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In the News  |  AFT & District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement  |  Text of Tentative Contract Agreement  |  “ACCJC Gone Wild”: CFT critiques the accreditors  |  AFT 1493 President Addresses the ACCJC  |  Performance Evaluation Task Force (PETF)  |  Tax the Rich: An Animated Fairy Tale  |  Retiree Medical Benefits: An Introduction

The Vergara Trial

A suit brought by wealthy investors is trying to challenge California statutes that protect teacher from unjust layoffs and dismissal. Vergara v. California is the latest in a long line of attempts to rob teachers of the flexibility and support they need to be creative and innovative in the classroom and to advocate for their students. Having lost at the ballot box and in the Statehouse, Students Matter, a nonprofit created by wealthy Silicon Valley investors, has now brought its case to court. This lawsuit is based on ideology, not facts. Click here to view the CFT website about the trial.

CFT releases statewide study ranking adjunct pay rates

SMCCCD is ranked between 12th & 20th, depending on which salary step is compared. 
Click here to see the full study.

AFT 1493 celebrates 50th anniversary!

AFT Local 1493 turned 50 years old in November and the Local held a 50th Anniversary party on November 15, at the Cañada Vista Clubhouse, that brought together faculty and union activists from every decade from 1963 to 2013. Read the full story here.
   
    
    
    

In the News

News articles related to community college faculty issues and SMCCCD, selected from around the county, state and nation and updated regularly.  To receive these articles by email, send a request to be added to the AFT 1493 email list to Dan Kaplan at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

March 19, 2014— College backs off on faculty media silence: Skyline school officials apologize for 'confusion,' will reevaluate policy (San Mateo Daily Journal)

March 18, 2014— Democracy For None (San Francisco Bay Guardian)

March 18, 2014— Skyline limits faculty speech (San Mateo Daily Journal)

March 3, 2014— Evaluating Student Success at the City College of San Francisco (Public Policy Institute of California)

February 28, 2014— No new tax for San Mateo County Community College District: Trustees say improved economy means no need for more funds (San Mateo Daily Journal)

February 27, 2014— The Education of Ted Mitchell (Labor's Edge)

February 22, 2014— Students tell how City College of S.F. has given them hope (San Francisco Chronicle)

February 19, 2014— Proposed law would reform community college accreditation (Los Angeles Times)

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Contract Agreement

Summary of September 2013 Agreement between AFT Local 1493 and San Mateo County Community College District

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“ACCJC Gone Wild”: Criticism of accreditors growing

The Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) accredits two-year colleges in California and Hawaii. Sanctions imposed on colleges by the ACCJC in recent years have far exceeded the total sanctions by all other accreditation bodies in the country combined. On July 3, the ACCJC announced that they would terminate City College of San Francisco's accreditation effective July 31, 2014. (For more on CCSF's accreditation and responses to ACCJC's actions, see below and see updated news links in "In the News".)

A public forum on the question: "Is the Accrediting Process for California's Community Colleges Fair and Accountable?" led by US Reps. Jackie Speier and Anna Eshoo, was held at City College of San Francisco on Nov. 7, 2013. Click here to view a video of the complete (2 hour +) forum. Click here to view a 20-minute condensed version of the forum.

Click here to read a statement by the CFT on solutions for the City College struggle, and what to do about ACCJC.

Recently SMCCCD Chancellor Ron Galatolo has spoken out publicly on the issue of the actions of the Commission. Click here to read Chancellor Galatolo's views on the ACCJC. 

Who actually runs the ACCJC? What is the basis for the huge number of sanctions they have been imposing? What laws govern the decisions taken by ACCJC and who oversees their actions? These are some of the many questions that were taken up in an eye-opening report, titled “ACCJC Gone Wild”, written by Martin Hittelman (left), former President of the California Federation of Teachers (CFT). The original version was published in August 2012, and numerous revised versions have been put out since that date, with the most recent revision released July 8, 2013 . The report extensively analyzes many issues concerning how the ACCJC operates and it is highly recommended reading for anyone involved in or interested in the accreditation process.  Download "ACCJC Gone Wild” here. Hittelman also maintains a website, Accreditationwatch.com, which includes "ACCJC Gone Wild" plus much more documentation exposing ACCJC's rogue actions.

On April 30, 2013, the CFT filed a 298-page complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, which oversees the Commission, calling for the reversal of the ACCJC's severe 2012 sanction on CCSF. CFT accused the Commission of violating state and federal laws and of engaging in conflicts of interest including the fact that the husband of Barbara Beno, the commission's president, was part of a team evaluating CCSF in March 2012. The Commission responded to the CFT complaint with a report issued on May 30 which essentially denied any merit to the CFT's charges (although it did not respond in any depth to the union's complaint that the commission has violated federal and state laws in its dealings with CCSF.) CFT president Joshua Pechthalt released a press statement commenting on the Commission's response that: "The dismissal of our complaint as 'without merit' by ACCJC is further proof that the agency overseeing community college accreditation lacks transparency and any capacity for self-critical analysis. We are extremely troubled by the way ACCJC has steered the accreditation process away from those values."

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E-News: AFT & District Reach Tentative Contract Agreement

9-19-2013

Dear Colleagues,

I have exciting news: Your AFT negotiating team and the District have reached a Tentative Agreement on a new faculty contract that includes salary increases for all faculty!

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AFT 1493 President Addresses the ACCJC

In July of 2012, the ACCJC (Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges) asked City College of San Francisco (CCSF) to "show cause" to keep its accreditation. Their complaints were about financial planning, management, and documentation of assessment; they were not about the quality of education or teachers. City College faculty, staff and administrators, along with the city of San Francisco, have lived under the dark cloud of ACCJC's threat to shut down the college. In response to the Commission's complaints, City College has closed three instructional sites, restructured their system of shared governance, and implemented clearer assessment to demonstrate SLOs (Student Learning Objectives).

On June 5-7, the ACCJC met in Burlingame behind closed doors to make their decision about the accreditation of City College. To offer support and solidarity with our sister union, AFT 2121 of CCSF, your AFT 1493 President, Teeka James, was selected by the CFT (California Federation of Teachers) to give public testimony on its behalf during the public comment period on the final day of the meeting. As a representative of the CFT, Teeka delivered the message below, and then confidently fielded questions from the accreditation panel with clarity and poise.

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Performance Evaluation Task Force (PETF)

The Performance Evaluation Task Force (PETF) was formed at the end of the Spring 2012 semester to review, evaluate, and revise the procedures and instruments currently in use for all levels of instructional and non-instructional faculty evaluation. Elizabeth Terzakis (English, Cañada), Lezlee Ware (Political Science, Cañada), Nina L. Floro (English, Skyline) and Tania Beliz (Biology, CSM) [from left to right in photo] were selected jointly by the District Academic Senate and AFT 1493 to serve as the PETF faculty members. District-appointed members of the Task Force include Regina Stanback Stroud, President of Skyline College, and Harry Joel, Vice Chancellor of Human Resources and Employee Relations.

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