The Honorable Assemblymember Jose Medina
Higher Education Committee, Chair
State Capitol, Room 2141
P.O. Box 942849
Sacramento, CA 94249-0061
February 22, 2021
Re: SUPPORT: AB 375 (Medina) Position: Co-Sponsor
Honorable Assemblymember Medina,
As Chair of the California Part Time Faculty Association (CPFA), I am writing to express resounding support for AB 375. Tens of thousands of faculty in the California Community College system are in dire need of improvements to their working conditions, which this bill will help to bring about. We believe that this bill is one critical element to student success.
Beyond what AB 375 does for part-time faculty and students, there are obvious advantages to the state and college districts. Most significantly, AB 375 is a “no-cost” item; in fact, the bill will likely save the state money. With the current 67% limit on part-time teaching loads, turnover of faculty who teach over 50% of classes in the CCC system is staggeringly high, mainly because most of these instructors struggle or fail to supplement their “capped” teaching earnings with additional jobs or teaching positions in neighboring districts. The result is that districts must continuously engage in new hire orientations and evaluations, which drains vital resources. Furthermore, when AB 951 (Dymally) raised the cap from 60% to 67%, district programs also benefited in terms of flexibility. For example, in high demand unit heavy courses, such as Math, English and Science, part-time faculty were allowed to take on more than just one or two courses, which kept districts from having to scramble at the last minute to find and process new hires. Raising the cap again, this time to 80-85%, would further increase the flexibility of districts to offer more high demand classes utilizing returning part-time instructors.
Also evident from previous cap increases is that students benefit profoundly, not just from more course offerings, but also from an increase in opportunities to interact with their part-time instructors outside of normal classroom hours. It stands to reason that raising the cap to 80-85% will further enhance student success because faculty who have an opportunity to stay at a single district also have more time and energy to devote to their students.
For thousands of temporary faculty, AB 375 will go a long way towards creating the continuity and stability desperately needed by a precarious workforce, will clearly benefit districts, and will ultimately translate into greater student success statewide. Thank you for your dedicated service and attention to this important matter.
Sincerely,
John Martin, Chair
California Part-time Faculty Association (CPFA)
jmartin@cpfa.org