account their level of educa-

tion and years of experience

at a percentage of what their

full-time colleagues earn.The

district and union will nego-

PartTimerCommunity College Council of the California Federation of Teachers

American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO

CFT ConventionWhat’s in store for

part-time faculty?

Plenty! Here’s the line-up for events

of interest to adjunct faculty at the

annual CFT Convention being held

March 16–18 at the Wilshire Grand

Hotel in downtown Los Angeles:

Friday, March 16 6 p.m.

Dinner and discussion where union

leaders from around the state will get

together to discuss strategies for orga-

nizing part-time faculty.

Saturday, March 17 3:15 p.m.

A workshop and panel will focus on

ways to get our message out, mentor

new leaders, foster a sense of pride in

the work of our locals, and promote

participation to improve conditions for

part-time faculty in higher education.

Sunday, March 18 7:30 a.m.

Part-time faculty have a final opportuni-

ty to talk share ideas for improving our

effectiveness over early morning break-

fast as the union wraps up the week-

end’s events.The three-day convention also offers

workshops and speakers of interest to

all faculty. State Senator Gilbert Cedillo,

from the Los Angeles area, will speak

about his "California Dream Act," which

would allow undocumented students

who meet in-state tuition requirements

to compete for student aid .

Plus, Don Pasquallie, deputy general

secretary of the South African Democrat-

ic Teachers Union, will speak about the

devastating effects of the AIDS epidemic,

and Raquel Cruz Manzano of the Mexi-

can Educational Workers' Union will dis-

cuss the challenges facing teachers in

Oaxaca.

! To learn more, go to www.cft.org.

A cross the United States, our

systems of higher education

have become dependent upon an

exploited contingent workforce.

Tenured full-time positions have

been converted to multiple part-

time temporary positions.

Over the last 20 years, the Cali-

fornia community colleges have

maintained the proportion of hours

performed by full-time faculty at

about 62 percent under the current

75/25 regulations. So in that

respect, we have done better than

most community college systems

across the country, where the per-

centages have been decreasing

sharply.

We have, through legislation and

bargaining, made some progress

over the last 20 years in addressing

the dismal gap between how much

full-time faculty and part-time facul-

ty are compensated for the same

work. We still have a long way to go.

This year, the AFT launched a

national campaign to inform the

public and legislators about the

employment conditions in our col-

leges and universities. The center-

piece of that campaign will be a

series of Faculty and College Excel-

lence (FACE) bills introduced in a

number of states across the country.

In California, FACE legislation

California signs on to AFT’s Faculty and

College Excellence campaign

See FACE, page 2

See Parity, back page

Getting to parity

AFT unions lead the way in getting

equal pay for equal work

1996

19902007

2009

1997

4 Part-Timer Spring 2009

Part-Timer is published by the California Federation of Teachers, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, AFL-CIO. The CFT represents faculty and classified workers in public and private schools and colleges, from early child-hood through higher education. 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 HittlemanSecretary-Treasurer Dennis Smith

Community College CouncilPresident Carl FriedlanderNorthern Vice President Dean MurakamiSouthern Vice President Mona FieldSecretary Kathy HollandPart-Time Representatives Mike Dixon, John Govsky, Mehri Hagar, Carmen Roman-Murray

Editor Deborah KayePublications Director Jane Hundertmark

Direct correspondence to:Letters, California Part-Timer1201 Marina Village Parkway, Suite 115Alameda, California 94501Telephone 510-523-5238Fax 510-523-5262E-mail janehun@igc.orgWeb www.cft.org

Letters to the editor must not exceed 200 words and must include your name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters will be edited for clarity and length.

Part-Timer is printed and mailed by the all-union, environmentally friendly Alonzo Printing in Hayward, California. It is printed on 20 percent post-consumer recycled paper using soy-based inks.

Faculty and College Excellence Act ACR 31 is CFT-sponsored leg-islation, in the form of an Assembly resolution, and part of AFT’s national FACE campaign. ACr 31 (Ruskin, D-Los Altos) states that at least 75 percent of hours be taught by ten-ured or tenure-track faculty and that adjunct faculty should receive pay and benefits that are equal, on a pro rata basis, to those of their tenured or tenure-track faculty doing compara-ble work. A resolution is a legislative statement of intent, not a law, and can’t be vetoed by the governor. If passed, the resolution could be used as support in negotiations.

State disability participation by election AB381 (Block, D-San Diego) would provide part-time community college faculty within a wall-to-wall (combined full-time

Current legislation could improve the lives of adjunct faculty

adoption — two reasons why these cutbacks are devastat-ing to us. And I have no doubt there are many more like us.”

Another adjunct was teach-ing two classes, but his classes were cut for spring. “I was able to pick up one class at another college. I also work as a freelance paralegal, but my family law

Adjunct jobs Continued from page 1

specialty has been impacted by the economy. Usually one area is okay when the other area is slow. Now both areas are slow.”

Govsky said we don’t have hard numbers on whether fac-ulty losing classes are pick-ing them up somewhere else. “We’re a transient workforce so it’s difficult to know who would have left a college anyway,” he said. “We do know that more

adjuncts are contacting us to seek advice about filing for unemployment, and that the union can help you with that.”

On adjunct concluded, “We are contingent workers with no con-tingency. The cuts may be small at some colleges, but if you’re try-ing to make a living, even small cuts can be devastating. Schools don’t make cuts based on the needs of individual workers.”

and part-time) bargaining unit the ability to elect, as a separate group, to participate in the State Disability Insurance program. Since current law requires everyone in the bargaining unit to agree, it has been difficult for part-timers to obtain SDI, because full-timers already have long-term disability with their CalSTrS Defined Benefit Plan. SDI would provide family illness leave and short-term disability, benefits which adjuncts currently do not receive.

Equivalent FTEs for adjuncts AB360 (Ma, D-San Francisco), brought forward by San Francisco’s local 2121, would require that full-time equivalency for part-time instructors be equal to the number of instructional hours required of full-time instructions in the same cat-egory. This would correct a vesting issue in CalSTrS that currently disadvantages adjuncts teaching ESl and English composition in districts where the load for full-timers is lower than for faculty in other disciplines.

seveRal bIlls aNd resolutions that affect adjunct faculty

are now before the state Legislature, in what will undoubtedly

be another tough budget year. “What’s more, we have 25 new

legislators in Sacramento — they are raw beginners,” says CFT

Legislative Director Judith Michaels. “We need to keep our issues

in the forefront and educate them about the needs of community

college adjunct faculty.” Here’s a rundown of the bills.

75 percent full-time teaching AB1095 (Hill, D-San Mateo) would mandate that by the end of the 2013–14 fiscal year, 75 percent of the hours of credit instruction in the community colleges will be taught by full-time instructors. > It’s easy to make your opinions heard through the union Web site! go to www.saccft.org and apply for a User ID to check updates on legislation and write letters to your representatives.

CAPITAL WATCH

hard spending cap which would result in permanent underfunding for schools, colleges, and other public services

repay funds that schools and community colleges are owed

Borrowing against future lottery revenues

Taking money from Proposition 10 early childhood funds

Taking money from Proposition 63 mental health funds

Denying legislators pay increases in deficit years

No 1A

Yes 1B

No 1C

No 1D

No 1E

No 1F

Special Election H May 19The Union recommends: