OEA Lobby Day - Salem, April 25, 2011

This year, OEA partnered with the Oregon Student Association (OSA) to conduct Lobby Day, 2011. Community colleges represented included Treasure Valley (a LONG drive!), Mt. Hood and Clackamas.

David Shellabarger (math) and I met up as we entered the meeting room. Lindsey Capps, our OEA lobbyist, gave us our instructions. The room was alive with student buzz. At 12:30, we filed out to start the march and rally. We marched to the Capitol Building , accompanied by chants reminiscent of the 1970s. Governor Kitzhaber and several legislators gave short speeches. The rain held off.

Dave and I visited three representatives to talk about the need for stable and adequate funding for community colleges.None of them oppose such funding. They all believe there isn't any money available to give us more than the Governor's Budget calls for: $410 million. We pushed for them to consider some options, but there didn't seem to be much willingness to try any harder than they already have. Just for the sake of comparison, in 2007, community colleges received $500 million in state support. With exploding enrollment growth, we must "make do" with 18% less money.

Sometimes we do these things, such as showing up and trying to persuade others, and we never really know whether it was effective. We have a tendency to judge it worthless if we don't see the results we want. I believe our efforts were worthwhile even though we may never know whether they were effective.

In solidarity,
Rosemary

Contract Analysis

This anaysis was done by a PTFA member in response to the April 1, 2011 management proposal regarding Article 16 (seniority and "no caps"), which I sent out via email a few days ago. The member has asked to remain anonymous. I know this person and can vouch for his/her credibility.

Please let us know what YOU think...

In solidarity,

Rosemary

-- click on title for analysis text

OEA RA, April 16 Afternoon (4th Report)

Live report 3 from the OEA RA…

Saturday, April 16 in the afternoon…#4

Re-authorization of ESEA – Elementary and Secondary Education Act – new business item asks that OEA President and our congressional delegates need to write letters regarding the conditions which should go with re-authorization, such as adequate funding and not tying teacher evaluations to standardized testing.

OEA will hold another symposium to invite people to OUR table to talk about education on our terms. More info soon.

New business item re healthy environmental conditions in our schools – provide educational information about impacts about environmental pollution in school buildings. This impacts us. The OIT Building has a mold problem, for example.
Proposal to have a one-day walk-out – questions involved included potential legal costs from resulting litigation. This one is potentially illegal. The new task force for strategic action gives us a means to do the same thing, legally.
New business item urges OEA to become a sponsor of “Save Our Schools” march and National Call to Action Conference. This item was passed.

615 delegates present this afternoon.

We’ve finished all our official business. Tonight, there’s a banquet (no cost to delegates) with entertainment provided by the Jefferson Dancers. Under Gail’s, and Hanna’s, leadership, we got the business done quickly and with little rancor or disagreement. I think it’s because of ALL the behind the scenes work they did leading up to the RA.

OEA RA, April 16th Afternoon (3rd Report)

Live report 3 from the OEA RA…

Saturday, April 16 in the afternoon…

Foundation report: the Foundation raises money and awards it to students (yes, community college students are eligible) in severe financial need to provide such things as buying new glasses, winter coats, etc. Teachers request the grants (yes, we could, too!) and then get to take the students shopping. Grants average about $100 and are given out at the rate of about $4000 per week. You can elect to donate via payroll deduction.

After lunch, we voted on resolutions and one of them was amended by Marilyn Pitts, MHCC PTFA. The amendment clarified the desired ratio of students to counselors for K-12 to be 1:250. Originally, there was no distinction between K-12 and community colleges. That ratio would have posed an onerous burden on community colleges, requiring the hiring of more than 100 counselors at CCC. While I think having that many counselors at CCC would mean MUCH better student retention, it’s not feasible. A new building would be required just to house them!
Bylaws: amendments to bylaws adjust the way OEA operates. We never see these directly, but we see the results. Then we moved to policy amendments. We see the results of these.

Lynda Graf received a Presidential Citation lifetime service award for her many years of dedicated service to the CCC Association of Classified Employees. I’ve known Lynda for man years; she has been one of my mentors in serving you. I’m thrilled that she has been acknowledged for her years of service.

