Perspective, March 2009

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Volume 40, Number 2 March 2009

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Student successstories pursuebudget-cuttinglegislators page 5

Phyllis Eckler fights for part-time faculty rights whilecreating the next generation of dance artists.

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Dancing for unionism

Employee FreeChoice ActThe time is now for labor law reform, and the benefi-ciary will be your students.

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SLOsWhen No Child Left Behind met community colleges,the strange love child was Student LearningOutcomes.

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

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 March 2009

EDITORIAL

Print is nice.Electrons are faster.

The Perspective brings you information you need to know on a quarterly basis. For themost current union news, recent media coverage of education issues, and key informationabout the California Federation of Teachers and its activities, visit the CFT website regularly.

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

On front cover: Student success story statues. See page 5 story.PATRICIA ARACK, PHOTO

ally facilitators) from nationalAFT and NEA.The topic of theretreat was the possible unifica-tion of the community collegeconstituency groups in both thestatewide education unions.I welcomed this opportunity

because, quite frankly, I’m scared.The economic realities out thereare ugly and getting uglier.While there’s some truth to theview that “everybody loves com-munity colleges,” if I can para-phrase MaeWest, when fiscalpush comes to political shove,“love’s got nothing to with it.”It’s about power.

I’ve always believed thatunifying the community collegefaculty unions would increaseour power. But the unprecedent-ed fiscal crisis made the begin-ning of serious discussion ofunification especially welcome. Iwant to thank all the CCC andCFT folks who made the com-mitment of time and open-mindedness to engage in thesediscussions—particularly MartyHittelman and Dennis Smith,whose schedules can least easilyaccommodate the extra demandsof these talks. CTA leaders madesimilar commitments.

The best of both forsomething betterUnifying and strengthening

the voice of community collegeemployees—in local board elec-tions, at the Board of Governors,in Sacramento, inWashington,D.C.—is a guiding principle ofthese discussions. But it is notthe only purpose.We seek tocreate a structure that combinesthe best of both organizations tocreate something better thaneither.This is not about “us”joining “them” or “them” join-ing “us.” It’s about shapingsomething new.That’s nice-sounding talk, you

may be thinking, but whatwould this look like from theperspective of my local union?How will the dues structurechange? How autonomous willour local be?We hire our ownlocal staff; will we still be able todo so?Will there be differentservices available? Twice as manymeetings?Will all theCCA/CTA members becomemembers of the AFL-CIO?Whowill control political decisionsand funds? There are many,

Still reeling from our budget“victory,” I was pleased to spendthe weekend of February 20-22at a retreat with our CCC offi-cers, our counterparts fromCTA’s Community CollegeAssociation (CCA), top leadersand key staff of both CFT andCTA, and representatives (actu-

When we talk about community colleges faring relatively well in last month’s dramatic budgetagreement, let’s not break out any champagne.A 10% loss of purchasing power over two years(2008-10), a deficit factor in apportionments of 1.2%, $165 million in unfunded FTES across

the state, a projected $40 million property tax shortfall, risky intertwined initiatives underpinning thewhole deal, the likelihood of a worsened financial picture at the time of the May revise…. If we’re the“winners,” how dreadful must conditions be for the losers in California’s ongoing budgetary nightmare.

I’ve always believed that unifying the community

college faculty unions would increase our power. But

the unprecedented fiscal crisis made the beginning of

serious discussion of unification especially welcome.

Taking the LeadCarl Friedlander, CFT Community College Council President

Talking merger while stillreeling from our “victory”

MARK YOUR 2009 CALENDAR

March 20 - 22 CFT Convention, Sheraton Grand, Sacramento

May 2 CFT Committees, San Francisco City College campus, SF

May 15 Community College Council, Four Points Hotel, Los Angeles

May 16 CFT State Council, Four Points Hotel, Los Angeles

June 22-24 CFT Leadership Institute, UCSC, Santa Cruz

CFT/CCC and CTA/CCA community college leaders met to discuss apossible merger on the weekend of February 20-22.

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Merger continued on page 3

“I’ve written the curriculumfor three courses, and urged thedistrict to adopt them,” Ecklerexplains.“My department chairhas gone to bat for me. Buteach time we get close to adop-tion, the college says they can’tpay me for the work I’ve put in.”Eckler says the LACCD admin-istration and union have negoti-ated ancillary pay for such work,but across the district there areproblems accessing it.“And Iwill not work for free.”As a result, LA City College

doesn’t offer an AA degree indance. “It’s frustrating, becauseas an adjunct it means I’m notable to participate fully in cur-riculum development,” she says.At Los Angeles, she teaches 10

hours a week of actual classtime. That qualifies her for thedistrict’s portion of the paymentfor health care benefits that itoffers to adjunct faculty—$2160per year. But the actual yearlycost of the premiums for familycoverage with Blue Shield PPO(the most expensive option) is$14,097, or $1,177 a month.That’s a full third of Eckler’ssalary.The district pays thewhole premium for full-timeinstructors.

Disparity and inspirationThe disparity in the treatment

of part-time faculty inspiredEckler to become the secondvice-president of the GlendaleCollege Guild,AFT Local 2276,at the other campus where sheteaches, Glendale CommunityCollege. There she was men-tored by CFT stalwart MonaField not long after she came towork in 1988. “She encouragedme to sit in on meetings dis-cussing part-time issues,” thedance teacher remembers.“Then the previous occupant ofthat position had to step down.They asked me to run in a spe-cial election to fill the job. I wasvery interested, because it was aposition specifically created bythe local union for part-timefaculty. And that gave me mystart with the union.”

