Tuition for Balloons

Granted, balloons are pretty cheap as budget items go, but the triumphal archway of "welcome back students" balloons that greeted me this morning in the Bonnell Building is a ridiculous misuse of resources. The time wasted blowing up balloons should be spent actually informing students about shifts in the College Calendar, changes in class schedules, examination and graduation dates - this is what anxious students are clamouring for, not more PR nonsense. The sentiment would seem more genuine if it were coupled with an effort by the Administration to truly welcome the students back with information they need to reach their goals.

Just when they are needed most, the steady stream of glossy handouts and propaganda email blasts that were sent out from the College's expensive Marketing Department during the strike have suddenly dried up. This leaves students in a familiar situation, turning to those members of the College community who they look to for answers, the Faculty. The balloons are simply another symbol of how out of touch the Administration is in relation to the needs of the students.

Where is the leadership? Where is SGA? Why not student ambassadors armed with hand-outs in every hallway? How about info on the TV monitors, Classroom visits, Q&A sessions?
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Importance of CCP

Thank you Daily News for the cynical spin on the strike settlement. An editorial yesterday claims that Congressman Brady has effectively purchased the votes of all CCP Union members for $600 a pop. It must seem too naive to those at the Daily News to suggest that as a Mayoral candidate Brady recognizes how crucial the Mission of CCP is to the financial success of this city. Education is fuel for the engine of the economy. In a city where only 13% of adults hold Bachelors degrees, CCP plays a vital role in educating not only the working men and women of Philadelphia but is an important source of professional training for workers in the medical industry and the business world.

Furthermore, if you are going to sell a cynical story of quid pro quo at least get it right! If Congressman Brady was after votes it was those of the students and their families. While the Faculty and Staff are surely glad to get the strike settled, they were ready to stay out for the long haul to defend their living wage. It was the students who were most distressed by the strike who would be most likely to see Brady as the hero of this story.

It would be helpful to the entire city to read more editorials about the lack of funding for the College from the city. The city is mandated to supply 33% of the funding, but under Mayor Street has only provided 19%. This is the true source of higher tuition and painful salary cuts. Perhaps it is time for the papers of this city to acknowledge the importance of funding the largest degree granting institution in the city. Read more!

Why the Confusion?

Why would anyone go out on strike only to return to work for the same settlement two weeks later? The answer of course is no one would. The situation is so clear; I don’t see what all the confusion is about. The Unions walked out as a group because an average salary increase of 3.62% for all three Unions was too low. Broken down by Union, this amount was lower than the percentage increases of the last contract and not enough for those making low salaries to realize a basic cost of living increase. One must remember that the Full Time Faculty did not strike alone, but in solidarity with Classified Staff and Part Time Teachers who on average make significantly less and therefore need a higher cost of living increase to make ends meet.

After further concessions in negotiations by the Unions on salary increases, the two sides were described as only $160,000 a year apart or $800,000 over the span of the five year contract. The strike ended not because the Administration moved or suddenly “found” the money as the media has reported, the UNIONS actually raised the money necessary with promises from the state of $800,000 to fund the salary increases and end the strike.

The primary cause of the College’s woes is a lack of funding from the city and a change in funding from the state. This has been well documented by the Administration. But they have been unable to find funding for the College and have had to raise tuition and go after the salaries and benefits of workers.

This $800,000 has not been accounted for in any of the media and PR reports from the Administration that I have seen. It effectively raises the 3.62% number to a level that meets the needs of the three Unions. The confusion has arisen because the Board has decided that it did not want to put the $800,000 into the salary increases so that it appears that the Administration had not moved from its final offer. In addition, it artificially sets the average percentage increase at a lower basis level in advance of the next round of negotiations in five years.
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And Now...

It may not be apparent to all, but the College Community has grown stronger through the unfortunate struggle of the past two weeks. Leaders emerged from all quarters to assist in resolving this conflict and now we must come back together to carry on the mission of the College. We must not be mired down in frustration and looking back, but must find the path forward to help students reach their academic goals.

