Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/1535219
Part-timers are only allowed to work two-thirds the load of a full-time profes- sor, meaning that many string together adjunct jobs at multiple colleges, earn- ing the moniker "freeway flyers" for the amount of uncompensated time they spend commuting between their jobs. To compound matters, community colleges pay adjunct faculty less than full-time faculty and fail to pay them for the many hours of essential work that they do out- side of the classroom on behalf of their employers — as in this case and others currently waiting for their day in court. "One of the greatest inequities in edu- cation today is that of part-time college professor pay," Kaljumägi says. "At Long Beach, part-time faculty are expected to exercise their independent judgment to complete the same preparation, evalu- ation, paperwork and communication tasks that full-time professors do, while earning a salar y that is on a per-class basis at most 63% of what a full-time pro- fessor earns on column 1, step 1 on the salary schedule." e combined low pay, lack of respect and unreasonable exp ectations ( like working for free) have made working as part-time faculty unsustainable, accord- ing to Rohkea, who says the sacrifices and disrespect made her feel like she was "renting her career." " I w oul d li ke to se e th e Californi a Education Code changed, so we are not kept to 67% of a full-time professor's load. I would like to see a livable wage for adjuncts who are doing this as their full- time careers," Rohkea says. "When I have students who want to go into teaching, it's hard to stand behind being a college professor when I know only one in 10 of them will find a full-time job teaching. How do you advocate for your student to go into this?" Rohkea says the disparity between full-time and adjunct professors became even more evident during the COVID-19 In March 2024, a Superior Court judge ruled that the CTA-backed lawsuit filed by Roberts and Rohkea could expand the class of the suit to include over 850 other impacted Long Beach City College faculty. Roberts is pictured in the middle (Rohkea did not attend the hearing). 30 cta.org Feature