Dear Colleagues,
At last week’s board meeting, Senior Vice Chancellors Tom Boegel and Dianna Gonzales delivered a grim presentation on the college’s budget, projecting that by June 2020, the college’s reserves will fall roughly $13M below the state-mandated 5%, subjecting us to another state takeover.
While the SVCs presented this information as an unexpected crisis, it is no such thing. Anyone looking at the college budget and past spending could see that the administration balanced its 19-20 budget by under-budgeting for part-time faculty salaries. (That is, the college normally spends about $30M annually on PT salaries, but this year, they budgeted only $18M for those salaries.) So it is absolutely no surprise that we are “over budget,” in this area even though spending is consistent with previous years.
This is not to suggest there is no fiscal shortfall, or no actual threat of a state takeover. However, presenting the shortfall as unexpected is a classic “shock doctrine” tactic designed to create panic and complicity with a specific agenda.
We are seeing that agenda play out now: today, SVC Boegel eliminated 200 credit and 80 noncredit classes from the class schedule, sidestepping the department chairs and the shared governance process in an “emergency” effort to order to solve a “crisis” we all saw coming.
The Chancellor is also using the “crisis” to target faculty whose teaching loads are reduced to enable them to perform other tasks crucial to the operation of the college: chairing departments, leading the Academic Senate, coordinating academic programs, leading our unions, etc. This calculated framing smacks of union busting, and pits reassigned time against classes, and full-time faculty against part-time faculty.
We reject that the only solution to our current budget shortfall is to cut more classes, reassigned time, and library and counseling services for students. Instead, AFT 2121 is moving forward with an aggressive, community-driven plan to fully fund City College so that we can stop the cuts for good, and get back to providing the programs and services our students and community deserve.
On the state level we are working with labor, community groups, and students to reform Prop. 13 and permanently close corporate property-tax loopholes. This initiative, Schools and Communities First, will bring in nearly $12 billion per year (with $5 Billion set aside just for education). Additionally, AFT 2121 is working with a coalition of colleges and faculty unions to amend the so-called “student centered” funding formula which threatens to further defund our college.
Locally, AFT 2121 is developing legislation in partnership with our elected trustees, city supervisors, and labor & community allies that calls on our wealthy city to invest in the higher education access and opportunity that San Franciscans deserve. The Community Higher Education Fund (CHEF) will bridge the gap between state funding and San Francisco’s higher education needs, requiring that funds be spent on programs most heavily impacted by the budget shortfall. Because the Mayor’s office rejected our request for immediate CHEF funds this year, AFT 2121 and Supervisor Gordon Mar are taking CHEF directly to the Board of Supervisors.
How you can join our fight back:
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Right now:
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Sign this letter supporting the Community Higher Education Fund.
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If your class or assignment gets cancelled, report it to us here.
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Next week: Join our Speak-Out for Education Justice. Tues, Nov. 26, 12 noon -12:30 at Conlan Hall and on campuses citywide. Stay tuned for details.
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Next month: Attend our training & petition distribution to get Schools and Communities First on the state ballot.: Tues., Dec. 10, 4:00-5:00 pm, MUB 261.
In Unity,
Jenny Worley
President, AFT 2121
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