CSU Outlines Principles for Faculty Contract Bargaining
The CSU will begin the bargaining process for a new contract with the California Faculty Association (CFA) following the CSU Board of Trustees’ adoption of initial bargaining proposals. The current contract expires June 30.
In a presentation to the Trustees’ Committee on Collective Bargaining Tuesday, CSU Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Gail Brooks said it was important to move forward and not delay the bargaining process in response to the CFA’s request to extend the current contract one year. “As we all know, the State of California has been under tremendous financial pressure for the past two years, and as an institution we have all felt the effects. Our faculty, along with other employees, has made a significant contribution in assisting this institution for the past year. While these are difficult times, we hope they won’t always be so and it’s important, as we enter these negotiations to think about what will assist us going forward.
“Some may ask why, in these tough and challenging times, we don’t delay bargaining until things get better. Our answer is twofold: One, it’s not legally necessary. By law while we are bargaining for a new contract, the current contract terms continue even after June 30, the end of this contract period. Second, the principles we plan to use to guide us through the collective bargaining process are too important to simply set aside for another year.”
The two principles behind the collective bargaining goals, Brooks said, are instructional quality and procedural clarity. “For instructional quality, we want to ensure that a new contract supports the CSU’s mission of providing a quality education to students. And, we want ‘procedural clarity’ within the collective bargaining agreement. That means a contract that makes sense to implement from an operational standpoint and that supports a foundation of financial stability.”
Brooks noted that there are commonalities and differences in the CSU’s and CFA’s proposals, but said it was “no more than a reflection of the nature of collective bargaining which is an inherently conflictive process.
“We recognize that but hope we can conclude this process in a timely manner with professionalism and respect for all parties. It is important that we recognize the value in rethinking ways of the past, and evaluate what is best for all of us-our employees, our campuses and the CSU in its entirety – to ensure that we are upholding the critical mission of our institution- to the best of our abilities.”
CSU to Graduate First Students in Educational Doctorate Program
More than 100 students will be the first graduates of the CSU’s independently awarded Doctor of Education programs, which were established in 2005.The CSU developed the doctoral education programs in response to the state’s need for well-prepared administrators to lead public schools and community colleges. The state supported the CSU’s request to offer graduate level instruction leading to the Doctor of Education degree (Ed.D.) and Senate Bill 724, authored by now California Community College President Jack Scott, was enacted, granting the CSU for the first time independent authority to offer doctorate degree programs.
CSU Teacher Preparation Shows Sustained Improvements
Results of the CSU Systemwide Evaluation of Teacher Preparation show sustained, accelerating progress by CSU campuses in preparing K-12 teachers who are effective and successful in California schools. The evaluation process includes the professional judgments of experienced school leaders who supervise CSU’s first-year teachers and the CSU’s Center for Teacher Quality (CTQ), which analyzes evidence of K-12 student learning that results from CSU programs for new teachers.
CSU campuses are committed to producing increased numbers of well-prepared new teachers who enable students to be ready for college and careers. Recent Systemwide Evaluation results reflect this commitment in both elementary and secondary schools. Assessments by K-8 principals show sustained growth in CSU’s year-to-year production of new teachers who are well prepared to be effective in reading/language arts, mathematics, science, and other areas of instruction.
CSU Successful in Increasing Number of Math and Science Teachers
The CSU’s has increased the production of math and science teachers by 80 percent over the last five years in response to the state’s need for an estimated 33,000 new math and science teachers over the next decade.
The CSU’s Math and Science Teacher Initiative (MSTI) was created in 2005 when Chancellor Charles B. Reed established a goal for the CSU to double its math and science teacher production to address the state’s impending shortage. The MSTI is a multi-faceted strategy aimed at expanding the preparation of outstanding math and science teachers.
A dearth of sufficiently qualified math and science teachers has resulted in large numbers of students in the state being taught by underprepared teachers. California’s low-income and minority students have been those affected most with evidence that the state’s lowest performing and highest poverty secondary schools are three to four times as likely as other schools to have underprepared math and/or science teachers.