Eckler grew up inToronto,Canada, which she says gave hermuch higher expectations aboutlabor rights and social progress.“Canada has always had the bestconditions for adjuncts,” sheexplains. “People there have asocialist, humanitarian outlook,supporting living wages and fullsocial benefits for everyone.”She attendedYork University,studying dance, and after gradua-tion got an offer to join the Bat-Dar Dance Company. WithBat-Dar she toured Israel for ayear. “It was a world-class com-pany, with an internationalrepertoire, and it was an honorfor me to dance with them soearly in my life.”After the year ended, she went

back to graduate school, thistime in Southern California,where she got her MFA at CalArts. Afterwards, she had todecide whether to pursue acareer as a performer. “I wanteda family, and that’s very hard ifyou’re always touring on theroad,” she recalls. “And I alwaysloved teaching. I tutored kids inhigh school, and taught through-out my college career. So it wasa natural.”

Life of the freeway flyerFor a dance instructor, howev-

er, finding a full-time, tenuredposition is extremely difficult.First she got a job in Glendale,and then another in Los Angeles,living the life of the freewayflyer. Between the two campus-es she teaches 16 class hours aweek, almost a full-time load.“But it often feels like we’remarginalized, not on campus to

develop curriculum or partici-pate in many ways that would bepossible with a full-time perma-nent position. Plus, you gethired every semester, whichgives you a great feeling of inse-curity. In my case, I have towork very hard to make myclasses a success, and fill eachone.”Teaching as many classes as she

can is important. Her husbandMark, a commercial photogra-pher, and Eckler support twochildren in college. Theirdaughter,Allison, graduates thisspring from Cornell, where shetook a number of labor educa-tion courses. Jamie, a freshmanat UCSB, worked for theObama campaign in Nevada,and is hoping to get an intern-ship at the LACCD’s DoloresHuerta Institute over the sum-mer.

Change is possibleEckler’s union involvement

has given her the feeling thatchange is possible. She sits on thestatewide part-timer committeeof the California Federation ofTeachers, and is co-chair of thepart-time issues committee ofthe Los Angeles College FacultyGuild,AFT Local 1521.“Our CFT part-time commit-

tee used to be part of the Com-munity College Council, whereit didn’t have as much impact,”she says. “But a few years ago itbecame a committee of the Cal-ifornia Federation ofTeachersitself. That meant we couldintroduce resolutions directly tothe convention, instead ofsending them through the CCC.

The resolution to change thepart-time percentage from 60%to 67% was one of our first.After it passed the convention,our legislative representativestook it up in Sacramento, and itwas passed. I felt the union wasreally there for us.”At Glendale, Eckler’s courses

produce dancers who often goon to four-year institutions,particularly UCLA and CalState Long Beach. Somebecome performers themselvesin the highly commercializedenvironment of Southern Cali-fornia. One group of heralumni, the Fanatix, has per-formed all over Los Angeles. AtLos Angeles City College,

without a career path for herstudents, she focuses on the roleof dance in increasing theirself-esteem and health.“I think moving is an

important part of beinghealthy,” she emphasizes.“People don’t realize the needto integrate the arts in educa-tion, and support and moneyfor it is decreasing. But artseducation makes us out-of-the-box thinkers, which is oneof the strengths of this country.We introduce new ideas to theworld, and if we lose ourcreativity, we lose a veryimportant part of ourselves.”

By David Bacon

March 2009 PERSPECTIVE 3

Eckler’s courses produce dancers who often go on to four-year

institutions, particularly UCLA and Cal State Long Beach. Some

become performers themselves in the highly commercialized

environment of Southern California. One group of her alumni,

the Fanatix, has performed all over Los Angeles.

MEMBER PROFILE

For Phyllis Eckler, a dance instructor at two community college campuses in Southern California, it’sself-evident that the problems of contingent faculty affect not only instructors themselves, but thequality of education available to students. At Los Angeles City College, where she’s taught since the

1990s, the district doesn’t offer dance courses that lead to performances on the campus, and hasn’t imple-mented courses with a performance path for students who want to become career dancers.

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ARKA dancer’spassion for justice

Adjunct activist Phyllis Eckler

Phyllis Eckler speaking at a CFT state council meeting.

many more critical questions about structure and governance.There will be other kinds of questions as well. Since CTA is

overwhelmingly K-12 and opposed Proposition 92, will thevoice of community colleges be stifled in a unified structure?What will be the process for deciding on merger, if and when areal structure is proposed?I’ve barely scratched the surface of your questions here, and

I’m not going to try to answer even the one or two of the easiersample questions where I might be able to shed some light.Please think about what kind of structure would best serve

your members, and come to the CFT Convention ready to talk.We will be discussing merger at a Friday afternoon workshop, atour Friday evening Council meeting, and at the bar wheneverthe Convention is not in session.We will also be planning aretreat focused on merger for the local presidents later thisspring.The challenges we face are unprecedented, and nobody’s

interested in a merger that won’t advance our interests. But weshould be very interested in a merger that will.

