BILL NUMBER: AB 420 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE SEPTEMBER 2, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 18, 1999
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 17, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MAY 28, 1999
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY MARCH 24, 1999
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wildman
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Havice, Honda, Kuehl, and
Washington)
(Principal coauthors: Senators Alpert and Vasconcellos)
FEBRUARY 12, 1999
An act to amend Sections 87802, 87861, 87863, 87883, and 87884 of,
to add Section 87482.4 to, and to repeal Section 87865 of, the
Education Code, relating to community colleges, and making an
appropriation therefor.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 420, as amended, Wildman. Community colleges: faculty.
(1) Existing law requires that a person employed to teach adult or
community college classes for not more than 60% of the hours per
week of a full-time employee having comparable duties, excluding
substitute service, be classified as a temporary employee and not
become a contract employee.
This bill would require , commencing July 1, 2003, each
person employed by a community college district as a temporary
academic employee to be compensated at a salary or hourly rate that
is directly proportional to the salary of a full-time regular
employee with comparable training and experience. The bill would
require community college districts to compute the proportional pay
based on the work the temporary academic employee is required to
perform, as specified. The bill also would require that the schedule
of salaries to be paid be made on the basis of a uniform allowance
for years of training and years of experience. By increasing the
duties of community college districts, the bill would impose a
state-mandated local program the California
Postsecondary Education Commission to conduct a comprehensive study
of the part-time faculty, employment, salary, and compensation
patterns, as specified, of the California Community Colleges. The
bill would require the commission to release its preliminary findings
regarding the study by March 31, 2000, and would require the study
to be transmitted to the Legislature and the Governor by July 1, 2000
.
(2) Existing law requires the governing board of each community
college district to adopt and cause to be printed and made available
to each academic employee a schedule of salaries to be paid.
This bill would require the schedule of salaries to be paid to be
based on a uniform allowance for years of training and years of
experience, thereby increasing the responsibilities of community
college district governing boards and imposing a state-mandated local
program.
(3) Existing law establishes the Part-Time Community College
Faculty Health Insurance Program for the purpose of providing a state
incentive program to encourage community college districts to offer
health insurance for part-time faculty. Existing law defines
"part-time faculty," for the purposes of the program, as any faculty
member whose teaching assignment in 2 or more community college
districts equals or exceeds the cumulative equivalent of a minimum
full-time teaching assignment.
This bill would revise that definition by deleting the requirement
that the faculty member teach in 2 or more districts and would
define the term, instead, to mean any faculty member whose teaching
assignment equals or exceeds 40% of the cumulative equivalent of a
minimum full-time teaching assignment.
Under existing law, a part-time faculty member and his or her
eligible dependents are eligible to participate in the program no
earlier than the commencement of the faculty member's 3rd consecutive
semester of teaching or 4th consecutive quarter of teaching where
the quarter system is used, as specified.
This bill would delete that limitation.
Under existing law, if a part-time faculty member is employed by
more than one community college district, and both or all of the
community college districts for whom he or she works offers health
insurance pursuant to the program, the employee is required to select
only one district to provide health insurance coverage.
This bill would repeal that provision.
(4) Existing law authorizes the governing boards of community
college districts to provide compensation for office hours to
part-time faculty.
The bill would state that this provision does not preclude
compensation under the Community College Part-Time Faculty Office
Hours Program for paid office time for each 20% of a full-time load,
or fraction thereof, as defined by the community college district.
Under existing law, if a governing board of a community college
district establishes a program to provide part-time faculty office
hours, those hours may not be applied toward the 60% hours per week
requirement for determining part-time faculty status.
This bill would additionally provide that those office hours may
not be counted toward the hours per week of teaching adult or
community college classes for purposes of acquiring eligibility for
tenure or for purposes of fulfilling any probationary hour
requirements.
(5) The bill would make specified provisions of the bill operative
in any fiscal year only if funds are appropriated for purposes of
the bill in the annual Budget Act or in another measure. The bill
would require the chancellor to prorate the funds among the community
college districts affected by the bill if the amount appropriated in
the annual Budget Act or in another measure is insufficient to fully
fund those provisions.
(6) The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse
local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
(7) The bill would appropriate $500,000 from the General Fund to
the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges in
augmentation of a specified item of the Budget Act of 1999 for
purposes of the Part-Time Community College Faculty Health Insurance
Program. The funds appropriated by this bill would be applied toward
the minimum funding requirements for school districts and community
college districts imposed by Section 8 of Article XVI of the
California Constitution.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: yes. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) California's community colleges have historically hired
part-time faculty to meet short-term community needs. By employing
working professionals as teachers, this practice has the effect of
enriching the curriculum and strengthening the tie between the
college and its community.