We must also help students, as we can, to see the events of this past two weeks more clearly. One cannot blame students for having difficulty in understanding this strike. They have grown up in a world that has taught them that workers have no rights and that Unions are inherently corrupt. They are not alone in failing to recognize the power of a union of people with a common goal to affect change. Despite the distortions they hear on Fox news, these Unions achieved significant gains only by sticking together.

Students, led sadly by our own marketing department among others, have learned to cloak every situation with corporate language. One need only look at the postings on various student message boards which refer to the College as a business and to themselves as consumers. They cannot see past the corporate model to understand that CCP is not a for-profit institution that must cut costs and turn profit to please shareholders; it is an open-admissions publicly funded college that offers high-quality low-cost education to the broad community of Philadelphia residents.

We will continue to face many challenges over the coming weeks, but we must choose to come back together as one College Community.
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The Sound of Settling

NEWS - the Classified and Part Time Faculty Unions have ratified the deal offered by the Administration and will return to work on Tuesday. The Full Time Faculty, due to the unwieldy size of their membership and complexity of issues, will ratify tonight and return to the classroom tomorrow. This is not 100% certain, but it looks good.

The truth behind this settlement is sad and twisted. I would like to be able to say that the Administration came to its senses and realized the wisdom of paying hard working people a living wage etc. But the truth is that it was the Union, through it's connections, who called on PA Congressman Bob Brady to use his influence to secure a promise of money from the State to pay the Teachers and Staff the shortfall in their cost of living salary increases, the $160,000 total a year that the Administration was deciding not to pay them.

After securing the funds and convincing the Chair of the Board, Daniel P. McElhatton, to suggest to the Board that the new State money be included in the Union's salaries settlement the Board voted to REJECT the offer!!! This is reprehensible. (Refer to my post of March 21, "What is Really Going on Here?") Why would the Board push away the life raft offered by the State? The obvious answer is that they did not want to lose. They had obviously decided not to negotiate. In the end they were strong-armed to include the State money, but only as "bonuses" for the Teachers and Staff, not as part of their salaries.

It would seem to many that the obstinacy of this Board has caused and prolonged this unfortunate strike and inconvenienced students and all members of the College Community. Read more!

Students Rising

The boisterous chants of last week’s student rally still ring in the air – and there is more to come. It seems that the students have learned, as students inevitably will, that they do have power and can affect change. They are the third leg of a stool that keeps this great institution standing and they are rising up in greater numbers. It is inspiring as a teacher to watch. You will recall that part of our Mission as a College is to “prepare students to be concerned and informed citizens.”

Throughout this unfortunate strike, it seems that there are those who underestimated the close connection that exists between students and teachers. The lion’s share of a student’s time at the College is spent in contact with teachers. To students, it might seem that the teachers and the students are the College.

Fox news in it’s oversimplification of just about everything still reports nightly that the teacher’s want more money. By now our students see through this rhetoric and have come to a more grounded understanding, as they inevitably will, of complex challenges that face the College including the need to correct broken funding models and the need to pay all members of the College Family a living wage.
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Standing Still

This is a labor negotiation. It’s not personal.
We - teachers, staff, students, and administrators - all aspire to uphold the Mission of the College and get back to work.

As in any contract negotiation, both sides have expressed their needs and negotiated back and forth since last year. However, a week ago last Monday, regrettably, one side stopped negotiating. As the Administration has stated over and over again, it has made its “best and final offer.”
This is why we are on strike.

In addition to concessions on healthcare, the Unions have come back again to the table with new concessions on salary, while the Administration has stated over and over again, it has made its “best and final offer.”
This is why we are still on strike.

One can't solve every problem with a web log, but it is a place to begin.
Communication is essential to growth and understanding.

Goals are never reached by standing still.
All members of the College Community must act to end this strike.

Places to begin…demand that the Mayor and City Council fully fund the college, call the College President and ask him to negotiate, come to campus and meet with the Union to express your concerns, contact Student Government and ask for leadership, form student alliances, talk with family, friends and community leaders, write an article, write a blog, make calls…don’t just sit there. Read more!

Can You Settle This Strike in 50 Words or Less?