Merger continued on page 3

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STATEWIDE

Wizard Schwarzenegger is fullof ego and bluster, but the onlyperson standing between theWizard’s kick and the Munchkinsis the Courageous Lion of a StateController John Chiang. He hassingle handedly preventedWizardSchwarzenegger from payingstate employees at the minimumwage rate and fought to preventhim from unilaterally forcingMunchkin furloughs.MikeVillines, the supreme

evil witch of the “NoTax”Republicans, has his usual alliesto block any budget progress,especially the heartless Republi-canTin Men who wield thehatchet to cut state employees,unions, public education, andpublic service programs that areso critical for the social needs ofour community. The HowardJarvis flying monkeys doggedlyfight against taxes like they are

the last banana on earth.TheScarecrow Democrats seem tohave completely run out of ideasto solve the budget deficit.With abackbone made of straw, theycave in to the Republicans everyyear, even though they are themajority. Who is going to lead usout of this bad budget movie?Toto the guide dog? Dorothy,click your heels three times!Click…click….click. Damn,we’re still in Oz.

The movie’s not overNow that the budget has

passed I want to thank all of theCFT members who relentlesslylobbied the Governor and Legis-lature by making visits to yourlegislators and responding to ouremail action alerts. In this budgetdeficit climate, the results couldhave been much worse. Howev-er, this budget fight is not over.

It is only another dramatic scenein a long movie and we mustfight even harder for our stu-dents.For the current year budget

year of 2008-09 we have lost our0.68% COLA of nearly $40 mil-lion, which makes us $325 mil-lion short of funding the 5.6%statutory COLA. In addition, allof our districts will be forced todeal with deferred January-Aprilapportionments of $340 millionuntil July in the next fiscal year,along with $200 million indeferred June and July apportion-ments until October. All of theapportionment deferrals will nowbecome a permanent change infunding. The financial burden fordistricts to annually manage overhalf a billion dollars in deferredpayments will be extremely diffi-cult and costly in these restrictedcredit market times.

For the 2009-10 budget yearcommunity colleges have againlost the 0.68% COLA of $40million proposed previously.Enrollment growth was funded at3% for $185.4 million, but thisdoes not come close to fundingthe current enrollment growth incommunity colleges and makesthe current situation of 100,000unfunded students even worse.

Silver liningsWhile the community college

cuts are significant and will notallow us to meet the educationalneeds of our students, it is impor-tant to point out that many bud-get threats made by the LAO andDepartment of Finance weredefeated. For example: no stu-dent fees increases, no “flexibili-ty” raid of categorical funds, andphysical education classesprotected from being funded atthe noncredit rate. In addition,the competitive CalGrant Pro-gram is funded, and the Gover-nor appears willing to work onthe property tax backfill.As the economy continues to

slide downward, a new round ofbudget cuts will most likelyoccur at the May Revise, sched-uled on May 25th. And if theBudget Initiatives do not pass theelectorate on May 19th, legisla-tors might look for additionalcuts to education.While the budget looks merely

difficult for community collegesin the short term, it will be criti-cal to evaluate what the SpendingCap measure will do to Proposi-tion 98 and other social and

health services programs in thelong term. Such a Cap mayvirtually guarantee that Prop 98will never rise above its absoluteformulaic minimum growth. Atthe same time, however, as stateeducation funding in the Prop 98formula continues to grow, thehard spending cap means therewill be less in the budget for allof the other service programs inthe state. This will be an impos-sible situation as long as we havethe 2/3 voting requirement topass the budget and raise neces-sary revenues.Who knows where will be in

five years? Only time will tell,but it will be a harrowing ride onthe yellow brick road.

By Dean Murakami,Los Rios Community CollegeFederation, Local 2279

This year’s “low budget” remake of a classic old movie seems to rerun every year. A tornado of aneconomy has tossed businesses, credit markets, jobs, and houses into the air, and we have landed inthe budgetary Land of Oz.The crops have been pulled out by the roots, resulting in a loss of rev-

enue to the state; lollipop land has become pop landfill; and the state employee Munchkins are beingkicked in the rear byWizard Schwarzenegger. ”

The state budget

Our very ownremake of a classic

The Employee Free ChoiceAct would allow workers toreplace outdated National LaborRelations Act (NLRA) electionprocedures stacked in favor ofemployers with a fair democraticprocess, and provide stifferpenalties for rampant employerlawbreaking. It would also bringin a neutral arbiter to impose afirst contract if the employerstalls for a year. The EmployeeFree Choice Act would be thefirst major revision of nationallabor law in forty years, and thefirst pro-worker reforms sincethe NLRA was passed in 1935.Congress passed the NLRA in

a time of enormous, sometimesviolent, struggles between labor

and capital, and thereby estab-lished rules of the game forworkplace conflict resolution. Itprovided for a governmentboard (the NLRB) to overseedemocratic procedures throughwhich workers could determinefor themselves how their collec-tive economic interests might bemet. These provisions forforming a union, gaining recog-nition from the employer, andnegotiating a contract allowed,but did not mandate, a secretballot election to choose theunion.Times have changed.The

NLRB-administered secret bal-lot election process has beencompromised and corrupted byanti-worker court decisions andillegal but common employer

practices. The biggest problemboils down to this: the NLRAassumed workers had the rightto determine for themselveswhether they wanted a union.The courts have obliterated thisassumption, giving the employerthe right to massively interfere inthe election process. TheEmployee Free Choice Actwould restore the presumptionthat workers have the democrat-ic right to form a union withoutinterference.

Deceptive PR campaignEmployers view this prospect

with alarm. The Chamber ofCommerce,Madison Avenuefirms, and the anti-union legal

Why we should care aboutthe Employee Free Choice ActWhyshould we care that pro-labor members of congress are poised to introduce the Employee

Free Choice Act, and that employer groups are fighting it as if it signals “the demise of a civi-lization” (actual words of Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus)?What does reform of pri-

vate sector labor law have to do with public sector community college faculty?