(b) Part-time faculty also provide hiring flexibility, and often
fill voids created by unanticipated enrollment growth. In some
cases, part-time faculty are able to provide colleges with technical
expertise that regular full-time faculty may lack, and can do so at a
lower cost than full-time faculty.
(c) Part-time faculty are usually paid only for the hours they are
actually in the classroom, with no compensation for related work
performed outside of the classroom, including, but not limited to,
research, preparation time, and evaluation of student work.
(d) However, rapidly expanding community colleges are now
overusing part-time faculty. Community colleges often utilize
part-time positions for financial reasons alone, rather than reasons
related to the enhancement of the curriculum. California's Community
College system currently employs 67 percent of its teaching force in
part-time positions. Temporary contracts are being misused to
employ part-time faculty members when the duration and nature of
prior service, together with the overall circumstances of the
employment relationship, indicate that a full-time position would be
more appropriate. This practice is unfair to the part-time faculty
member because, as a part-time faculty member, the person will not be
able to attain a salary commensurate with the nature and type of
service that the person has provided to the community college.
(e) The principle of equal pay for equal work requires that
part-time faculty be provided compensation that is directly
proportionate to full-time faculty employment. In this way,
part-time faculty employed in settings that more closely resemble
full-time situations will receive compensation that more closely
resembles full-time compensation.
SEC. 2. Section 87482.4 is added to the Education Code, to read:
87482.4. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (a) of Section 87482.5,
commencing July 1, 2003, each person employed by a community college
district as a temporary academic employee shall be compensated at a
salary or hourly rate that is directly proportional to the salary of
a full-time regular employee with comparable training and experience.
Community college districts shall compute the proportional pay of
the temporary academic employee based on the work he or she is
required to perform, including, but not limited to, class hours,
class preparation time, and office hours, as determined through the
district collective bargaining process. If there is no bargaining
unit, the district shall meet and confer with faculty.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that community college
districts make reasonable progress each year toward pay equity so
that proportional pay is fully operational by July 1, 2003.
(c) A community college district that provides benefits to faculty
employed over 60 percent of the hours per week that is considered a
full-time assignment for regular employees having comparable duties
may not discriminate against temporary academic employees in the
provision of benefits.
(d) A community college district may prorate the benefits of
temporary academic employees.
(e) Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish or
otherwise affect the requirements, guarantees, or protections under
any collective bargaining agreement, district policy, or state or
federal law that provides for greater or additional requirements,
guarantees, or protections than those provided under this section.
(f) This section shall be operative in any fiscal year only if
funds are appropriated for purposes of this section in the annual
Budget Act or in another measure. If the amount appropriated in the
annual Budget Act or in another measure for purposes of this section
is insufficient to fully fund the requirements imposed by this
section for the fiscal year, the chancellor shall prorate the funds
among the community college districts affected by this section.
87482.4. (a) The Legislature finds and declares that, in the
state's community college system, teaching constitutes a greater
share of the faculty workload, as compared to the California State
University or the University of California systems. California's
community college system requires that a faculty member hold, as a
basic qualification, a master's degree. Furthermore, the community
college system uses a different professional review process, as
compared to the California State University or the University of
California systems.
(b) The California Postsecondary Education Commission shall
conduct a comprehensive study of the California Community College
system's part-time faculty employment, salary, and compensation
patterns as they relate to full-time community faculty with similar
education credentials and work experience. The study shall include a
representative sample of urban, rural, and suburban community
colleges, both in and outside of the state.
(c) The study specified in subdivision (b) shall include, but not
necessarily be limited to, the addressing of policy options available
to achieve pay equity between community college part-time faculty
and full-time faculty and shall also include both of the following:
(1) A quantitative analysis examining duties and tasks of
part-time faculty as compared to full-time faculty. The duties and
tasks examined shall include classroom teaching, preparation, office
hours, maintenance of student records, and other professional
practices which differentiate a part-time faculty position from a
full-time faculty position. This quantitative analysis shall also
include both of the following:
(A) An examination of whether part-time faculty salaries vary
significantly among community colleges, the factors that are
associated with any salary differential, and the impact of the
production and supply of master's degree holders and other required
experience on part-time salary rates.