Student Leaders have asked me to post this message:
"A student action is in the planning stages for Monday - to help or get involved please email printdevil99@excite.com " Read more!

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

Yesterday, over 300 teachers, staff and students marched to City Hall to remind City Council that the city was the ultimate cause of the funding problem at CCP. The Community College is a public institution. The Mayor appoints the Board of Trustees, who in turn hires the President. The College should be funded 33% by the City, 33% by the State and 33% by Student Tuition. It currently receives only 19% from the City. This along with changes in the structure of funding from the state is cited as the cause of increases in student tuition in a press release from CCP's Office of Marketing and Communication. In this press release you will notice there is no mention of the burden of high salaries of Faculty and Staff on the College because their salaries are no more a burden than the salaries of the Administrators.

We can fix the funding problem by calling on the Mayor and City Council to fully fund the Community College of Philadelphia. Frustration with this unfortunate strike will not be settled by sitting at home and angrily taking sides. This strike will not be settled by ranting at the Teachers, Staff or Administrators alike. All members of the College Community must find constructive ways to end this strike.

Places to begin…demand that the Mayor and City Council fully fund the college, call the College President and ask him to negotiate, come to campus and meet with the Union to express your concerns, contact Student Government and ask for leadership, form student alliances, talk with family, friends and community leaders, write an article, write a blog, make calls…don’t just sit there.
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A Banner Day, or not

Communication is essential to the College Community - it is one of our Core Values. Why then has the Administration shut down the Banner System? It is vital that all members of the College Community find other ways to stay in touch during this challenging time. Reach out to your friends and colleagues.

CORRECTION - A student called the computer help desk today and was told that it is just a computer glitch that has disabled faculty and staff access to the system. The "IT" professional added, "we can't fix it because most of our people are out on strike."

The truth is that the Administration has made a decision to disable all services related to teaching.

See Core Values. Read more!

Student Rally

Yesterday's Student Rally was bittersweet.

The Sweet:
In an attempt to make sense of the strike and vent some frustration, students organized their own rally on the steps of the Mint Building. It was inspiring to hear the spontaneous speeches and chanting of students eager to affect change. It was well organized and at the high point the student leader announced that they were going in to leave signed postcards for the President asking him to end the strike.

The Bitter:
Security locked the doors and denied the students access. You can read a student account of the event here.
This was shocking and sad. The Administration has been announcing that the College was open to students - here were students peacefully entering the building with school ID and were stopped on the steps. The faculty and staff all seemed a bit embarrassed for the College.

This might be a good time to not only review the College’s Mission statement, but also to revisit the College’s statement of Core Values.
Here are two core values for everyone in the College Community to keep in mind during this challenging time.

Communication
The College is committed to effective, open, and proactive communication. We take responsibility to listen, speak, and write clearly to inform others and foster collaboration by using and respecting a matrix of communication channels. Collaborative partnerships are strengthened when communication is ongoing and productive.

Respect
The College promotes respect, civility, and courtesy in our day-to-day interactions with others. We seek to instill respect for and appreciation of members of the College community, our facilities, our environment, our community, and the institution in which we work. Read more!

What is Really Going on Here?

I heard on the radio last night that contract talks are not moving forward. It was reported that in light of the Unions’ latest offer, which includes substantial concessions on salary increases, the parties are now only 160,000 a year apart.

The Unions have shown they are willing to negotiate. Why won’t the Administration negotiate?

Each member of the College Community: Students, Faculty, Staff and Administrators alike must ask themselves, “what is really at stake here?” For the Administration, it would seem even to the most casual observer that it obviously is not about money or we would be back in the classroom by now.

Since the strike began, the Unions looked to return to the bargaining table, but the Administration refused. Over the weekend when the Unions attempted to submit revised concessions to their salary proposals to bring the two parties closer together, the Administration refused. Last night in the presence of the state mediator, once again the Administration refused. On KYW the Administration’s spokesman said “we have made the best offer.”

This does not sound like a negotiation.

What is really going on here?
Read more!