Our students need this law

Free Choice Act continued on page 5

The Employee Free Choice Act would allow workers to form a

union by the simple, expeditious and democratic method of

“majority sign up”—if fifty per cent plus one sign cards, they

have a union. And if they prefer, they can still ask for a secret

ballot election. But the employer can’t.

Salvador Sanchez, Political Science instructor at several Los Angeles areacolleges, participated with his students in the County Federation of Labor-sponsored 10-mile march from its offices to the Federal Building inWestwood in support of the Employee Free Choice Act on February 5.

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POLITICS

City College of San Franciscostudent Sherita Moeser neverthought she could afford to go tocollege as a single parent of aone-year-old daughter, but Cal-Works paid for her books anddaycare and she is now earningAs.Army veteranTroy Carter

knew he couldn’t just speedthrough college because of hissub-standard math skills and thelimits of the GI Bill.He needed aschool willing to retrain him andnot impose overwhelming finan-cial burdens.Now at AmericanRiver College, he calls the Cali-fornia Community College sys-tem“a haven” for over 1600veterans just like him.These students and dozens

more at community collegesaround the state, threatened bylooming budget cuts, are speakingout to Sacramento lawmakers inthe form of life-size fabric sculp-tures embellished with their digi-tized faces, their words, andwhimsical and colorful designscovering every inch of the heavymuslin cover. Each of these sculp-tures tell in text and audio how acommunity college has changedthe student’s life.They are participating in the

innovative “Student Success Sto-ries Project,” another creative ideafromAssociateVice-Chancellorfor Governmental RelationsLeslie Smith of City College ofSan Francisco,mastermind of thesuccessful “Missing Student”campaign in 2004,which fea-tured life-size fiberglass sculpturesof students soon to be “missing”from college because of threat-ened budget cuts. Unlike thatprevious undertaking, the currentsoft-sided mannequins project anaura of smiling upbeat optimismand success.

Directing the statewide effortfrom her office at CCSF, Smithand her hard-working staff, withthe assistance of student aides andthe CCSF art department, havecreated more than 60 dolls cur-rently touring the state; but moresculptures are needed for theMarch 16 “March in March”protest in Sacramento where theywill be displayed.

Reminder for LegislatorsSmith’s goal is to see that all

Legislators have Success Story“dolls” in their offices—com-plete with MP3 audio files intheir chests—to remind themthat community college studentsare a great resource, a goodinvestment, and should not sufferfrom an inadequate state budget.The Community College

League of California says that theproposed cuts could drive away262,000 community college stu-dents. It is expected that theinflux of former four-year col-lege students to the communitycolleges will squeeze out studentswho are not as savvy about theintricacies of admissions,finances, and scheduling as moreexperienced CSU or UC stu-dents.This has many communitycollege faculty and administratorsworried.“My real fear is that we will

lose the most vulnerable of stu-dents—the part-time studentwho does not qualify for finan-cial aid and has to work full-time, and the non-credit studentdisplaced by the closed-out stu-dents from the four-year col-leges,” says Smith. “We knew weneeded something that wouldnot be one-time, but would con-tinue to remind the Legislatureof the positive stories of our stu-dents’ success.”

How the dolls are createdThe 72 inch-high sculptures

begin as off-white muslin formsthat have been sewn by JudySeto, Smith’s assistant and a for-mer professional seamstress.Thenthe student’s smiling face isironed in place, along with thetext of the student’s success story.Fred Kling of the CCSFArtDepartment has designed a braceof heavy lead pipe that is theninserted inside the doll for stabili-ty, and it is stuffed with fiberfill.After that, the statues are artfullypainted from head to toe.Students around the state can

write their story and decoratetheir doll as they wish, but theyalso can get help from Smith, herstaff, and the CCSFArt Depart-ment. Besides Seto, SheritaMoeser, PhilTrach, Bryan Green,Ryan Fritz and Jane Ng-Lara—students on Smith’s staff—havehelped create many statues forstudents at CCSF and at othercolleges, along with Sachi Henri-etta, president of the CCSF Stu-dent Art Club.Leslie Smith has drawn upon

her life-long love of art for inspi-ration for her ideas. In 2005 sheviewed an exhibit by textile artistKiki Smith,who had created soft-sculpture fiber figures at a SanFrancisco Museum of ModernArt exhibition. From that spark,Smith’s imagination led to Stu-dent Success Stories. If all goesaccording to plan, soon a SuccessStories “doll”will be a guest ineach Legislator’s office in theState Capitol.For more information about

the project, see aYouTubefive-minute video about the pro-ject at www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpXuKBeuERU. Youmay also contact Leslie Smith [email protected].

By Patricia Arack,AFT 2121, San Francisco

Ron Owens entered Sacramento City College in 1977 onscholastic probation.Twenty-eight years after graduationhe is the Public Information Officer in the State Chan-

cellor’s office.

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Life-size student sculpturestell of success in words and art

industry are behind an expensive,hyperbolic and deceptive publicrelations campaign against theAct. Their ads, op-eds and talk-ing heads are deeply, deeply wor-ried that if the Employee FreeChoice becomes law,workerswould lose “their right to voteon the job.” Say, does that meanyou are for workers voting onwhat products to produce, orwhat services to offer the public,or what time to come into work,or how big a raise to give the

CEO? Oh. Just kidding.Setting aside the ludicrous idea

that the Chamber of Commercehas ever cared about workerrights, their argument is also fac-tually wrong. The EmployeeFree Choice Act would allowworkers to form a union by thesimple, expeditious and demo-cratic method of “majority signup”—if fifty per cent plus onesign cards, they have a union.And if they prefer, they can stillask for a secret ballot election.