(B) Data concerning the average wage rate for part-time community
college faculty in other states, and the average pay gap between
part-time and full-time compensation for the equivalent education and
experience.
(2) An identification of specific policy and fiscal
recommendations that would enable the California Community Colleges
system to achieve a compensation schedule that achieves pay equity
for part-time faculty.
(d) The California Postsecondary Education Commission shall, in
conducting the study required by this section, consult various
representatives of the education community, including the Board of
Governors of the California Community Colleges, community college
faculty groups, and other interested parties.
(e) Notwithstanding Section 7550.5 of the Government Code, the
California Postsecondary Education Commission shall release the
preliminary findings of the study required by this section, on or
before March 31, 2000, and shall transmit the study to the
Legislature and the Governor on or before July 1, 2000.
(f) It is the intent of the Legislature that funding for
conducting the study required by this section shall be made available
through an appropriation, either in future legislation or in the
annual Budget Act, in an amount of up to one hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($150,000).
SEC. 3. Section 87802 of the Education Code is amended to read:
87802. The governing board of each community college district
shall adopt and cause to be printed and made available to each
academic employee a schedule of salaries to be paid on the basis of a
uniform allowance for years of training and years of experience.
SEC. 4. Section 87861 of the Education Code is amended to read:
87861. For the purposes of this article:
(a) "Health insurance benefits" include medical benefits but do
not include vision or dental benefits.
(b) "Part-time faculty" refers to any faculty member whose
teaching assignment equals or exceeds 40 percent of the cumulative
equivalent of a minimum full-time teaching assignment.
(c) The changes made to subdivision (b) during the 1999 portion of
the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be operative
in any fiscal year only if funds are appropriated for purposes of
those changes in the annual Budget Act or in another measure. If the
amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act or in another measure
for purposes of this section is insufficient to fully fund those
changes for the fiscal year, the chancellor shall prorate the funds
among the community college districts affected by this section.
SEC. 5. Section 87863 of the Education Code is amended to read:
87863. (a) A part-time faculty member and his or her eligible
dependents are eligible to participate in the program established
pursuant to this article.
(b) The changes made to subdivision (a) during the 1999 portion of
the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be operative
in any fiscal year only if funds are appropriated for purposes of
those changes in the annual Budget Act or in another measure. If the
amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act or in another measure
for purposes of this section is insufficient to fully fund those
changes for the fiscal year, the chancellor shall prorate the funds
among the community college districts affected by this section.
SEC. 6. Section 87865 of the Education Code is repealed.
SEC. 7. Section 87883 of the Education Code is amended to read:
87883. (a) The governing board of a community college district
may provide compensation for office hours to part-time faculty.
(b) Nothing in this section precludes compensation under this
program for paid office time for each 20 percent of a full-time load,
or fraction thereof, as defined by the community college district.
(c) The change made to subdivision (b) during the 1999 portion of
the 1999-2000 Regular Session of the Legislature shall be operative
in any fiscal year only if funds are appropriated for purposes of
that change in the annual Budget Act or in another measure. If the
amount appropriated in the annual Budget Act or in another measure
for purposes of this section is insufficient to fully fund that
change for the fiscal year, the chancellor shall prorate the funds
among the community college districts affected by this section.
SEC. 8. Section 87884 of the Education Code is amended to read:
87884. (a) The governing board of each community college district
that establishes a program pursuant to this article shall negotiate
with the exclusive bargaining representative, or in instances where
there is no bargaining unit shall meet and confer with the faculty,
to establish a program to provide part-time faculty office hours.
(b) Any hours negotiated under this program shall not be applied
toward the 60-percent requirement as specified in Section 87882.
These hours shall not be counted towards the hours per week of
teaching adult or community college classes for purposes of acquiring
eligibility for tenure or for purposes of fulfilling any
probationary hour requirements.
(c) On or before June 1 of each year, each community college
district participating in the program shall send a verification to
the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges specifying the
total costs of the compensation paid for office hours of part-time
faculty participating in the program.
SEC. 9. Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.
SEC. 10. The sum of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) is
hereby appropriated from the General Fund to the Board of Governors
of the California Community Colleges in augmentation of Schedule (p)
of Item 6870-101-0001 of Section 2.00 of the Budget Act of 1999 (Ch.
50, Stats. 1999) for purposes of the Part-Time Community College
Faculty Health Insurance Program established pursuant to Article 9
(commencing with Section 87860) of Chapter 3 of Part 51 of the
Education Code.