BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



          SENATE COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION
                              Senator Carol Liu, Chair
                                2015 - 2016  Regular 

          Bill No:             AB 1010            
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          |Author:    |Medina                                               |
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          |Version:   |April 27, 2015                             Hearing   |
          |           |Date:    June 24, 2015                               |
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          |Urgency:   |No                     |Fiscal:    |Yes              |
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          |Consultant:|Lenin Del Castillo                                   |
          |           |                                                     |
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          Subject:  Community colleges:  part-time, temporary employees

            SUMMARY
          
          This bill requires community college districts to have  
          collective bargaining agreements with part-time faculty that  
          include specified conditions of employment.

            BACKGROUND
          
          Existing law defines "faculty" as those employees of community  
          college districts who are employed in academic positions that  
          are not designated as supervisory or management, as specified.   
          Faculty include, but are not limited to, instructors,  
          librarians, counselors, community college health services  
          professionals, handicapped student programs and services  
          professionals, and extended opportunity programs and services  
          professionals.  (Education Code § 87003)

          Existing law also defines any person who is employed to teach  
          for not more than 67% of the hours per week considered a  
          full-time assignment to be a part-time, temporary employee.  (EC  
          § 87482.5 and § 87882)  


          The Board of Governors (BOG) of the California Community  
          Colleges (CCC) has had a longstanding policy that at least 75%  
          of the hours of credit instruction in the community colleges, as  
          a system, should be taught by full-time instructors (commonly  
          referred to as "75/25").  Existing law requires the BOG to adopt  







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          regulations regarding the percent of credit instruction taught  
          by full-time faculty and authorizes CCC districts with less than  
          75% full-time instructors to apply a portion of their "program  
          improvement" funds toward reaching a 75% goal.  However, the  
          state has stopped providing program improvement funds and the  
          BOG has since required CCC districts to provide a portion of  
          their growth funds to hiring more full-time faculty.  (EC §  
          87482.6)  

            ANALYSIS
          
          This bill:

          1)Requires community college districts that do not have a  
            collective bargaining agreement with part-time faculty in  
            effect as of January 1, 2016, to commence negotiations with  
            exclusive representatives for part-time, temporary faculty  
            regarding specified terms and conditions, including:


             a)   Upon initial hire, requirements for the evaluation of  
               part-time faculty members, as specified, including, but not  
               necessarily limited to, a contract or regular faculty peer  
               evaluator who has expertise in the subject matter of the  
               part-time, temporary faculty member's assignment.  


             b)   Evaluation at least once every six semesters or nine  
               quarters of service, exclusive of summer and intersession  
               terms.  


             c)   Placement on a seniority list for assignments, following  
               six semesters of satisfactory service.  The seniority for  
               all assignments shall be determined based on the first date  
               of hire at the applicable college and seniority lists shall  
               be by campus unless otherwise locally negotiated between  
               the community college district and the exclusive  
               representative for part-time, temporary faculty.


             d)   Maintenance of the faculty member's workload for  
               semester seven or quarter ten and beyond, as specified.  As  
               new assignments become available due to growth or  








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               attrition, these assignments shall be offered in seniority  
               order to those part-time, temporary faculty members who  
               have qualified to be placed on the seniority list, as  
               specified.  In cases where a reduction in assignment needs  
               to occur due to program needs, budget constraints, or more  
               contract faculty hires, the reduction shall occur first  
               from among those part-time, temporary faculty members who  
               have not yet qualified to be placed on the seniority list,  
               and thereafter in reverse seniority order (i.e., use of  
               "last in, first out" for reductions in assignments), as  
               specified.


             e)   Procedures governing refusal or rejection of offered  
               assignments, diminution or loss of seniority rights, and  
               additional leave or break-in-service provisions that are  
               locally negotiated between the community college district  
               and the exclusive representative for part-time faculty.  


             f)   Requirement that in cases where a part-time faculty,  
               subsequent to qualifying to be placed on the seniority  
               list, receives a less-than satisfactory evaluation, as  
               defined, the faculty member shall be provided a written  
               plan of remediation with concrete suggestions for  
               improvement, as specified.  The faculty member shall be  
               evaluated again the following semester and if the outcome  
               is less than satisfactory, the faculty member shall lose  
               all seniority rights and may be dismissed at the discretion  
               of the district.  Appeal and grievance rights and  
               procedures, if any, shall be subject to local collective  
               bargaining.


             g)   Requirement that part-time faculty assignments are  
               temporary in nature, contingent on enrollment and funding,  
               and subject to program changes, and no part-time faculty  
               member has a reasonable assurance of continued employment  
               at any point, as specified.


          2)Provides that a community college district with a collective  
            bargaining agreement with part-time faculty in effect as of  
            January 1, 2016, shall be exempt from the above requirements  








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            if the agreement takes into account all of the following:


             a)   Part-time faculty assignments are based on seniority up  
               to 60% to 67% of a    full-time equivalent teaching load.


             b)   A regular evaluation process for part-time faculty.


             c)   Due process for termination for part-time faculty that  
               have qualified for negotiated provisions.  


          3)Provides legislative intent language, as specified.