I was awarded a Presidential Citation for member advocacy. I knew the award was coming but did not know what it was for…until my name was called. I still don’t know who nominated by…but my list of “suspects” is growing. To whomever nominated me, thank you. I feel very honored, as I have felt honored each and every year I have served as your president. It is really YOU that this is all about. YOU make it worthwhile to keep going…

In solidarity,

Rosemary

OEA RA, April 16 (2nd live report)

Live report 2 from the OEA RA…

Saturday, April 16 in the morning…
608 delegates are present this morning, representing K-12 and community colleges all over the state. Eleven of us are from community colleges.

New Business Items:
Strategic Action Task Force recommendation – task force to start more active organizing and action on behalf of educators and education in Oregon. Set the table and invite others to it instead of just being grateful we’re at someone else’s table. This item was adopted almost unanimously.
New Business Item 1 – OEA sponsor a student video competition so that students can showcase their accomplishments in education. Winners will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship for use toward college. A motion to refer this item to the Communications Cabinet failed. This item passed.
Now to Legislative Objectives: an amendment was proposed to the LO-s to add support for same-sex marriage; the amendment is already incorporated in the LO-s and is, therefore, unnecessary.
Amendment to LO #4 – academic testing should used for educators, not the public. This amendment was adopted. It applies to us.
On the main motion to adopt Legislative Objectives as amended: these were adopted.
President Gail Rasmussen thanked Colleen Works, a high school teacher from Corvallis, who teaches Social Studies.
More soon…
In solidarity,
Rosemary

OEA RA, April 16 Morning

Live report from the OEA RA…

Saturday, April 16 in the morning…

Remarks by Richard Sanders, new Executive Director of OEA:

We live in a country known as Richistan…where Bill Gates and somebody named Brode
have enough money that they are training the new generation of school superintendents, and community college administrators, in the art and science of union busting. They have decided that they know how to teach better than trained educators do, that after 15 years of teaching effectiveness goes away, that further education and training are a waste of time. This is some of the most inspiring speech I’ve heard IN A LONG TIME from OEA leadership. Richard promises to follow the speech with actions to help us regain our stature as teachers and union members.
Jennifer and I attended the Region I Caucus this morning. To those of you who think OEA business meetings drone on forever, you should know we finished all the proposed policy, resolution, bylaws and new business items in about 30 minutes – a new record.

In a short time, the results of voting will be announced. Gail Rasmussen is running unopposed for 2nd term as OEA President, as is Hanna Vandering for OEA Vice President. There are 2 candidates running for the position of NEA Director, which represents us – Oregon – at the national level.

New business items are up now. More soon.

In solidarity,

Rosemary

Contract Language

The Actual Language changes can be found under the Documents List -->

Article 16
WORK ASSIGNMENTS
The College acknowledges the significance and value of past service by part-time faculty as an important criterion in making teaching assignments.
A. CRITERIA FOR TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS - Seniority
1. Part-time instructors shall be assigned department work assignments according to their level, qualifications, experience, evaluation and needs of the program.

1. In developing teaching assignments, preference will be given to instructors who have previously taught the class successfully at CCC.

1. If the Department Chair determines that two or more part-time instructors are equally qualified to teach a certain class, the class will be assigned according to the Ranking List (see B. below) to the Part-Time Faculty member with the earliest date of hire in that department.

B. RANKING LIST FOR TEACHING ASSIGNMENTS - Seniority
1. College departments will develop and maintain a Part-Time Faculty Ranking List based on Pay Level , then date of hire in that department.
a. The Ranking List will be made available to Part-Time Faculty to review in the department office, and a copy of all Ranking Lists will be provided to the Association.
b. The Ranking List will be updated each term.
2. Each department prepares a master schedule of courses, term-by-term.
a. From that schedule, faculty are assigned courses.
b. After determination of qualifying criteria, Part-Time Faculty will be offered classes as established by the Ranking List, until all courses are assigned.
c. Courses remaining unassigned are available to new hires.

1. Both the department chair and the Part-Time Faculty members may indicate preferences in advance in order to facilitate placement, but such preferences will be considered non-binding.

