California Educator

April/May 2021

Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1360078

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 35 of 63

at other colleges on dierent days." During the pandemic, she says, adjuncts at her campus were the first to lose their jobs when enrollment dropped by 8 percent. Holland, a Kern CCD/CCA member who teaches public speaking and debate, says her love of teaching keeps her going. "I 'm ver y passionate about education . Education has opened doors for me and my students. I love hearing students formulate arguments they will use in the outside world. But it's frustrating that I can't devote more energy to teaching, because I have to spend time working other jobs, like Instacart, to supplement my income. "I tell myself this is temporary. But I have been teaching here 10 years waiting for a full-time position. I deserve to get paid at the same rate as my full-time colleagues. We have the same training. And we are union mem- bers who have a voice at the bargaining table. But sometimes we are afraid to speak up, because we are at-will employees. We don't want our classes taken away." A matter of equity ere's hope with Assembly Bill 1269, which is sponsored by CCA and addresses the pay inequities adjunct faculty face (see sidebar). For Warren Yagubyan, it's about respect. She notes that on MiraCosta's salary sched- ule, a 20-year adjunct faculty member makes less than a rst-year, full-time employee. "Why are people getting paid such dierent amounts for doing the same work?" she asks. "We are being held to the same professional standards as our full-time colleagues, but we don't have health benets or retirement." She prefers to be called an associate pro- fessor instead of an adjunct, noting that the dictionary denes "adjunct" as "a thing added to something else as a supplementary rather than an essential part." Part-time professors are very essential to providing students with a good education and should be considered necessary and valued, she asserts. She nds it ironic that community colleges host weighty discussions about equity issues, but such discussions only apply to students. "I want to remind everyone that inequities exist within the community college system for those who teach," she says. "It's time to address the inequities within our own ranks, too." Take Action: Support AB 1269 A S S E M B L Y B I L L 12 6 9 , by Cristina Garcia (D-Bell Gardens), seeks pay equity for adjunct faculty in the state's community college system. Sign the CTA petition in support at cta.org/our-advocacy/action-center. Sponsored by the Community College Association and CTA, the bill would require the California Community Colleges Chancellor 's O™ice to conduct a comprehensive study of part-time faculty by 2023. The study would identify policies and o™er fiscal recommendations for achieving a pathway to parity for adjunct faculty by 2027. As part of the study, the Chancellor 's O™ice would convene a workgroup that would include community college union representatives. This legislation is being co-sponsored with the California Federation of Teachers. CCA President Eric Kaljumägi observes that creating a "compensation schedule" to achieve parity between part-time and full-time faculty within six years is nothing new; it revamps 1999 legislation that was approved but never implemented. He says the goal is having 75 percent of community college classes taught by full-time instructors. "Our problem is that we have an underclass of faculty that are the primary employees of the community college system," he says. "I have no idea how we can maintain a diverse and high-quality workforce if we treat people this badly." 34 cta.org Chantel Perales Krista Warren Yagubyan Advocacy

Articles in this issue

Links on this page

Archives of this issue

view archives of California Educator - April/May 2021