BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1690|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1690
Author: Medina (D)
Amended: 3/14/16 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE EDUCATION COMMITTEE: 5-2, 6/22/16
AYES: Block, Leyva, Mendoza, Monning, Pan
NOES: Huff, Vidak
NO VOTE RECORDED: Liu, Hancock
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: 5-2, 8/11/16
AYES: Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
NOES: Bates, Nielsen
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 52-26, 6/1/16 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT: Community colleges: part-time, temporary employees
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill requires California community college (CCC)
districts to have collective bargaining agreements with
part-time faculty that include specified conditions of
employment.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Defines "faculty" as those employees of community college
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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)
2)Existing law 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)
3)Requires the Board of Governors (BOG) to adopt 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)
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, 2017, to commence negotiations with
exclusive representatives for part-time, temporary faculty
regarding specified terms and conditions, as follows:
a) Provides upon initial hire, the 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) Requires the evaluation of part-time faculty members at
least once every six semesters or nine quarters of service,
exclusive of summer and intersession terms.
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c) Requires the placement on a seniority list for
assignments, following six semesters or nine quarters of
satisfactory service, as specified. 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) Maintains the faculty member's workload for semester
seven or quarter ten and beyond, as specified. As new
assignments become available due to growth or 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,
and previously successfully completed that same assignment.
Provides that these assignments may be made up to a
maximum annualized load, exclusive of summer and
intersession terms, in the range of 60 to 67% of a
full-time equivalent load.
e) Provides that 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. Provides that each new assignment successfully
completed shall be added to the part-time, temporary
faculty member seniority list.
f) Provides that the procedures governing refusal or
rejection of offered assignments, diminution or loss of
seniority rights, and additional leave or break-in-service
provisions shall be locally negotiated between the
community college district and the exclusive representative
for part-time faculty.
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g) Requires 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. Provides that 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. Provides that appeal
and grievance rights and procedures, if any, shall be
subject to local collective bargaining.
h) Provides that in all cases, 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, 2017 and executes a signed written agreement, shall
be exempt from the above requirements 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 once a part-time faculty
member has qualified for the negotiated provisions.
3)Provides that a written agreement, confirming that these
provisions have been included in a collective bargaining
agreement, shall be signed by the exclusive representative for
part-time faculty and the community college district, who are
subject to that agreement, in order for the district to be
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exempt.
4)Provides legislative intent language, as specified.
Comments
Need for the bill. According to the author's office, "job
instability continues to be one of the greatest concerns for
part-time/temporary faculty. The inability to negotiate
reemployment policies at most community college districts has
resulted in unreliable reemployment practices. This leaves 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 varying reemployment policies in these
community college districts 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 part-time 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."
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
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and minimum standards for how they are treated, community
college districts and local bargaining units already have the
ability to negotiate reemployment policies.
Limits discretion of the community college districts. In
providing job security and establishing minimum standards for
the treatment of part-time faculty, this bill specifies
prescriptive requirements for local bargaining agreements that
all community college districts would be required to adhere to.
This could potentially reduce the ability of the districts to
meet their local community needs in offering course selections
and quickly respond 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."
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 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%
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of the California Community College course selections are taught
by part-time faculty and part-time faculty out number full-time
faculty by two to one.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:YesLocal: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, this bill
would result in the following:
New seniority lists: According to the Community College
League of California, out of 72 community college districts 40
districts do not include seniority provisions in collective
bargaining agreements with part-time faculty. Assuming a cost
of $5,000 to $10,000 per district to establish a list,
statewide reimbursable costs would be between $200,000 and
$400,000. This estimate assumes that the estimated 32
remaining districts have an agreement in place that is based
on seniority up to the 60 to 67 percent of a full-time
equivalent load; has a regular evaluation process; and
includes due process for termination. Once these existing
agreements expire, new agreements would have to be established
containing the specified requirements in this bill.
(Proposition 98)
Maintenance of all lists: Initially only those districts that
are not exempt of this bill's requirements will be eligible to
claim for reimbursement for maintaining seniority lists. Once
existing agreements that are eligible for exemption expire all
districts will be required to maintain seniority lists in
accordance with this bill. If each college campus used a
partial position to track the data necessary to maintain the
seniority list, reimbursable state mandate costs could exceed
$2 million. (Proposition 98)
SUPPORT: (Verified8/12/16)
California Community College Independents
California Faculty Association
California Federation of Teachers
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California Labor Federation
California Part-time Faculty Association
California Teachers Association
Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District
Faculty Association of California Community Colleges
San Diego Community College District
Student Senate for California Community Colleges
University Professional and Technical Employees
Letters from individuals
OPPOSITION: (Verified8/12/16)
Community College League of California
National Right to Work Committee
North Orange County Community College District
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 52-26, 6/1/16
AYES: Alejo, Arambula, Atkins, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Brown,
Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper,
Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Cristina Garcia,
Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lopez,
Low, McCarty, Medina, Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Quirk,
Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,
Thurmond, Ting, Weber, Williams, Wood, Rendon
NOES: Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Brough, Chang, Chávez,
Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones,
Kim, Lackey, Linder, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez,
Obernolte, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Bigelow, Olsen
Prepared by:Lenin DelCastillo / ED. / (916) 651-4105
8/15/16 19:47:23
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