Olympic College Association of Higher Education

This is an awesome tool. I encourage you to use it to contact our state legislators.

Resistbot I'm Resistbot. Text RESIST to 50409 and I'll help you contact your officials.

Sending support for our colleagues and students.

https://www.shorelineareanews.com/2019/04/letter-to-editor-shoreline-community.html?fbclid=IwAR1Ji1bp5h-DE2iuF3hBeZlFOMpFxF8EvyyE4R2kRkwYt_PN1RvsXk3yN3s

Letter to the Editor: Shoreline Community College teachers plan walk out Tuesday To the Editor: This Tuesday, Shoreline Community College teachers are walking out. As an adjunct instructor at Shoreline, and a reside...

Dear School Custodians, Paras, Secretaries, Nurses, Etc. - We'd Be Lost Without You Teachers do a lot to educate children, but we're hardly alone. It takes an amazing team of people to make it happen, and we are thankful for them every day.

Professors are selling their plasma to pay bills. Let's hold colleges' feet to the fire If you like your coffee ‘Fair Trade’, why not your children’s school ‘Fair Labor’? Here’s a simple but effective proposal

Port Angeles schools to be closed Thursday as paraeducators prepare to strike | Peninsula Daily News PORT ANGELES — Port Angeles schools will be closed Thursday as paraeducators prepare to strike over stalled negotiations over wages. Teachers have said they will honor the picket line.

Solidarity with our friends at Bellevue College. It has been wonderful to see the public support of raises for educators.

OurVoice Political Action Get involved in the politics and policy shaping Washington public education.

Central Kitsap School District classified staff gets 19 percent raise Salaries for classified or non-teaching staff in Central Kitsap School District will increase by 19 percent this year.

Utah governor, schools superintendent issue plea to former teachers: Come back Gov. Gary Herbert, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Sydnee Dickson and the CEO of Envision Utah issued a plea Wednesday to Utah educators currently not teaching to return to the profession to help address the state's teacher shortage.

Why Do Teachers Join The Union? It seems like a good time to ask the question, why do teachers join the union at all? What unifies teacher union members? It's this statement: I want to be a teacher, and--

[September Self-Care Challenge] Download TODAY! Whether you started school in August our you go back after Labor Day, teachers must make their own mental health a priority. Starting this month, we'll be releasing our limited September Teacher Self-Care calendar for you to download for free. Email this out to your colleagues who need a little bit....

Here's How Not to Improve Public Schools The Gates Foundation’s big-data experiment wasn’t just a failure. It did real harm.

The Supreme Court Issues Janus Decision The Supreme Court Issues Janus Decision Details Created: Wednesday, 27 June 2018 07:11 By Sahid FawazThe Supreme Court has issued its ruling on the Janus case.CNBC reports:"The Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Wednesday that non-union workers cannot be forced to pay fees to public sector unions.'Compelling i...

Woo hop

Gov. Inslee signs WEA priority legislation Community and technical college faculty now have equal bargaining rights!

Teach Access to Award Faculty Grants – Teach Access Teach Access, a collaboration of top tech sector companies, universities and disability advocacy organizations, announced today that they will be awarding grants to faculty at institutions of higher education (community colleges and four-year universities) to develop modules, presentations, exercise...

Union members score major win on bargaining rights The Legislature is on the verge of approving equal bargaining rights for community and technical college faculty.

A faculty colleague from Walla Walla CC was given the WEA’s teacher of the year award. Congrats Susan!

The awards gala is underway in DC - congratulations to Susan Palmer, winner of Washington's NEA Foundation California Casualty Award for Teaching Excellence. She is joined at the ceremony by her husband Kurt, WEA President Kim Mead, Vice President Stephen Miller, NEA Board Director Pam Kruse.

House passes faculty bargaining bill with bipartisan vote Key WEA priority passes 57-41

Worth a read.

The Case for Community College As student loan debt skyrockets, community college is more important than ever.

Good to see our new executive director hitting the ground running.

New leader of Washington’s community college system plans to push for more money The new executive director of the state community college system wants more money to expand a new program that gives students a specific road map to a career.