But the employer can’t.Between twenty and thirty

thousand workers are harassed,disciplined, or fired yearly forunion-related activities that arelegal under the NLRA. But thepenalties for employer lawbreak-ing are so slight and take so longemployers consider them part ofthe cost of doing business.Two years ago one of my stu-

dents, a musician who had a dayjob at a national camera supplychain store, was fired for talking

with a coworker about forminga union to deal with theemployer about consistentundercounting of their hoursworked. My student knew itwas illegal to be fired for hisconversation, but he needed towork, and didn’t have timebetween work, school, and hismusic to go talk with a lawyer.He found a new job that paidless, but enough to get by.Polls consistently show that

the majority of non-union

workers would join a union ifthey were not afraid of losingtheir job in the process. TheEmployee Free Choice Actwould fix the broken NLRA sys-tem, restore a measure of fairnessto the American workplace, andgive our students a greater likeli-hood their work in communitycollege will convert to a decentliving with dignity when they geta job. Its time has come.

By Fred Glass

Free Choice Actcontinued from page 4

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ccc Top: CCSF student Gabriel Reeberg works on student sculpture project.Middle: More student sculptures.Bottom: From left, Staff Assistant Judy Seto, Leslie Smith, CCSF AssociateVice-Chancellor for Governmental Relations, and Work/Study studentPhilip Trach, with Student Success Story dolls.


LEGISLATION

This time legislative leadersallowed the Governor to throwrepresentative democracy out thewindow.The Big Five carefullyavoided leaks that would mobi-lize “special interests” and blowup a pending “deal.” The pressquoted legislative leaders as say-ing that they expected no one tolike what they come up with, butthat that was, regrettably,unavoidable.As a result, a new hard spend-

ing cap, different than what wasslated to be on the ballot forvoter approval, will be put beforevoters in still another SpecialElection, scheduled for May 19,2009.The CFT will review anddebate the various elements of

the special election at theupcoming CFT convention.However, any kind of spendingcap during this national recessionwould lock in college funding atone of the lowest points in histo-ry.Voters will also be asked toratify significant cuts and timingfor some new revenues.

A drastic futureWhat lies ahead?The legisla-

tive analyst recommends consoli-dating eight categorical programsinto two block grants focused onstudent success and faculty sup-port. Created by legislation andmandated to make sure that dis-tricts followed state priorities,categoricals help ensure districts

address the needs of disadvan-taged students and previously, inthe nineties, of part-time faculty(for example, the set aside forpart-time faculty salary parity).Governor Schwarzenegger has

proposed an even more drasticfix to “help” school districts andcommunity colleges respond to atight budget: he would give themthe authority to permanentlysuspend most categorical pro-gram requirements. If this notionstands, districts would no longerneed to adhere to virtually any ofthe state's existing program orreporting requirements. In addi-tion, districts would be able totransfer funds among categoricalprograms as well as from categor-ical programs to general-purposeaccounts.

Substantially increased fees areprobably part of the future pic-ture.The Community CollegeCouncil has traditionallyopposed student fees because feesand tuition are really user taxes.The faulty assumption underly-ing high fees and tuition is thatthe individual student receives atangible reward from education,and thus he or she should pay forthe reward.On the contrary, theentire state of California receivesenrichment each time a studentmatriculates, far in excess of anyprice the state pays for educa-tion.The return on investmentcomes in the form of increasedtax revenue, increased attractive-ness of California to employers,increased productivity, lessreliance on other forms of state

support (including jails and pris-ons), and a higher cultural level.Each time the state increases

fees or tuition, Californiaexcludes another group of stu-dents from career technical edu-cation or academicopportunities.Our system of stu-dent aid does not begin toaddress the level of financial assis-tance required to help needy stu-dents matriculate in a timelymanner.We must affirm thateducation is the solution, not theproblem, and rededicate our-selves to the fulfillment of theMaster Plan vision of universalaccess to higher education.We are faced with mobilizing,

protesting, and marching to haveany hope of achieving the Cali-fornia dream of free public edu-cation for everyone who meritsit—not a revolving door of fail-ures and unrealistic attempts, buta promise that if you work hardacademically, there will be a placefor you.And, fortunately, we areup for the challenge ahead.Alongwith our allies, we’ll be march-ing, writing letters, speaking, andrallying.

Voters reelected Jerry Patter-son and elected challenger Lor-raine Prinksy. She oustedArmando Ruiz, long an antago-nist, according to Dean Manci-na, president of the CoastFederation of Educators. “Thisis a huge victory for all labor inOrange County,” exclaimedTef-ere Gebre, executive director ofthe Orange County CentralLabor Council.The election’s impact was

immediate.“The chancellor hasbeen put on administrative leave,and the board is seeking toresolve three major issues thatwere costing the district and theunion a lot of money,” accordingto Mancina.Mancina stated that the roots

of the electoral breakthrough lay

in a two-day workshop spon-sored by the CFT political andtraining departments in 2004that focused on candidaterecruitment, fundraising, coali-tion building, and working witha consultant.The local union partnered

with the Orange County LaborCouncil and CFT to organizeand support a full-fledged cam-paign that included mailers, slatecards, and grassroots activities. Ina sign of how closely the localworked with the larger labormovement, the labor councilrecently honored Mancina as itslabor leader of the year.