1. Part-Time Faculty may leave CCC for a maximum of five (5) consecutive terms (including Summer), or with a department-approved leave of absence, without having the absence affect their ranking.

40

1. Absences of longer than five (5) consecutive terms (including Summer) constitute a “new hire” for purposes of assigning work according to the Ranking List.

1. This practice will be reviewed annually by the appropriate Dean and the Association to ensure consistency of implementation.

7. A Part-Time Faculty member passed over for a class the member believes he/she should have been offered has access to the following recourse:
a. The member may ask the department chair for an explanation of the course assignment(s) in question.
b. The member may contact the Association and request assistance.

1. Request for explanation or assistance by an Association member shall

not subject the member to prejudice or retaliation regarding future
assignments in that, or any other, department.
C. NO TEACHING CAPS 20

1. In previous negotiations, the college bargained in good faith to eliminate teaching load caps in exchange for the implementation of a full-time to part-time ratio between 1:1.85 and 1:1.92.
2. De-facto teaching caps implemented at the department level will be subject to the grievance procedure.

D. PROJECTED ANNUAL ASSIGNMENTS 29

1. Upon request, instructors will receive a projected instructional load for the next academic year by July 1.

1. Such projections are not a guarantee of employment or assignment, and it is recognized that the projected assignments may be changed based on the needs of the department; however, a good-faith effort will be made to ensure the accuracy of the projected assignments.

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NEA Pacific Regional Leadership Conference Reports

On February 26 and 27, three of your fellow part-time faculty members attended the NEA Pacific Regional Leadership Conference (PRLC) at the Portland Hilton. Adriana Aristizabal, of Computer Science, Jennifer Rueda, of ESL, and Ivan Mancinelli-Franconi, of Psychology attended conference sessions on multiple topics regarding leadership in education, including sessions on teacher evaluation and assessment, achieving budget goals, the Teacher's Health Trust, creating safe schools, education reform and bargaining, English language learner culture and equity framework, and the Oregon delegation meeting. Please look for reports and information about Adriana, Jennifer, and Ivan's experiences at the PRLC conference in our upcoming spring issue of the PTFA Newsletter.

Adriana put together a wonderful report with introductory information, main points, and some slide images from the sessions that she attended on teacher evaluation and assessment, achieving budget goals, and the Teacher's Health Trust. The information she provided is more than we can publish in the newsletter, but I wanted to make sure that everyone got a chance to see it. Please click on the link here to learn more about the sessions that Adriana attended. Jennifer also provided some links to resources related to the conference and to some of the sessions that she attended:

• 2011 NEA PRLC: The homepage for the NEA's 2011 Pacific Regional Leadership Conference.



• StretchWare: Software that helps you remember to stretch while working and that also might provide some ideas for classroom stretching and moving exercises.



• JAM (Just-a-Minute) School Program: A program that brings physical activity and health education into the classroom.



• OEA Choice Trust: A wellness program with a mission to make positive changes in the heath habits of Oregon's education employees. Those who want to learn more about the program may also contact Holly Spruance at hs@oeachoice.com.



• zhaolearning.com: Yong Zhao is the Presidential Chair and Associate Dean of Global Education at the University of Oregon. He is also the director of the Center for Advanced Learning and Technology and a fellow of the International Academy for Education. His site provides a blog, publications, speeches, and information regarding projects and courses, related to various topics, including education, globalization, technology, China, and Chinese language and learning.



• Slides from Dr. Zhao's presentation: Jennifer reports that Dr. Zhao's "talk focused on transforming our current, perhaps broken, public education system into a creative, world-class system that produces students ready for life in the age of globalization."



• A Blog Post by Lily Eskelsen: Lily Eskelsen is an elementary school teacher from Utah and the Vice President of the NEA. This particular blog post, Jennifer tells us, offers sense of what Eskelsen spoke about at the PRLC conference, including heifer.org, a non-profit organization that gifts third-world citizens with farm animals. Eskelson talked about how the public education system can learn something from these third-world citizens that can help us better educate our own children.

Look for more on these topics soon, in the PTFA Newsletter, to be delivered to your mailbox around Week 9 or 10 of the term!

