For as long as I can remember, statewide community college unions and academic senates have been discussing the issue of how the essence of the community college mission has been dismantled bit by bit by the California Legislature and the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO). Many of us who have been working in the California community college system for a while have seen initiative after initiative come down from on high often without consultation with faculty.
This topic has been, unfortunately, popular at almost every conference and statewide meeting that I have attended both as a Guild member and Guild leader my entire career.
State laws and CCCCO initiatives have whittled down our mission to serve our communities in the widest array possible, and instead have turned us, by and large, into transfer mills feeding the CSUs and UCs. While I understand the importance of making sure our students have the units they need to transfer to 4-year institutions if that is their goal, that is NOT our sole mission. I am consistently concerned for the students who are coming to try out a class or two who may feel alienated by the push to choose a pathway when they are not here to move to a university. Don’t even get me started on the prohibition of repeatability! Our parent union, California Federation of Teachers (CFT), adopted a resolution about the necessity for repeatability to be reinstated at State Council in March.
Laws like AB 705 and now, the proposed revision to it, AB 1705, continue to degrade the experience that some of our students desperately need by prohibiting community college districts from offering below transfer-level math and English. While the current update, 1705, has not yet been voted on by our legislators, sister organizations like the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges (FACCC) have come out against the bill as it is currently written. CFT has the bill on watch and it was a hotly discussed topic at State Council as well. Faculty continue to not be consulted at best and hamstrung at worst by these bills.
I could rail against all the many changes that have occurred in the 17 years I have been a community college instructor, but I will end it here with this. While it’s great that the California Community College League was able to get the legislature to pass a resolution calling April “California Community College Month”, this kind of recognition feels hollow as we are consistently being assaulted by bills and initiatives that do not involve the input by faculty or take the myriad of students we serve into consideration. When I call on you, my dear Guild members, to write a letter, call a legislator, or testify at a legislative committee meeting, I hope you take me up on that call. This is our profession and for most of us, our passion. We cannot let the bureaucrats have the final say on how we deliver high-quality and low-cost education.
In Unity,
Emily
Glendale College Guild |
Glendale Community College | 1500 North Verdugo Road, Glendale, California 91208 | Tel: 818.240.1000
GCC Home © 2024 - Glendale Community College. All Rights Reserved.
