In 2012, CFT sponsored three bills that aim to improve the working conditions for part-timer faculty. What are the bills and how can they help you in the workplace? Find out in the recap below.
Limiting full-time faculty overload teaching
Assembly Bill 1826, carried by
Roger Hernández, D-West Covina, set out to limit full-time
faculty overload at 50 percent. AB 1826 passed on the Assembly
Floor at the end of April, but after being heard in the Senate
Education Committee, it stalled in the Senate Appropriations
Committee.
Reporting part-time faculty service credit to
CalSTRS
Senate Bill 114 (Yee, D-San
Francisco) aims to correct misreporting of part-time
faculty work to CalSTRS for the purpose of determining retirement
service credit. SB 114 cleared the Senate in early 2012 and
passed the Assembly on August 27, the last step before going back
to the Senate for concurrence and then on to Gov. Brown.
SB 114 requires districts to submit their collective bargaining agreements that contain the full-time equivalent for each class of affected employees, beginning July 1, 2013. SB 114 will allow CalSTRS to better understand how to help employers report accurate full-time equivalencies by referencing these contracts. Unions can monitor their contracts to help ensure that part-time instructors are accruing the correct amount of service credit, and that CalSTRS receives the up-to-date contract.
Rehire rights for part-time faculty
Assembly Bill 852 (Fong, D-San Jose)
initially required a community college district to offer a
temporary faculty member the right of first refusal for teaching
assignments provided they meet specified criteria. The
Appropriations Committee passed AB 852 with unacceptable
amendments that reduced rights for temporary faculty. CFT opposed
the amended bill because current law provides better protections.