How much are we worth? From the Chron of Higher Ed Blog

How Much Is an Adjunct Worth?
April 1, 2011, 11:47 am

By Isaac Sweeney

Few community colleges, it seems, try to accurately prorate the pay of adjuncts. It seems like colleges just pick a number, maybe an “industry standard,” and pay adjunct faculty members that amount per course.

At Blue Ridge Community College, where I am an adjunct in English, I get about $1,800 a course. There’s a weird system in Virginia’s community colleges in which, if I’m on a campus more than one day a week, I get a little extra pay — about $200 extra, or $2,000 a course. I guess that is driving money?

The trouble, and where the source of controversy will lie, is how to value an adjunct’s worth in comparison to a full-time faculty member. What percentage of work do adjuncts do as compared to their full-time counterparts? I mean, an adjunct doesn’t typically have to go to all those committee meetings or advise students or even worry about research and publishing, so it definitely shouldn’t be 100 percent. But 70 percent sounds fair, especially at a two-year college, where faculty members are usually expected to teach more than do research. All that “other stuff” couldn’t possibly take up more than 30 percent of a full-time faculty member’s time at a community college.

Here’s some math: If a full-time faculty member starts at $40,000 a year (like at Blue Ridge Community College), then 70 percent of that is $28,000. Divide that by a full load for two semesters, which is 10 total courses (five for the fall semester, and five in the spring.). Then the magic per-course rate should be $2,800.

For those who haven’t been paying attention, that figure is $1,000 more for each course than adjuncts, at least in English, receive at the college. That’s a lot of money that we are missing out on.

If you want to read more about pro-rata pay, a good place to start is the American Federation of Teachers’ Faculty and College Excellence page.

This entry was posted in The Two-Year Track.

Rosemary's Speech to Council

Here's the report Rosemary read to Presidents' Council today.

We are curious why, when every other group at CCC got approximately 10% in compensation increases over 3 years, we are being offered a PAY CUT of 4.05%. This is incongruent with the College's statements that Part-Time Faculty are valued and valuable employees.

Courtney Wilton said in September, 2009 (at Board of Education meeting) that he had set aside enough money for bargaining, assuming salary raises for all groups would be about 1% per year for each of 3 years. It sounded as if he intended to include Part-Time Faculty. But, they haven't offered anything close to 1%.

Did he mis-speak or just fail to mention that part-terms were not included in that plan? Or, was the cut offered to us intended to to pay for the raises everyone else got?

We are curious. And disappointed.

Note: the Cost of Living Index rose by 1.6% last year. If you subtract the .25% we were offered, that leaves a LOSS of 1.35% per year, times 3 years would be 4.05%. Or, calculate 1.6% times 3 = 4.8% minus .75% = 4.05%. Either way, it's a PAY CUT!

The 2010 CPI-U for Portland is a public records document.

Stay tuned...

In solidarity,
Rosemary

(Reprinted with Rosemary's permission)

Lobby Day - April 25th

As you will recall, at our last meeting the OEA CCC decided to organize a Lobby Day to promote community college funding and other community college and OEA CCC interests.

After initially planning to hold it in conjunction with an AFT-O lobby day, we decided to pursue a day that would allow a better focus on community college issues and would provide us more time to organize. Lindsey Capps has proposed we set Monday, April 25th as our lobby day, largely because the OSA and OCCSA are interested in having a mutual event and that day works well for them. After consulting with the council's Legislative Committee, Lindsey and I agreed on the 25th date.

Lindsey will provide additional details in future emails, but in the meantime we all should be trying to get at least a couple of our local members to join the effort in Salem that day.

It will include:
- A 'training' by Lindsey for OEA CC local members
- A joint rally with OSA and OCCSA members: there should be at least a couple of hundred folks attending, so it should be a 'rallying' experience
- Lobbying with Representatives and Senators

The OEA will provide lunch and will reimburse those traveling to Salem for transportation and food costs, and hotel if necessary (mileage requirement to be determined). The OEA will also fund the costs of substitute instructors should those be necessary.

Please consider coming out for this…it's a Monday and showing your support HERE will also help with bargaining! If you are interested, let us know back ASAP so that we can let OEA know how many to plan for.