Read, Think, Discuss

I have spent a good deal of my teaching life challenging students to take a critical approach when reading a text or assessing visual communication. I ask students to consider questions like: Who is the intended audience for this piece? What is the writer/artist trying to do with that audience? What rhetorical technique or strategy is the writer/artist using? Over the past few days, my inbox has been choked with propaganda. Now more than ever we need to sharpen our critical thinking skills and consider texts carefully. Read more!

Students Not Widgets

While I am weary to be heading out to picket again this morning in the cold at 7am, an activity I never thought that I would be doing nor one that I enjoy, I am encouraged by the great response I have received from readers of this blog. Students and teachers alike have shown support and understanding for the complexity of this situation – they display a reasonableness that confirms the great work we do at the college building citizens. It is worth recalling that it is part of the mission at the CCP to “prepare students to be concerned and informed citizens.”

Most understand that CCP students are not mere “consumers of education”; rather they are members of our community, a wonderfully diverse population with a variety of needs who rely on CCP to help them to reach their educational and professional goals. While it is useful to apply the lessons of business and industry to help contain costs and keep the College financially sound, we must remember that we deal in students, not widgets. The goal of the institution is to educate, to serve the city, and not to maximize growth and return profit.

One comment from a student on my colleague’s excellent CCP Faculty MySpace page struck me, “CCP is a business like any other.” This is a common 21st century mindset, but a quick and necessary review of the mission and funding model of the College reveals that is not at all the case. The special nature of a Public open-admissions institution is vital in framing a response to the strike.

The devastating increases in tuition over the past few years are not a result of the increasing salaries of the faculty and staff, as was shamefully suggested recently in the news, but are a direct result of the city falling short of its commitment to providing 1/3 of the funding for the college, they currently pay around 19%. In addition, there have been changes in the funding structure from Harrisburg that no longer fund the College per student enrolled but offer more of a flat funding model.

The Unions certainly recognize the funding challenges at the College; and they realize that salaries are a large part of any institutional budget. However, it is counter-intuitive to the mission of the College to reduce the current levels of funding for the staff and faculty. The Unions are not asking for raisees but only cost of living increases like everyone else who works for a living. The funding challenges for the College need to be solved by all of us together.
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Students Are in the Worst Situation

CCP Students are not involved in matters of labor relations and, from my discussions with them, feel powerless to affect the outcome of this unfortunate strike action. It is with them in mind that I began this blog; however, they are not the only ones frustrated and upset. Consider me as a typical teacher and how I am split three ways:

1 - As a teacher and mentor: I am deeply concerned about the students being able to reach their academic goals. I worry over their access to information that can help them to make good decisions. Although, for all the frustration and heartache of the strike, I do believe that we will all soon finish out the semester and they will move on to continue their education.

2 - As a teacher and a colleague: I will not be moving on like the students, but have made a long-term commitment to the Mission of this great College and must adhere to a standard of integrity that keeps this Community strong. In addition, I must take care of my family and help to ensure that all workers at CCP and their families have a decent future. I stand 100% firmly and forever alongside my collegues in all three Unions. I know that our cause is just.

3 - As a colleague and member of the Commnity: I have many friends in the Administration. I have joined them in living the Mission of the College and believe that they will respect me, if not my methods, for the courage I show in fighting to uphold that ideal.

It might help all members of the College Community to reflect on what others might be going through.

Here are some voices I have heard this past week:

Students' Challenges:
• Education interrupted
• End of semester plans (graduation, summer school)on hold
• Insecurity of not knowing what will happen
• Feeling unfairly caught in the middle

Staff Challenges:
• No paycheck while on strike
• Insecurity of losing comprehensive health coverage
• Fear of risking everything including termination

Teacher Challenges:
• No paycheck while on strike
• Worry over students reaching their educational goals
• Insecurity of losing comprehensive health coverage
• Fear of risking everything including termination

Administrator Challenges
• Inability to perform job without teachers and staff
• Insecurity over the future of the College
• Sympathy for colleagues in ranks of Teachers and Staff
• Concern over reputation of the College

This is a complex situation and many lives are affected. Let's try to stay focused on the big picture and acknowledge that it is difficult for everyone involved.
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What Can I Do?