          STAFF COMMENTS
          
       1)Need for the bill.  According to the author's office, job  
            instability, lack of promotion to full-time positions, and  
            limited engagement with students are some of the biggest  
            concerns for part-time/temporary faculty.  The inability to  
            negotiate reemployment policies at most community college  
            districts has resulted in unreliable reemployment practices,  
            which leave many part-time faculty wondering if they will have  
            a job the following semester.  Additionally, many  
            part-time/temporary faculty are left with no option but to  
            piece together full-time teaching schedules through employment  
            in two or more community college districts.  The various  
            differences in reemployment policies in these community  
            college districts also make it difficult for  
            part-time/temporary faculty to plan their upcoming teaching  
            schedules.  The author's office contends that in most cases,  
            part-time instructors are paid significantly less than  
            full-time faculty for the same duties of preparation, teaching  
            and grading, and assessment.  In addition to receiving  
            significantly less in compensation than their full-time  
            counterparts, in most cases PT faculty receive no health  
            coverage and are not compensated for office hours outside of  
            class to meet with students.  The author argues that, "This  
            lack of dignity, fairness, and equity translates to poor  
            prospects for career advancement, resulting in many qualified  
            part-time faculty leaving the profession annually."









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       2)Existing reemployment policies.  Current law requires that  
            reappointment rights for temporary faculty are a subject of  
            negotiation during collective bargaining and provides that  
            reappointment rights may be based on whatever factors are  
            agreed to by both parties.  Accordingly, many community  
            college districts have established policies and practices  
            regarding reappointment rights through the bargaining process.  
             Additionally, several community college districts have  
            successfully negotiated bargaining agreements that contain  
            standards that are similar to those proposed by this measure,  
            including the Grossmont-Cuyamaca, Los Angeles, San Diego, San  
            Francisco, and Ventura community college districts.  While  
            this bill is intended to provide job security for part-time  
            faculty and minimum standards for how they are treated, the  
            Committee may wish to consider whether this bill is necessary  
            as community college districts and local bargaining units  
            already have the ability to negotiate reemployment policies.   
            Should all community college districts be mandated to do so or  
            should this continue to be left to local discretion?  
          
       3)Limits discretion of the community college districts.  In  
            providing job security and establishing minimum standards for  
            how part-time faculty are treated, this bill specifies  
            prescriptive requirements for local bargaining agreements that  
            all community college districts would be required to adhere  
            to. The Committee may wish to consider whether this bill could  
            reduce the ability of the districts to meet their local  
            community needs in offering course selections and quickly  
            responding to changing market demands.  The Community College  
            League of California indicates, "By mandating a one-size fits  
            all approach, this bill will impose conditions of employment  
            that may not reflect local district needs, increase costs for  
            districts and ultimately reduce student success."

       4)Conflicts with existing contracts?  The bill provides that a  
            community college district with a collective bargaining  
            agreement with part-time faculty in effect as of January 1,  
            2016, shall be exempt from its requirements if the agreement  
            takes into account specified requirements, including seniority  
            based assignments and a regular evaluation process.  It  
            appears that if an existing contract does not meet these  
            requirements, the community college district would be required  
            to commence negotiations pursuant to the bill's provisions.   
            Therefore, the bill could have the effect of abrogating an  








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            existing contract and have potential legal ramifications.
           
       5)Part-time faculty.  For some time, the Legislature has considered  
            various efforts to address the issue of community college  
            districts hiring part-time faculty members in lieu of  
            full-time faculty. Much of the reason to utilize temporary  
            faculty is the lower costs associated with such faculty.  
            Several studies on temporary faculty found that community  
            college districts pay temporary faculty significantly less  
            than full-time faculty performing the same duties, and nearly  
            half of temporary faculty reported not receiving any type of  
            benefits from their district. 

            According to the Center for Community College Student  
            Engagement's (CCCSE) April 2014 report, entitled, "Contingent  
            Commitments:  Bringing Part-Time Faculty Into Focus," 70% of  
            the 400,000 faculty members of public, two-year colleges hired  
            in 2009 were part-time instructors.  The CCCSE report also  
            found that the part-time faculty, teach 58% of community  
            college classes and 53% of community college students.   
            Additionally, the CCCSE report found that differences in the  
            actions of part-time and full-time faculty cannot necessarily  
            be attributed to differences in the will or abilities of  
            part-time faculty.  The report contends that, "Most likely,  
            they exist at least in part because colleges too often are not  
            fully supporting part-time faculty or engaging them in  
            critical elements of the faculty experience."

            According to the California Federation of Teachers, nearly 50%  
            of the California Community College (CCC) course selections  
            are taught by part-time faculty and part-time faculty out  
            number full-time faculty by two to one.

       6)Fiscal impact.  According to the Assembly Appropriations  
            Committee, all districts currently have collecting bargaining  
            agreements that include provisions regarding part-time  
            faculty.  At least 41 community college districts, however, do  
            not maintain a seniority list.  Assuming costs of $5,000 to  
            $10,000 per district to establish such lists, presumably for  
            each academic department, one-time Proposition 98 General Fund  
            reimbursable state-mandated costs would be $205,000 to  
            $410,000 per district. Once established, the ongoing cost to  
            maintain the seniority lists should be minor and absorbable.









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       7)Related and prior legislation.  
          
               SB 373 (Pan) proposed a cap on the number of part-time  
               faculty for each community college district based on the  
               2014-15 fiscal year, thereby limiting new hires to only  
               full-time faculty until the district reaches a 75%  
               threshold of full-time faculty.  This bill failed passage  
               in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

               AB 626 (Low) requires community college districts to  
               provide funding to increase their full-time/part-time  
               faculty ratio and to increase support for part-time  
               faculty.  This bill is pending referral in the Senate.

               AB 1807 (Fong, 2010) proposed to require community college  
               districts, through collective bargaining, to establish and  
               implement reemployment preference lists for part-time  
               faculty.  This measure was held in the Assembly  
               Appropriations Committee.

            SUPPORT
          
          California Faculty Association
          California Federation of Teachers (co-sponsor)
          California Labor Federation
          California Part-time Faculty Association
          California Teachers Association (co-sponsor)
          Faculty Association of California Community Colleges

            OPPOSITION
           
           Community College League of California
          Riverside Community College District

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