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Although faculty pay fees to the Association for representation, faculty are not members of the Association (with voting rights and the right to run for office) until they take the proactive step of joining by filling out a membership form. Faculty can get membership forms and information related to membership status by calling Ext. 4394 or by emailing Janet Watts, Office Manager, at watts_janet@smc.edu.

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Santa Monica College Faculty Association
1900 Pico Blvd.
Liberal Arts, Room 140
Santa Monica, CA  90405
Phone 310-434-4394
FAX 310-434-3601

President: Mitra Moassessi

Executive Secretary: Janet Watts

www.SMCFA.org

April, 2002, volume 12, Issue 4 - "Lobby Day: Restore the Funding!" PDF Print E-mail
By Ken Mason

      Rumors of budget cuts and layoffs spurred a delegation of SMC faculty to Sacramento for the FACCC sponsored Lobby Day, and plans for a return trip by SMC faculty are in the offerings for the California Federation of  Teachers (CFT) Lobby Day on April 29.  Once again when it come to cuts in funding education the Community Colleges are always near the top of the list.  Targeted areas that will impact SMC the most are in Matriculation, Professional Staff development, Telecommunications and Technology Infrastructure Program, and Cal-WORKS.

      Judy Chu (D-Monterey Park), Robert Pacheo (R-Walnut Creek), Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach) and Jennifer Richards (representing Sheila Kuehl) were invited by FACCC to address the assembly of community college faculty.  Then after a FACCC-PAC sponsored luncheon and a rousing go-get-them speech by Daniel Weintraub, columnist for the Sacramento Bee, the SMC delegates visited the offices of George Nakano, Paul Koretz, Kevin Shelley, Fran Pavley, Sheila Kuehl and Herb Wesson. Gordon Dossett had an audience with Speaker Wesson, and Kym McBride did a masterful job explaining counseling concerns to Fran Pavley.  Thank you letters were sent to all those visited, along with an open invitation to address our Academic Senate, Faculty Association or FA-PAC.

      Two legislative bills are in need of strong   community  college faculty support during this legislative session.  They are AB 2451 and SB 461.  AB 2451 (Salinas) is a bill on part-time faculty sick hours conversion.  This would allow those who participate in the STRS Cash Balance Plan or private alternative retirement plans to receive credit for their unused sick hours. In short, it would provide equal retirement credit for equal work for part-timers.

      The other important legislative bill is SB 461 (Torlakson), Catastrophic Prescription Drug Coverage, a FACCC cosponsored bill. It would allow the STRS Board to establish and administer the Catastrophic Prescription Drug Insurance Program for eligible retired members. STRS would determine the deductibility for faculty with 10 years service credit to receive coverage based upon a graduated scale, with co-payment and a maximum benefit level.

      Not surprisingly some Districts fearing the worst, have initiated and are planning faculty layoffs. When rumors began surfacing that SMC was contemplating the same, the FA met with Robert Sammis, who assured us that the District intends to carefully review its options before making any such decisions. The FA is not supporting any scheme to layoff faculty and will work with the District to draft alternative plans if the May revise of the state budget warrants it. One does wonder what Administration is doing to restore funding? Does anyone know? I suggest we make the restoration of funds a joint effort, and that the District keep us informed on what it is doing to preserve the quality of instruction at SMC.
  		 

 

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