Rally October 24 & Vote Alan Wong: City College Students & Faculty are Organizing for Change

I am a teacher at City College, and I’m writing to report to you from the classroom about what’s actually happening at our school: we are turning away hundreds of students every semester because we don’t have enough classes in vital programs from English and Chemistry to Construction and Nursing.

How did this happen? I can tell you about my department, English. Two years ago, City College’s Board of Trustees voted to lay off 6 full-time tenured English faculty without a clear justification, which also meant no work for more than 18 part-time English instructors. The result in our department: Last year, 237 students were locked out of our intro course, English 1A, a foundational class in college level reading and writing that all students are required to take to get their AA degrees, transfer to four-year universities, and complete a wide range of programs. This fall, 350 students were on our waitlists for English 1A when classes started, and, even after five classes were added late due to our advocacy over the summer, at least 192 students were still locked out (the equivalent of six more classes).

And it isn’t just English. For the past two years, City College has been under-scheduling classes in Chemistry, ESL, Paramedic, ECHO, Nursing, Automotive, Computer Networking, Construction, Child Development, Art, and more. Students need these classes, and our city needs more trained professionals in these areas. The status quo makes no sense.

So CCSF students and faculty are taking action, and we’re inviting you to join us at the October 24 Board of Trustees meeting–together, we will remind the board and administration that we need data-driven proposals that center student need in college planning and procedures in place to strategically and thoughtfully respond to the needs of our city. The time to move CCSF forward is now, and faculty have begun this planning because there’s no time left to waste. Join us and support students on Thursday Oct 24 at 5:30 pm in MUB 140 (Ocean Campus).

We also want to remind SF voters that College Board President Alan Wong was the only Board Member with the courage and foresight to vote against the unjustified layoffs two years ago that have caused serious student access issues in programs such as English and Construction.

San Franciscans are tired of the mismanagement: we are ready to move our city and our community college forward.

— Lizzie Brock, English Instructor