As frontline education workers and students at our Community and Technical Colleges, we know that working conditions affect learning conditions. Over the last two years, we have endured a pandemic that is still radically changing the way we teach and learn. We’ve seen decreasing student enrollment, increasing job insecurity, and a radically different and constantly shifting teaching and learning environment. The pandemic has unequally affected communities of color across the state, as well. Our legislative priorities must address these complex issues. We depend on our legislators to make sure our education system meets the needs of its workers and students.

We are calling on our legislators to take the following actions:

●       Ensure that education workers can afford to live in the communities they teach in by increasing COLAs in 2022 and supporting faculty pay parity in the 2023 Legislative Session;

●       Support student enrollment by providing robust student wraparound services, including mental health counseling, food assistance, childcare, and accessible transportation for undocumented students;

●       Offer two years of tuition-free higher education so that every student has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of socio-economic status;

●       Lower the barriers on Public Student Loan Forgiveness for contingent/part-time faculty and increase the full-time to part-time ratio to retain quality educators to support student success;

●       Prioritize hiring, supporting, and retaining faculty of color who represent the students they teach and reflect this in the college’s equity agendas.