Victories elsewhere in the stateCollege faculty and classified

members were also celebrating

the election of one of their col-leagues to the State Assembly.Political Science instructor PaulFong, a member of the San JoseEvergreen Faculty Association,AFT Local 6157, brings hisclassroom insights to the statecapitol. His local and CFThelped Fong through a difficultprimary.Another new state legislator is

Marty Block. He served as atrustee for the San Diego Com-munity College District, as wellas a professor and dean at SanDiego State University. CFTand the San Diego FacultyGuild, led by president JimMahler, were instrumental inBlock’s primary and generalelection victories in a districtthat had been represented by aRepublican.The new assembly-man acknowledged that assis-tance when he addressed theCommunity College Council in

San Diego in January. Block isthe second representative fromSan Diego higher education toserve in the state Capitol. LoriSaldaña, an adult educator, is inher third term.AFT locals were also active in

a number of other trustee racesfrom San Francisco to Fresno toSan Diego.The Cabrillo CollegeFederation ofTeachers, Local4400, in Santa Cruz Countyhelped elect trustee SusanTrue.Voters passed facility bonds in

two AFT-represented districts.Measure J authorized $3.5 bil-lion in new construction for theLos Angeles Community Col-lege District. In Sacramento, theLos Rios College Federation ofTeachers passed Measure M, a$475 million bond for the grow-ing district.In other developments, the

Glendale and Los Angeles dis-tricts are among those that will

hold elections this spring.VictorValley in San Bernardino Coun-ty, on the other hand, haschanged the date of its next elec-tion from 2009 to 2010.Thealignment with statewide elec-tions will save the district money.Judy Chu, a member of the

State Board of Equalization aswell as a former legislator andmember of AFT Local 1521, isrunning for the congressionalseat left vacant by PresidentObama’s appointment of HildaSolis to be the Secretary ofLabor. The Los Angeles CollegeFaculty Guild and the Los Ange-les County Federation of Laborare backing Chu.According toGuild president Carl Friedlander,Chu is a good friend of commu-nity colleges.

By Kenneth Burt,CFT political director

Working the FloorJudith Michaels, CFT Legislative Director

California has passed a budget-balancing bill that the legisla-ture wishes and hopes will essentially be an 18-monthagreement.A group called the “Big Five”—the governor

and Democratic and Republican legislative leaders—conducted whatthey called a debate, or negotiations, on the budget with almost nooversight by legislative committees or the legislature as a whole.While closed door meetings at this level have been part of Califor-nia’s pattern to get a budget in place, given the state’s requirementfor a super-majority, in the past those discussions dealt with only afew outstanding items.

Broken promises, challenges,and plans for action

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Wemust affirm that education is the solution, not the

problem, and rededicate ourselves to the fulfillment of

the Master Plan vision of universal access to higher

education.

Hard work on November elections brings good news for CFT/CCC locals

Educators in the Coast Community College District are cele-brating an historic victory. For the first time in 25 years, theOrange County district has a pro-faculty, pro-labor board

majority.

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MEMBER VIEWPOINT

The general idea that each col-lege course should have defined“student learning outcomes”(SLOs) does not appear unrea-sonable on its face, but in order tounderstand their negative impli-cations for educators, some criti-cal analysis is necessary.

The ultimate precursor: ScientificManagementIn 1911, FredrickW.Taylor

published his famous Principles ofScientific Management. He pro-posed sending engineers into fac-tories to make atime-and-motionstudy of each worker’s task,streamline and standardize themotions, establish time norms,and set up monetary rewards forfaster production and punish-ments for slowness.Thus beganthe so-called age of efficiency,during which the principles ofscientific management wereapplied to various aspects ofAmerican life, including educa-tion. James P.Moore’s influentialNew Directions in Education (also1911), for example, called foreducation engineers who wouldreorganize the schools, faced withthe problem of a large number of“repeaters,” using efficient meth-ods of factory management.

Education politics in the Bushyears

K-12:No Child Left Behind.Bythe closing decades of the twenti-eth century,American schoolswere facing a new crisis, evi-denced by declining SAT scores.

A number of factors contributedto this negative trend, includingfamily breakdown, television, aconsumer culture, disruptionslinked to school desegregation,low teacher salaries, inadequatefunding, and heavy immigrationafterWorldWar II.When GeorgeW.Bush came

to power in 2001, he secured pas-sage of “No Child Left Behind,” amajor element in the Republicanresponse to the crisis, along withvouchers and charter schools.”No Child”mandated yearlystandardized tests to measure stu-dent performance and a cut-offof federal funds for schools withpoor results.The responsibility forlow scores was assigned to teach-ers, without due regard for stu-dents’ abilities or work habits andexternal socio-economic and cul-tural factors.

Higher Education: Student Learn-ing Outcomes.The SLO approachwas an attempt to apply thethinking behind “No Child LeftBehind,”with its emphasis onquantified outcomes andaccountability, to higher educa-tion.The term“SLO,” as mandat-ed by accreditation agencies,means that learning outcomes for

each course must be defined indemonstrable behavioral terms, sothat at the end of the semesterquantitative data based on the“effectiveness” of instructors willbe generated. Institutions that failto provide such data can be sanc-tioned and eventually deniedaccreditation,which means a lossof federal student aid funding(such as Pell grants).

Compatibility with the privatiza-tion agenda.Another motivebehind the SLO mandate was theBush privatization agenda in edu-cation. By defining the results ofthe learning process in simplified,immediate behavioral termswhich private entrepreneurs canpretend to satisfy, SLOs preparethe way for a transfer of publicfunding learning to profit-basedcharter schools or distance learn-ing corporations which promise“more effective” results.

