“When we’re attacked, we don’t fall back, we move forward,” is a phrase synonymous with AFT, and nowhere was this clearer than CFT’s legislative agenda for part-time faculty.

This year brings with it the challenges of a national administration that is, to put it mildly, anti-public education, anti-academic freedom, and anti-union. 

CFT demonstrated their efforts to move forward on behalf of students in their sponsorship and advocacy of AB537 (Ahrens), a bill intended to waive or lower the 12-credit minimum qualification for the College Promise program.  

While the College Promise Program (which currently provides free tuition to first-time community college students for up to two academic years) has provided enormous opportunities to often first-generation students coming from working class families where money is tight, the program is limited to just full-time students taking 12 or more units. Over 66% of California community college students are part-time, largely because they can’t afford the tuition, or because they are limited by the need to work to support themselves and their families. 

For part-time faculty, the boon of AB537 would have been that it either put more students in the classroom or made it possible for those financially struggling part-time students to remain, meaning at the very least more part-time faculty jobs.

Of the bill’s importance, CFT President Jeff Freitas stated: “Extending the California College Promise to part-time students is a critical step to ensure that more of our students have the support and opportunity to graduate from our community colleges. Students should not be excluded from the program because of financial or family responsibilities that are out of their control.”

Though failing to make it out of the California State Senate appropriations committee, CFT’s legislative team remains dedicated to the fight for free community college.

“Our commitment to the dream of a free community college has not ended, as we remain committed to student success,” said Jim Mahler, the CFT Legislative Committee Chair and President of the CFT Community College Council.

More specific to the concerns of part-time faculty, particularly with regard to job security and academic freedom, is AB1028 (Fong). In part inspired by the work of CFT’s One-Tier/One Faculty Taskforce, the initial language of the bill was more aspirational in that it called for part-time faculty having taught for six semesters or eight quarters for an average of 19% of a full-time load or greater to be made contract employees. The main intent of the bill was for part-time faculty to gain something which has eluded them even after the passage of rehire rights legislation in 2016 with SB1379—true due process rights. 

Presently, while some districts have re-hire rights language (which stipulates a part-time faculty member, provided they have worked for a district for a particular period of time with satisfactory evaluations can expect an offer unless cause is given), there has been nothing in law that suggests that termination language for part-time faculty should be negotiated. Part-time faculty therefore can, and often are, fired without cause being given. Moreover, even in the event when cause is given, part-time faculty will have no recourse to have a hearing at which evidence is given and heard. This means that in fact “just cause” and “due process,” bedrock principles of academic freedom, elude part-time faculty who represent the higher ed faculty majority.

Since its introduction, AB1028 has been amended to focus directly on the issue of termination language, or rather, the lack thereof. As written, the bill sets out that should a part-time employee’s employment be terminated, the district’s procedure must follow the process and procedures to do so as negotiated in the collective bargaining agreement. This in itself does not guarantee termination language but creates an opportunity for locals to bargain it with the districts, and once negotiated, hold them accountable.

AB 1028, if passed, will not yet provide true “just cause,” but it is a step towards that goal.

“It’s not all we want, but it’s a step towards our work to achieve working conditions equity among all faculty,” said One-Faculty Task Force Tri-Chair and part-time faculty instructor Linda Sneed.

The bill was just voted out of appropriations and now moves to the floor of the Senate. There is a high amount of optimism that it will pass the Senate and move on the governor’s desk.

Part-time faculty often remain uncompensated for the necessary work they do outside the classroom, and this year CFT put forth an ambitious request for $64 million in ongoing funding for the state Part-time Office hours fund. Last year, CFT led a push for the fund to raise the office hours reimbursement rate to districts that have paid part-time office hours programs from 50% to 90%. 

The reimbursement rate is significant because while a few districts offer paid office hours proportionate to the hours per week required of full-time faculty, many, previously citing the low rate of reimbursement, balked at offering any program, or extremely meagre programs paying as little as $25 an hour for just half an hour per week. The lack of compensation often means that part-time faculty, having to work elsewhere to earn a living wage, must limit their out of class access to students, meaning not just part-time faculty, but their students lose out as well.

At the last minute, the pressures of this year’s budget coupled with the current office hour fund still being able to meet reimbursements led to the funding increase being shelved. That said, the annual $28.5 million in ongoing funding and reserves will be depleted if ongoing funding is not increased. This point was reiterated by Mahler:

“It was at the last minute that we couldn’t get the legislature to increase the funding as the fund can cover costs for this year, but it is imperative the funding be increased and hopefully there is enough goodwill in the legislature to get it done next year.”