Welcome to The CPFA Blog

We’ve collected a variety of original news stories and analyses for your perusing, which focus on education in California, part-time faculty and/or unions in academia that have broad national appeal. As might be expected, we take special interest in social justice issues that slip under the radar of the mainstream media.

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Resolution : Foothill – De Anza Faculty Association Supports Assembly Bill 897

  • Whereas, existing California law (Assembly Bill 951, 2008) establishes that the contingent, part-time faculty workload is capped at 67 percent, amounting to no more than 10 units in the quarter system or 6 in the semester system amounting to approximately two to three classes per term; and
  • Whereas, 68.9 ...

The Role of the Teachers’ Union in Enrollment Management

BY RICK BAUM Teachers need to be organized in unions to protect their jobs and standard of living.  Unfortunately, union leadership is too frequently dominated by full-timers who disregard the needs and interests of part-timers.       At City College of San Francisco, many part-timers have lost classes reducing their income and eliminating ...

When Part-Timers Have to Absorb Class Cuts

BY RICK BAUM     For the Fall 2019 term, the administration at City College of San Francisco (CCSF) made drastic class cuts to address a claimed deficit of as much as $50 million. There were about 15% fewer classes than the previous fall term with the number of part-timers going ...
/ Commentary, CPFA Journal

67% Cap Needs to be Raised to 80-85%

BY SCOTT DOUGLAS In 2007, the California Part-time Faculty Association (CPFA) worked with Assembly member Mervyn Dymally to get the part-time cap raised from 60% to 67%.Today, CFT, the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) and many other faculty organizations have declared support for Assembly Bill 897 (Medina), which ...

Protecting Part-time Faculty from the Backlash of COVID-19

Fellow Adjunct-Contingent Faculty and Allies: While we are in the early stages of this pandemic, it is abundantly clear that the COVID-19 outbreak has already created the greatest disruption in American Higher Education history, with campuses nationwide being shuttered, and faculty, students and staff being forced to, with minimal preparation ...

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CPFA Part-time Faculty Retirement Survey 2019 By David Milroy In the spring 2019 issue, CPFA posted a survey concerning part-time faculty and their knowledge of and plans for retirement. The survey consisted of 10 questions about various retirement options and issues related to Social Security and the impact of the ...

CPFA Annual Spring Conference April 11, 2020 – CANCELLED

Official Notice: CPFA's 2020 Spring Conference has been cancelled due to the emergency closure of its venue, Diablo Valley College, to protect students and faculty from potential coronavirus (COVID-19) exposure. Whether the conference will be rescheduled for a later date is still to be determined. Please stay tuned for updates ...

What is the WEP?

By David Milroy, CPFA Director of Administration The Windfall Elimination Provision was enacted in 1983 as part of major amendments designed to shore up the financing of the Social Security program. The reduction of the 90% factor to the 40% WEP formula factor was the result of a compromise between ...
/ CPFA Journal, WEP

CPFA Talks to Senators Feinstein and Harris and CalRTA About Eliminating the WEP/GPO

By David Milroy, CPFA Director of Administration On Friday, June 28, 2019, members of the CPFA Executive Committee met with representatives for Senators Diane Feinstein and Kamala Harris regarding the Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) and the Government Pension Off-set (GPO). These two regulations, which apply to Social Security payments, wreak ...

IMHO – Chair’s Report

Since my last update, an important bill, AB 897, was authored by Assemblymember Jose Medina (D-Riverside) to raise the 67% workload cap on part-time faculty in California’s Community Colleges System to 80-85% of a full-time workload (Read the previous Chair Report, fall 2018, online for more on why CPFA supports ...

The Soft Bigotry of Low Expectations in California’s Higher Education

By Keith Law     This article was published in the CPFA Journal, Fall 2019 edition, and originally appeared in the online media source medium.com. “The key to my success is a very simple and time-honored tradition, hard work for teacher and student alike.” Jaime Escalante Readers of this editorial may recall ...

Highlights from the 2019 CPFA Conference

The Exploitation of Part-Time Professors It’s a well-known secret that public higher education in California and across the country is increasingly built on the backs of a large army of underpaid, exploited part-time professors. At a recent conference hosted by the California Part Time Faculty Association (CPFA), a variety of speakers ...

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WHY THE 67% CAP SHOULD BE RAISED REJOINDERS TO COMMON CLAIMS AGAINST AB 897 California is the only state in the country to have a state law preventing part-time faculty from teaching more than 67% of a full-time workload in any one community college district. No other higher education system ...

AB 897: A Letter to Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez

The Honorable Assembly Member Lorena Gonzalez, Chair
Assembly Appropriations Committee
State Capitol, Room 2114
Sacramento, California 95814
916.319.2081
Re: AB 897 (Medina)                              Position: Co-Sponsor Honorable Assembly Member Gonzalez, As Chair of the California Part Time ...

AB 897: A Letter to Assemblymember Medina

The Honorable Jose Medina
Chair, Assembly Higher Education Committee
1020 N Street, Room 173
Sacramento, CA 95814 RE: Assembly Bill 897                           Position: Co-Sponsor Dear Assemblymember Medina, The California Part-time Faculty Association (CPFA) is grateful for your introduction of ...