Implementation and resistanceAccreditation.The SLO concept

was imposed on institutions ofhigher learning from above, start-ing with Bush’s Education Secre-tary Margaret Spellings, whoappointed the 12 members ofNACIQI (National Committeeon Institutional Quality andIntegrity). Its role is to supervisethe work of the various accredita-tion agencies, including theAccreditation Commission forCommunity and Junior Colleges(ACCJC) of theWestern Associa-tion of Schools and Colleges(WASC). It was through thisaccreditation process that institu-tions of higher learning werecompelled to implement theSLO requirement whichNACIQI mandated.

Educational values under assault.According to the critics, SLOswere imposed across-the-boardon all disciplines, without dueconsideration for the differentnature of course objectives indiverse areas like business, scienceand technology, language arts, finearts, and the humanities and socialsciences.Although in some disci-plines the legitimate goal mayclearly be to produce an immedi-

ate, correct response, in others itmay not. Ironically, the moresimplistic and less ambitious thedefinitions of learning objectivesare, the higher the ratings ofteacher “effectiveness”will be.

Education professionals fight back.When the SLO concept wasintroduced in 2002,many educa-tors greeted it with skepticism.And in 2006,when SecretarySpellings’ nineteen-person Com-mission on the Future of HigherEducation,which included cor-porate representatives from Boe-ing, Microsoft, and IBM and waschaired by Charles Miller, aTexasfinancier and charter schooladvocate, called in 2006 for stan-dardized tests and a national database to follow student progressand establish accountability, orga-nizations like the AmericanCouncil on Education, the Asso-ciation of American Universities,and the Academic Senate for Cal-ifornia Community Collegesobjected.Meanwhile, some institutions

in California and elsewhere hadimplemented the SLO require-ment half-heartedly, if at all, andhad therefore failed to producethe kind of quantitative datamandated for accreditationreports measuring their effective-ness in accomplishing their mis-sion. In the west,NACIQIeventually began to get tough,admonishing ACCJC in 2007 forfailing to ensure that institutionsit accredited produced suchreports within a mandated timeperiod.As a result of this newenforcement policy,ACCJC cited11 California community col-leges in January 2008 alone fornot producing acceptable reports.

Resistance on a political level,in the meantime, includingvigorous lobbying by educators,began to bear fruit. In the fall of2008, President Bush was obligedto sign a new version of theHigher Education Act. It allowedCongress to appoint two-thirdsof NACIQI’s 18 members andforbade the Department of Edu-cation from establishing any cri-teria to define the standardsaccreditors use to assess an insti-tution’s success in terms of stu-dent achievement.In California, these changes

mean, according to PresidentHittelman, that SLOs cannot berequired by the Department orused for faculty evaluation pur-poses unless consistent with thelocal collective bargaining agree-ment negotiated by the facultybargaining agent under theRodda Act.At present, however,ACCJC refuses to accept thisinterpretation; so the matter mayeventually have to be settled inthe courts.At the same time,however,ACCJC Chair Gaineshas stated that “each institution[under its jurisdiction] can defineSLOs for itself ” and that SLOsare only “one possible compo-nent” of evaluation of the effec-tiveness of its academic staff.Individual colleges will discoverwhether these words represent amodification in ACCJC‘s stanceto conform with the 2008 High-er Education Act, or whetherthey are merely window dressing,when accreditation inspectionsresume in 2009.

By Greg Davis,AFT Local 1493, San Mateo

Precursors, politics,and resistance

The SLO approach was an attempt to apply the

thinking behind “No Child Left Behind,” with its

emphasis on quantified outcomes and accountability,

to higher education.

Of the six major accrediting organizations for community colleges in the Unit-ed States, just one has demonstrated what might be considered an overzeal-ous approach to sanctions, as revealed by the comparison chart below.

Accrediting Community SanctionsInstitution Colleges served 2003-08

MSA/CHE 95 6

NEAS&C/CIHE 64 0

NCA/HLC 43 2

NWCCU 56 0

SACS/COC 298 7

WASC/ACCJC 174 117(110 California CCs) (41)

MSA = Middle States Assoc. of Colleges and Schools; NEAS&C = New EnglandAssoc. of Schools and Colleges; NCA = North Central Assoc. of Colleges andSchools; NWCCU = Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities; SACS= Southern Assoc. of Colleges and Schools; WASC = Western Association ofSchools and Colleges

Source: Comparison of Accreditation Sanctions across Commissions, 2003-2008

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The following article does not necessarily represent the official views of the CFT on Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). The Perspective,as always, welcomes views from the members on issues important to community college faculty.—Editor

