Sponsored Legislation Seeks to Make Community College Management Accountable
CTA’s Community College Association is sponsoring three measures designed to make management and governance of the community colleges more accountable.
Taken together, the three measures would require audits to ensure that instructional funds are being allocated properly, that salaries are paid equitably, and that staffing ratios meet state requirements.
The first measure, AB 906 by Assembly Member Mike Eng (D-El Monte), would establish a program of random audits at community colleges to ensure that – as required by state law – they are using 50% of their expenses of education on instructor salaries and benefits. The bill cleared the Assembly Higher Education Committee on April 18 on a 5-1 vote and is expected to be heard next in the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
The second measure would fight favoritism by requiring that all community college salary schedules be uniformly and fairly applied. It would prevent college administrations from placing instructors on the salary schedule without reference to their experience and education. The bill is CTA-sponsored AB 1423 by Assembly Member Mike Davis (D-LA). This measure gained a 4-1 approval by the Assembly Higher Education Committee on April 18.
The third bill would help guarantee that each community college would have the required contingent of full-time faculty able to provide out-of-classroom assistance and flexible office hours for their students. Specifically, the measure would prohibit colleges from securing waivers to existing law that requires the colleges to fill 75% of their teaching slots with full-time instructors. The measure is CTA-sponsored AB 1305 by Assembly Member Charles Calderon (D-City of Industry). The bill gained a 4-1 approval by the Assembly Higher Education Committee on April 24 and is also headed to the Assembly Appropriations Committee.
For more information, contact CTA GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at lfeldman@cta.org.