Dear AFT 2121 Colleagues,
This week’s board packet clarified the District’s intent to issue a devastating 160 pink slips to full-time faculty, taking for granted an untold number of part-time faculty layoffs. This does irreparable harm to our beloved City College of San Francisco. It dismisses the tireless work and commitment of faculty to change lives in their classrooms, it closes doors for thousands of vulnerable students, and it threatens to change the very fabric of our city and the things we hold dear.
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AFT has long rejected Interim Chancellor Vurdien’s aptly named “MYBE” (multi-year budget). Interim Chancellor Vurdien has no stake in our City College of San Francisco. Like many Chancellors before him, he will not stay in our community to see the destruction he leaves behind, the faces of those denied a better life, or the pain of the employees who don’t know how they will feed their families. He is not our leader; he will not lead us out of this crisis.
To those who are our leaders: Where are you? What calls you to action? This is the moment to stand up and fight for the mission and existence of our City College.
We all know that cutting classes and jobs does nothing but harm. We know how we got here, and we are all too familiar with the pressure to do less, for less, with less. We know our students, faculty, and community did not create these conditions but may pay the highest price for them. Chronic and deliberate underfunding is the enemy.
Take action now!
- SIGN UP: Take a stand with us at events this week
- TOOLKIT: How to stand up for our CCSF
- Save the date: March 12 Pink Slip Press Conference
Educators see the faces of our students. We hear their voices. We know what we stand to lose. Each of us has stories about particular students who moved us, particular moments in our classrooms and offices and libraries that made a difference. Our students deserve a quality education and we are here to fight for them.
These cuts threaten to leave San Franciscans without their City College when they need it most, during an economic crisis borne of a deadly pandemic. But we have opportunities to change course: thoughtful uses of federal relief money, extension of our hold-harmless status for state funding, and most importantly, a deliberate campaign to adequately fund the true needs of our community. AFT’s bargaining team will soon be at the table leading the conversation about how to protect our students, classes, and faculty because those are our values. We call on our elected leaders to get clear on their values and get to work.
In Unity,
Malaika Finkelstein
Disabled Students Programs & Services Faculty
AFT 2121 President
Take action now!
- SIGN UP: Take a stand with us at events this week
- TOOLKIT: How to stand up for our CCSF
- Save the date: March 12 Pink Slip Press Conference
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