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Judge rules accreditor acted illegally in terminating City College of San Francisco’s accreditation
January 16, 2015—Today the CFT hosted a press teleconference call to discuss Superior Court Judge Curtis Karnow’s ruling in “The People vs. ACCJC.” Participating were CFT President Joshua Pechthalt, Assemblymember Phil Ting (D-San Francisco), AFT Local 2121 President Tim Killikelly, and Shanell Williams, student trustee at City College of San Francisco. Here are the highlights.
Pesticide use reporting and training coming in 2016
At the end of the legislative session, Gov. Jerry Brown signed Senate Bill 1405, by Mark DeSaulnier (D-Concord), requiring safe use and accurate tracking of pesticides on school campuses. Industry lobbyists previously blocked two similar pieces of legislation.
Staff pressured to administer EpiPens
Under a new law, public schools are required to stock emergency epinephrine auto injectors for students with severe allergies and volunteer staff are required to administer the EpiPens. This change came when the governor signed SB 1266 (Huff, R-Diamond Bar).
In July, the AFT Convention overwhelmingly approved a resolution introduced by CCE President Paula Phillips asking for federal regulation of medical procedures to protect members.
“Unsung heroes” of schoolyard organize
Noon duty supervisors to have their own contract
Sixty unsung heroes flexed their union muscle and joined the Lawndale Federation of Classified Employees.
Noon duty supervisors serve as at-will employees and work only a few hours a day at the district’s six elementary and two middle schools, but the final straw, according to Local President Carl Williams, was not getting a 4 percent raise that faculty and classified received.
Building a classified community
By Paula A. Phillips, President, Council of Classified Employees
What could a groundskeeper or a guard have in common with a bus driver or a computer technician? More than many people think.
As classified employees, we work with faculty to make schools and colleges the glue that holds our communities together. We helped lead the fight for Proposition 30 and now, two year later, new funding is arriving in districts across California.
Classified Conference: Support staff wear many hats…proudly
At the annual conference, the Council of Classified Employees celebrated the diverse work of support staff in a dazzling panoply showing the many hats they wear.
CCE Southern Vice President Carl Williams called out classified job titles one after another. Secretary, paraprofessional, groundskeeper, custodian and media technician. Admissions and records technician, safety officer, library technician, accounting coordinator, and bus driver.
Prop. 30 delivers salary relief in recent contracts
After years of stagnant wages, classified employees are finally seeing long-overdue salary relief in recent months.
The raises largely result from the CFT campaign two years ago to pass Proposition 30. This year, the governor’s budget included $5.6 billion in additional funding for K-14 education. Prop. 30 will generate an average of about $6 billion per year for seven years.
College classified are partners in accreditation process
The City of San Francisco went to court in October to stop the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges from effectively shutting its beloved City College and ending affordable higher education for 80,000 students.
Statewide, community colleges are fighting for fair accreditation and one college that lost its accreditation is working to get it back. Classified staff are helping.
Freeway Flyers: Local action & quick news
ACCJC has taken part-time jobs from San Francisco
With City College of San Francisco still in limbo status due to unfair sanctions from the Accrediting Commission for Junior and Community Colleges, nearly 150 part-time faculty have lost their jobs in the past couple of years and few, if any, part-time counselors have been rehired.
AFT Convention forms Part-Time Caucus
Part-time and contingent faculty throughout the United States now have a stronger voice in our national union with the formation of a Part-Time Caucus at the AFT Convention in July.
Several California part-timers are helping shape this tool to influence AFT priorities and connect part-timers nationwide.
Two new laws will benefit part-time faculty in California
Improved transfer of unused sick leave
Assembly Bill 2295 (Ridley-Thomas, D-Los Angeles) makes it easier for part-timers to transfer unused sick leave from a previous community college employer to a new one by extending the transfer period from a mere one year to three academic years.
CalSTRS offers more assistance with service credit reporting
By Sharon Hendricks, Los Angeles College Faculty Guild and CalSTRS Board Member
To help part-time faculty understand how districts report service credit and to ensure they receive all service credit they have earned throughout their teaching careers when they retire, CalSTRS has opened new centers in Irvine, Glendale, and Santa Clara, staffed by benefits counselors trained to navigate part-time-faculty issues.