For my Real News column this month, I am sharing comments I made to the LACCD Board of Trustees in May.
These are not the comments I thought I would be making today. I thought I would thank those in the room for caring so much about our students-and I do thank those of you with whom I have worked over decades to improve the lives of our students and our faculty.
I thought I would reflect on the four Chancellors, three recessions and one pandemic that I worked on with you - the most drastic effects of those recessions being staved off by labor's efforts to pass Propositions 25, 30 and 55. And I thought I would reflect on the battles with and ultimate reform of the ACCJC and with our efforts to pass bonds going back to Prop A in 2000, followed by Props AA, J, and CC, and perhaps yet another.
I would have added comments about that Supreme Court's Janus decision five years ago which caused us to look straight into the soul of the Guild and find the inner organizer in each of us. And I would have noted how the pandemic became an opportunity to showcase our many strengths and unlimited creativity and resilience, while holding us accountable for parity and equity between and among us.
For my Real News column this month, I am sharing comments I made to the LACCD Board of Trustees in May.
These are not the comments I thought I would be making today. I thought I would thank those in the room for caring so much about our students-and I do thank those of you with whom I have worked over decades to improve the lives of our students and our faculty.
I thought I would reflect on the four Chancellors, three recessions and one pandemic that I worked on with you - the most drastic effects of those recessions being staved off by labor's efforts to pass Propositions 25, 30 and 55. And I thought I would reflect on the battles with and ultimate reform of the ACCJC and with our efforts to pass bonds going back to Prop A in 2000, followed by Props AA, J, and CC, and perhaps yet another.
I would have added comments about that Supreme Court's Janus decision five years ago which caused us to look straight into the soul of the Guild and find the inner organizer in each of us. And I would have noted how the pandemic became an opportunity to showcase our many strengths and unlimited creativity and resilience, while holding us accountable for parity and equity between and among us.
But recent events call on us not just to look back, but to warn forward:
- About the Board of Governors encroaching on the scope of collective bargaining through changes in Title 5 metrics on tenure evaluations
- About ACCJC rearing its corporate head again by requiring prescribed ending balances
- About administrative leadership on the campuses that is more harmful than helpful
About the blatant corporatization of curriculum:
- Beginning with the Student Success Act of 2012
- Continuing with repeatability restrictions (a convenient revenue reducer)
- Followed by AB 705, embraced by some, strangely enough (This year's version, which would allow us to EMPOWER students by allowing them a choice of math and English levels and addressing, not ignoring, learning loss.)
- AB 1705
- And coming soon: AB 928
And so, while these were not the comments that I thought I would make today, they are comments about issues before us that will demand our attention and collective wisdom to resolve.
Stay safe. Stay well.
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In Unity,
Joanne Waddell
AFT 1521 President
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