Topic: Legislative Action
CFT succeeds in moving bills out of Appropriations Committee
Legislative Update
The Assembly and Senate Appropriations Committees both held their Suspense hearings May 16 to report which bills would make it out of Appropriations and go to the Floor in their respective chambers.
The CFT was successful in securing the passage of most sponsored and co-sponsored bills out of the Appropriations Committees. Those bills address priority issues for the CFT, including increasing school funding, ensuring accountability for charter schools, and providing support for community college and UC faculty.
AB 897: Raising the cap and reducing freeway flying
FIRST PERSON | By Geoff Johnson
The term “freeway flyer” has for years been synonymous with California part-time community college teachers. Since 1968, California part-timers have been legally restricted to teaching a faction of a full-time load in a given community college district, and then generally paid only for their instructional hours.
The rationale for this rule was that it allowed administrators more flexibility to deal with the drop in student sections from the fall to spring semesters, and at the same time, a way to get out of paying healthcare and retirement benefits.
Paid maternity leave: AB 500 empowers female educators, staff and their families
Pregnancy is a medical condition that requires women to take time off either to deal with the pregnancy itself and potential complications, to recover from child birthing, or bond with a child, which often requires far more than a just the few weeks that many female adjuncts may have in accumulated sick leave. It is not an illness, like a cold, nor a disability like throwing out your back. It is a temporary disability specific to women and needs to be treated as such.
Student loan forgiveness: Bill aims to help part-time faculty in California
AFT wants to hear from those denied application
Update: The governor signed AB 463 into law on October 4, 2019.
Presently working its way through the Assembly, AB 463, Cervantes, D-Riverside, seeks to make it easier for California part-time community college instructors to gain eligibility for the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.
Legislator of the Year Patrick O’Donnell brings the classroom to Sacramento
Former teacher and Assemblymember Patrick O’Donnell, who has lobbied for more school funding, and served as chair of the Assembly Education Committee, received the Legislator of the Year Award.
CFT members advocate for charter reform bills in Sacramento
Urge your Assembly & Senate representatives to support AB 1505, 1506 and 1507!
On April 10, over 80 CFT members took part in a successful Legislative Day of Action in Sacramento. Educators and classified professionals from throughout the state gathered at the capitol to push for more accountability for charter schools and full funding for public education. And despite aggressive tactics by charter backers, we were successful in moving several important bills through the Assembly Education Committee.
UC-AFT recognized on Assembly Floor
Assemblyman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, recognized the University Council-AFT on the Assembly Floor during UC-AFT’s first group lobby day at the State Capitol on April 1.
Momentum growing for charter school reform
On February 25, CFT joined fellow educator and school worker unions, the NAACP, and several concerned state lawmakers to announce proposed legislation that would fix the laws governing charter schools in California. The legislation, Assembly Bills 1505, 1506, 1507, and 1508, would ensure charter schools were accountable to local communities and neighborhood schools.
CFT’s efforts yield parental leave, more full-time positions, paid office hours, pay equity
If there were perhaps one way to describe the legislative campaign waged by CFT this year as it regards both part-timers and the community college system, one could say it was “spirited.” Despite the sea changes proposed for the entire system, the union still won improvements for part-timers.
Our fight to win security doorlocks
The CFT’s persistent legislative efforts will lead to greater school safety
In a survey conducted by the Public Policy Institute of California this spring, 82 percent of public school parents and 73 percent of adults said they are concerned about school shootings. Another poll showed 57 percent of teenagers aged 13-17 were somewhat or very worried about a shooting in their school.
CFT scores major legislative victory by prohibiting for-profit charter schools in California
Gemma Abels, the president of the Morgan Hill Federation of Teachers, saw how for-profit charter schools hurt the children and families in her district in Santa Clara County. A school there, Flex Academy, operated by the largest for-profit charter company – K12 Inc. – closed just a few weeks before school started, leaving families scrambling to find places for their children.
Support paid office hours for part-time faculty
Send a letter to Gov. Brown asking that more money be put in the State Part-time Office Hours Fund. These letters work. A similar campaign last year helped secure a $5 million increase in the fund, an increase of over 70 percent. That said, the state fund only matches about 10 percent of paid part-time office hours funds, which is why office hours funding is either limited or non-existent in most districts.
Legislators of the Year: Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher and Connie Leyva
Community College Council President Jim Mahler first met Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher (D-San Diego) when she worked in Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante’s office. She supported labor then, and she supports it now, he said, advocating for International Workers’ Day and passing paid sick leave for all workers.
Legislature’s actions benefit classified
“Noon dutys” now part of the classified service
The job title varies from one school district to another, but most “Noon Dutys” — as part-time playground supervisors or noon duty aides are often called – are women working five days a week for two or three hours a day. They are often the lowest paid employees on campus.
Current law blocked most noon dutys from classified status, but that changes on January 1. Gov. Jerry Brown has signed AB 670 by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond), giving a leg up to about 1,500 part-timers across the state.
Sacramento doubles down on teacher credentialing program for classified
In 2016, the CFT co-sponsored legislation to establish a teacher credentialing program for classified employees, and the 2016-17 state budget included $20 million to fund the campaign for five years.
Legislature sends governor bill to include noon duty aides in classified service
Current law exempts part-time playground employees from classified status if they don’t also hold a second position in the same school district. Legislation now on the governor’s desk, however, would include part-timers who don’t have a second job.
AB 670 by Assemblyman Tony Thurmond (D-Richmond) would help about 1,500 “noon dutys” statewide.
“Part-time playground employees work side by side with classified employees performing similar duties,” Thurmond said. “They deserve the same protection and benefits as classified employees.”
Bringing playground aides into the classified service
AB 670 would give part-time “noon dutys” long overdue workplace rights
Lesa Estrada has been a noon duty aide at Lawndale’s Anderson Elementary since her son began kindergarten here more than 25 years ago. “All three of my children attended Anderson,” Estrada said. “I’ve seen kids grow up and bring us their children. Now some are bringing us their grandchildren.”
Estrada is one of about 60 playground aides who work two or three hours daily at the Lawndale elementary district’s nine campuses. Their jobs often mirror staff positions, but state law specifically excludes them from “the classified service.”
Union success: Audit to analyze technology and training plans
The Joint Legislative Audit Committee recently approved a motion by state Sen. Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, to review community college districts’ long-term strategic plans to upgrade instructional technology and training. The audit will include a large college district, a medium-sized one, and a small one as a cross-section of the state’s 72 districts.
Suleman Ishaque, chair of CFT’s Educational Technology Committee — who works for the Los Angeles Community College District — expects the auditor to find that districts have few, if any, plans for ongoing training, even for employees in charge of campus information technology networks.
Mid-session update: Union-sponsored bills pass through key legislative committees
Our CFT-sponsored legislation successfully passed out of policy committees before the May 12 deadline for bills introduced in their house of origin to be heard. The union’s proposal before the Joint Legislative Audit Committee also succeeded. In addition, CFT is lobbying several priority bills and continues to monitor legislation that would be harmful to educators, our students and communities. You can find regular legislative updates here.