The story behind the SLO


Marin

Strike looms atCollege of MarinCollege of Marin,where teach-

ers have gone without a contractfor two years, is probably a goodexample of the problems that arisewhen a district turns over negoti-ations to an attorney. Larry Frier-son, attorney for the collegedistrict, is now its highest paidemployee, having earned over$700,000 in three years, accordingto Ira Lansing, president of UnitedProfessors of Marin,AFT Local1610.“The district used to have a

chief negotiator on a monthlysalary,” he explains. “Frierson,however, charges by the hourboth as a negotiator and a

litigator.” In other words, if bar-gaining goes on forever, thehourly charges mount up. And ifthe district winds up in litigationas a result, along with mediationsessions, fact-finding possibleboard charges, the charges mountup even more.That seems to be where things

are headed in Marin. Whennegotiations started, the districtsunshined 18 of the 26 articles inthe union contract. When thedistrict gave its proposal, and theunion gave a counterproposal, thedistrict never responded.To try to break the logjam, the

union even made a drastic pro-posal during mediation. “We saidwe’d agree to all their changes incontract language, and there weremany, if they’d agree with all ourproposals on salaries and eco-nomics. Their response was that

they had no authority to make anoffer.”Fact-finding was then sched-

uled for February 23-26, and inall likelihood will extend muchlonger. The union is contemplat-ing unfair labor practice charges.If nothing changes, the union ispreparing to strike.“From my perspective as UPM

president it appears that these arethe only two possible outcomes,”Lansing told members,“acquiesceor strike. If the Board ofTrusteesand the administration were trulyserious about producing a collec-tive bargaining agreement thatwas acceptable to both parties,they would have responded inmeaningful ways to all previousproposals. They have given nocounter-proposals to most of theirinitial positions and haveremained, in most instances, attheir opening proposals.”Lansing anticipates that

following fact-finding the districtmay choose to implement its finaloffer, presenting the faculty with abasic choice. “We as faculty cango on strike for the first time inthe history of the College of

Marin or we can accept a contractthat changes our wages, benefitsand working conditions inextreme ways and wipes outmany of the accomplishmentsachieved over the last 30 years ofbargaining.”College of Marin is the 47th

lowest-paid district in the state, ina county with higher living coststhan almost any other. Across thestreet from the college campus isKent Middle School,where ateacher with a masters degree and15 years on the job gets $17,000 ayear more. The district hasoffered 0% over three years.“They believe we’re paid toomuch,” Lansing charges.

“Best wishes”Meanwhile, as anger and

resentment build, the districtseems unconcerned, or evenoblivious. One faculty member,Laurie Ordin, co-chair of themathematics department,wrote aplea to college president FranWhite, telling her morale hit rockbottom when teachers heard thatthe district wasn’t willing to cometo the table and negotiate.“It is extremely important that

we feel that the entire collegecommunity can put aside differ-ences,” Ordin said,“as PresidentObama has asked us to, to get theimportant work done. It is somuch better to feel hope ratherthan despair in difficult times.”White’s response: “Thank you

for your note. The District ishonoring the Fact Finding pro-cess. Happy NewYear and bestwishes for the new semester.”

By David Bacon

San DiegoLocksmith the key toa real union at SDCCMaintenance and operating

unit employees are the newmembers of the AFT Guild – SanDiego Community College,Local 1931. But they’re not newto unions. In fact, their laborexperience and their dogged pur-suit of their rights is whatbrought them into the unionrepresenting the other faculty andemployees at the San DiegoCommunity College District.On December 22, 90 members

of the unit voted in favor of theAFT. Forty voted to continuewith their previous representative,Service Employees Local 221, andtwo voted for no union represen-tation.Behind the vote was a long

process in which the 198 mem-bers of the unit sought to con-vince their old union torepresent them properly. ChrisRouch, a locksmith on the SanDiego City College campus, wasone of the two leaders of the

maintenance and operatingemployees, along with GeraldVanderpot, a gardener-groundskeeper. “We just weren’tgetting proper service,”Rouchexplained. “We couldn’t even getour phone calls returned.”Unreturned calls were the least

of their concerns, however.Recently the district hired a con-sultant, Hay Management Cor-poration, to do a study of districtwages. After making recommen-dations to the district for a “payrealignment,”Rouch says, the dis-trict and the old union signed offon the new arrangement.“Three quarters of our unit lost

money, especially custodians,” hesays. “With the COLA [cost ofliving adjustment] that had beenin our contract, their wageswould have gone up $100 amonth. Instead, they went downby $80. My own pay structurewent down by $650, and I wastold my salary would no longerreflect any COLA increases.After the district and the oldunion approved the arrangement,they held a quick vote two dayslater at the union hall, in whichmost people didn’t understandwhat was on the table.”That incident inspired Rouch

andVanderpot to begin question-ing the relationship between theSEIU local and the district. Theygot in touch with the AFT, butwere told the burden of changingunions would have to be theirsalone. So the two started visitingthe other members of their unit.The district has three colleges, sixcontinuing education sites, a dis-trict office and a service center.To speak to each worker, the pairhad to make an extensive com-mitment of time and energy.“Gerry and I went to every site

and every shift,”Rouch recalls.That’s when the district tried tostop them. “The human relationsmanager wrote me a letter tellingme we couldn’t hold any meet-ings among unit employees. Isaid that if we did it at lunch, onour own time, in the parking lot,they couldn’t keep us from meet-ing. But they continued to keepan eye on me. HR even wrote anote to supervisors, telling themto tell the workers they super-vised not to attend.”To Rouch, the original wage

reduction deal, and then the sub-sequent threats, were reason toquestion the relationship betweenthe district and the SEIU local.Jim Mahler, Local 1931 presi-

dent, welcomed the workers intothe AFT after they’d made theirchoice. “We represent everyoneelse in the district,” he said. “It’slogical they’d choose us – theyjust wanted representation.”Rouch says simply,“We wanted

it, we got it, and now we’rehappy.”

By David Bacon

ActionLocal

This post cardwas sent to thousands of students across the state to encourageparticipation intheMarch 16 Sacramentomarch and rally to protest cuts to education and social services in thestate budget agreement signedby the governor in February.

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Perspective, March 2009

Documents

Transcript of Perspective, March 2009