Of interest to all of us...

OC revisits security issue with series of forums College officials listened to staff and students' concerns Monday in Poulsbo

Support our colleagues in the Seattle Community College District as they walk out to support quality education for students.

At a recent all faculty meeting AFT 1789 voted to take part in a voluntary walk-out. The walk-out takes place Thursday, November 17 from 9am-2pm across the district. Contact your Senate presidents for campus specific locations. The walk-out is not about the faculty and our needs, but the needs of our students, higher learning and a college education.

Faculty worry about the impact this action will have on the students. For several years faculty workload has increased significantly resulting in less time for students. Faculty are already much stretched to provide instruction and services that the students need. Expecting to do even more is unrealistic. With so few full time faculty (25% overall) we have other duties like service on several committees and curriculum review, it leaves little or no time for working with students. Increased full time positions are one of the issues that has emerged as one of the “four pillars” for the faculty union, as administration desires to continue to use of part time faculty and distance education to teach the majority of courses.

This action is not about our wages. If our students are going to pay good tuition money, they should be taught by accomplished and professional faculty in the classroom. Most people are under the impression that when tuition increases, that money goes to faculty salaries. In actuality faculty do not see that money, it goes to the administrative costs of running the colleges.

At this point the college administration say their current offer is grounded in the realities facing the system: declining enrollments and the financial challenges the system faces with state support. AFT Seattle has pointed out the need for the Seattle Colleges District to make a renewed investment in instructional programs and have suggested that the District can shift funds from non-instructional areas to do so. We base this on seeing significant increases in categories other than instruction; forgetting the core mission of an institute of higher education. The financial information illustrates an ever decreasing percentage of the colleges’ money being dedicated to instruction. Additionally, when any of the colleges need to cut finances, their first action is to decrease the number of classes offered on each campus, further undermining the core business of the college and services offered to students.

Faculty on all campuses encounter inequity in work and pay. Currently some faculty teach 15 hours a week and others 18-25 for the same amount of pay. Therefore, faculty who work over 15 hours a week are paid less and are still required to prepare lessons, lecture, work with students in labs, give assessments, grade student work in a timely manner, update course materials, hold office hours, tutor students, answer communications, serve on committees and participate in college governance. This is all in addition to the daily travel to and from campus since the city of Seattle has become so expensive most faculty have been “priced out.”

According to Payscale.com, “the cost of living in Seattle is currently 24 percent higher than the national average.” An article in the Seattle PI in 2011 (http://www.seattlepi.com/local/article/Not-your-imagination-It-really-does-cost-more-to-2233840.php ) indicates “If it feels like your paycheck doesn't go as far as once did, it's not your imagination. A study from the University of Washington has found that the cost of living has risen in Seattle and the state, largely due to rising housing and healthcare expenses. For a family of two adults and two young kids in Seattle, the cost of living grew by 13 percent since 2009. For a single person with no kids, making ends meet is now 19 percent more expensive. Statewide, cost of living has grown by an average of 8 percent. “ Faculty have not had a pay raise since 2008.

No faculty member takes the walk-out lightly, but if it means improving the quality of education and services for our students we will make that sacrifice. AFT 1789 is hoping the show of unity in the walk-out will help to move administration to reconsider the asks from the union and that continued denial to do so as an attack on the quality of education provided and insulting to those who provide it.

Time for Opening Days! Hope everyone has a great day!

Are you ready for Opening Days? Hope you're enjoying the fine weather this weekend before we're back for another year!

"Importantly, collective bargaining can help to abate this teacher wage penalty." Support your union, folks! They work for your interests.

The teacher pay gap is wider than ever: Teachers’ pay continues to fall further behind pay of comparable workers The teacher pay penalty is bigger than ever. In 2015, public school teachers’ weekly wages were 17.0 percent lower than those of comparable workers—compared with just 1.8 percent lower in 1994.

Second week of Summer quarter coming up! Stay strong colleagues, and have a great week!

Best of luck to all of our colleagues who are starting Summer Quarter today! May the first day snafus be few and the attentive students be many!