Re: the April 8 article "Community colleges face 'reckoning'."
Jon Marcus does not address a key factor leading to community college decline; namely, the national practice of hiring contingent, part-time faculty. At Pima Community College, where I work, adjunct faculty pay is approximately $25/hour, and the great majority of faculty receive no benefits like healthcare, retirement, etc. Nationally, this is standard practice.
These faculty directly serve our students and often do so while working multiple other jobs and/or performing additional caretaking roles at home.
I am disheartened that no legislation exists to earmark a higher portion of the community college budget for teachers. What is education without teachers? If your teacher is on food stamps and Medicaid, it can be hard for her to provide the kind of support community college students need, many of whom are underprivileged to begin with.
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Let's stop the downward spiral of community colleges by advocating for legislation that transforms the budgets of community colleges. Let's stop telling teachers they are worthless and pay them for the critical work they do.
Dr. Sarah Jansen
Midtown
Disclaimer: As submitted to the Arizona Daily Star.
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