We all must stay in touch. The absolute worst thing that any of us - students, faculty and staff alike - can do is to stay at home and wait. This will only lead to anxiety.
Isolation leads to fear. Inaction leads to frustration. Spring into motion!

• Get in touch with fellow students or co-workers
• Stay informed - read as much of the information that you can
• Try to explain the situation in simple terms to friends and family
• Send an email to the Administration or to the Union to be heard
• Together we can do this Read more!

Why Did The Unions Reject the Offer?

Consider this as a simplified, but familiar and analogous situation:

Renee is in a negotiation to buy your home for $150,000. After weeks of back and forth negotiations she puts forward an offer at your price of $150,000, but only if you completed a series of repairs to the house. You agree, but then before the deal is finalized, she says, "in addition to the repairs I want you to lower the price as well."

Your friends and family might say, "why did you reject Renee's offer?"

Many students, faculty and staff have been asking "why did the unions reject the offer?" The answer is similar to what you might say about Renee's offer, "well it was not the offer that we had originally agreed to." Without getting into the specifics in this post, as a teacher I would like to begin by getting you to consider a possible problem with the way the question is posed. The question suggests that the Administration made a straightforward good faith offer and the Unions rejected that offer. President Curtis enhanced this image when he went on TV to say that he did not know why the Unions walked out when "they got everything they wanted."

Why would anyone go out on strike if "they got everything they wanted?"

If we stop to think logically for a minute, and try to transcend the political rhetoric, we might agree that after months of negotiations, it certainly is not as simple as the Administration made a one-time offer and Unions decided to walk. Read more!

Why a Strike?

Many in the College Community, students, faculty and staff, are having trouble making sense of the strike so I will try to clear some things up right off. It certainly would be easier to understand if it were as simple as the Unions want Saturdays off for example, or the Administration wants to slash salaries, etc. However, this is a more nuanced situation but easily explained.
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This is the Short Edited Version:
There are two pies, health care and salaries. In negotiations, the Unions agreed to reductions in their health care policy which means less coverage and more money out-of-pocket. The understanding was Unions give a bit on health care in order to maintain salary increases at levels already in place since the last contract. The Administration decided in the eleventh hour, with its "best and final offer" to cut salary increases as well across the board to levels below those in place since the last contract for all three Unions.
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The is the Super Duper Short Edited Version:
Two pies, the Administration wants a slice of both. The Unions must maintain what little they already have, therefore there is no choice for the Unions but to strike.
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The Longer Version:

The three Unions (Full Time Faculty, Part Time Faculty and Classified Staff) have been negotiating new contracts since they expired last August. As with any negotiations, the Unions and the Administration had a wish list and traded back and forth for months. What it came down to in the end was that the administration feels that the Unions should pay premiums for health care citing the rising cost of health care. The Unions, not ignorant of the challenges of rising health care costs, countered this proposal by agreeing to cut the services on their current Blue Cross health care package in order to avoid paying "premiums" which is now standard at many workplaces. In the end this amounts to $500,000 a year of savings for the college in health care costs. This was a big concession for the Unions and not a popular one in the ranks. With starting salaries for Teachers at $36,000 and for Staff $17,000, traditionally many at CCP have accepted the reality of low wages in return for the security of great health benefits. Now their once comprehensive coverage is not so comprehensive and it is no longer "Free" health care by any means - the new policy comes with significant increases in co-pays and out-of-pocket expenses for faculty.

See, that was not too long and complicated.
A big issue is of course money.
A Community College Professor, even those who have Doctoral Degrees can start as low as $37,000 and a member of the Classified Staff, those who maintain and keep the day to day operations of CCP running, can start as low as $17,000.
A big issue for the Unions is how the college chooses to spend its money.
They have recently launched a $1.5 million branding campaign and have hired 60 new administrators since the last contract. We cannot quote their starting salaries because the Administration of Community College of Philadelphia are hiding behind a law which protects their finances from public scrutiny. This is very suspicious. Why at an institution that takes public money can we not see how the money is spent?

There is a good back and forth between students and a faculty member at Metroblog. Read more!