Topic: Education Issues
AB 1942 calls for fair accreditation of community colleges
Legislative strategy adds pressure to lawsuits against ACCJC
Sacramento—In front of a packed room of supporters at the State Capitol, Assemblymember Rob Bonta, D-Oakland, announced the introduction of the Fair Accreditation for California Community Colleges Act, which would reform the accreditation system for California Community Colleges.
Judge issues injunction to keep CCSF open
CFT President Joshua Pechthalt (left) talks with media outside San Francisco Superior Court on December 26. In the courtroom that day, Judge Curtis Karnow listened to arguments for a preliminary injunction to keep City College of San Francisco open.
The judge issued the injunction on January 3.
CFT leaders testify at Washington D.C. Capitol hearing
ACCJC given a year to come into compliance
December 13, 2013—CFT Secretary Treasurer Jeff Freitas (right) and AFT 2121 President Alisa Messer (shaking hands with Congressman George Miller) met with Miller while in Washington D.C. to attend the hearing at which the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) was given a year to come into compliance with 15 standards it has violated.
Pilot colleges resist implementing two-tier fees in new law
Five of six districts not following program mandated in AB955
In October, Gov. Jerry Brown signed the controversial Assembly Bill 955, which allows six colleges to charge students out-of-state rates for high-demand classes, such as English and algebra, during the winter and summer sessions. This means about $200 a unit, as compared to the current $46.
Fair accreditation: Congresswomen lead forum in support of City College
Fair accreditation, transparency demanded of out-of-control agency
Cañada College alumnus and Congresswoman Anna Eshoo called community colleges lifeboats and springboards for Californians. Congresswoman Jackie Speier said they keep our workforce vibrant. And state Sen. Jim Beall said seven of his nine siblings went to community colleges, the only way they could afford higher education.
Adult Education: New regional consortia meld state programs
Grassroots action required to meet community needs
By Cynthia Eagleton
Ever Since Wall street crashed into Main Street five years ago, adult education has been in a state of change. Until five years ago, adult education in California was stable: Classes were provided primarily through K-12 districts as a protected categorical, and in a few cities, as non-credit offerings at community colleges.
Healthy Kids, Healthy Minds legislative program prioritizes nurses and libraries
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
The CFT is launching a new legislative effort called Healthy Kids, Healthy Minds to ensure that all of California’s K-12 schools have a nurse and mental health professional, and a credentialed librarian in an open library during and after school.
Reference librarians meet complex queries with a human touch
Highly skilled professionals imperiled by administrative cost-cutting, online chat
“We no longer have a visible reference desk in our two main libraries,” reports Miki Goral, a UCLA librarian of 43 years. “Students first have to go to the circulation desk. If the student working there thinks they need to talk to a reference librarian, they often refer them to a 24/7 online chat, which is staffed by a UC librarian only during certain hours.
Otherwise they could be chatting with a librarian in New York, or even Australia. Plus chatting can take 40 minutes to do what you can do in 5 if you’re actually talking.”
2014 brings new professional opportunities
By Paula A. Phillips, President, CFT Council of Classified Employees
As 2013 winds to a close and we look back on the year, there are many reasons for classified employees to be thankful. After years of cuts, more resources are flowing into schools and colleges, thanks to our efforts to pass Prop. 30. K-12 education will see a more equitable funding formula and a new law requires more consideration of classified staff in district professional development plans.
Morgan Hill Federation to host Education Summit
Union takes stand against charter schools
Next week, the Santa Clara County Board of Education will hear testimony on whether to increase the number of charter schools in the Morgan Hill Unified School District, just south of San Jose, based on a proposal from two charter corporations. The district board has already turned down the idea, and the corporations appealed to the county board.
Dedicated part-timers take on extra student responsibilities
The fight for fair accreditation
As City College of San Francisco struggles to remain accredited, part-timers have played pivotal roles in maintaining the quality of instruction and services on which so many students depend.
Standing up for real accreditation
A succinct and pointed summary
During the Vietnam War an American officer famously explained, “We had to destroy the village in order to save it.” Apparently this was the approach embraced by the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) in its shocking decision in July to terminate the accreditation of City College of San Francisco (CCSF).
A year of transition: Preparing for the Common Core standards
New law temporarily suspends most testing, gives educators and districts time to prepare
Tanya Golden is looking forward to changing how she teaches. “Before, my curriculum was an inch deep and a mile wide with too many things to cover. I had to keep moving even when my students weren’t ready. Now I can teach more for understanding,” says the sixth grade teacher in her tenth year at ABC Unified School District, southeast of Los Angeles.
A Tale of Hope and Caution: How three Latin American nations are defending public education
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
As part of AFT’s ongoing effort to build alliances with educators and trade unionists around the world, President Randi Weingarten led an AFT delegation in May to meet education union leaders and other unionists in Brazil, Argentina and Chile. I joined them as we looked at their multi-year effort to defend and expand public education, and to develop a response to attacks.
Lessons from Latin America: Reclaiming public education requires powerful fight back
By Joshua Pechthalt, CFT President
The CFT’s emerging campaign for quality public education underscores the fundamental problem we face in this country — the lack of a powerful social movement for economic, political and social equality.
San Francisco city attorney files suit against ACCJC
August 22, 2013, San Francisco—Today the city attorney in San Francisco filed suit against the ACCJC, charging, among other things, that “the private agency unlawfully allowed its advocacy and political bias to prejudice its evaluation of college accreditation standards,” and termed the ACCJC “a wholly unaccountable private entity.”
U.S. Department of Education sends notice to ACCJC
August 13, 2013—Today the U.S. Department of Education sent notice to the ACCJC that three elements of the CFT’s complaint needed to be addressed or the accrediting agency’s reauthorization will be in jeopardy.
AFT aims to ‘reclaim the promise of public education’
Remarks of AFT President Randi Weingarten at TEACH 2013
Introduction: The year that was
This year, there were many reminders of the role that educators play in the lives of America’s children.
Our work contributes to quality of education
By Paula A. Phillips, President, Council of Classified Employees
Every CFT member can play a role in the CFT’s campaign for quality public education, which will identify problems that are holding back our schools and colleges and set goals to move California forward.
A quality public education starts with adequate funding to maintain staffing levels and professional development. That’s a tall order in times of budget cuts, but with the passage of Prop. 30, fair funding will be within reach if Sacramento shows some political courage.
Unions find innovative solutions for staff development
Career development has been a convenient target of budget cuts, but locals unions have found creative approaches for investing in staff.
A sabbatical program the AFT Guild negotiated with the San Diego Community College District allows nine classified employees a year to take 16 weeks paid leave to study at an accredited college.
Nathan Talo used his leave to take a giant step toward his psychology degree. Talo began working at Mesa College as a part-time account clerk 15 years ago, and is now a senior account clerk.