To: President Donald Trump, The California State House, The California State Senate, Governor Gavin Newsom, The United States House of Representatives, and The United States Senate
Make community college hire from the community
Do something about the abysmal state of exploited adjunct instructors who are readying the current clueless generation for a disappearing job market while saddled with mountainous student loan debt. Think about it. Do adjuncts deserve the same rights to a living wage that aspiring candidates for higher education deserve? There's a disconnect somewhere. If the kids coming up after us remain clueless about history and "current events" except for what they see on their devices, where does that leave the governments and societies of the future? Rhetorical question? No. Leaves us all circling the drain until we all get swallowed up and militia justice takes over for good. We're all in the throes of it already. Be blind and keep stumping for Bernie. Meanwhile the prisons are full and my students have never read an entire book in their entire lives.
Why is this important?
I am starving to death. I've been teaching as a part timer for ten years with no assurance of employment, benefits I have to pay for, afraid to make a peep or join Cal Strs whenever I don’t know how long I can continue to do this. Retirement looks sketchy at best. I'm 61 years old. Because I got into this "racket" called community college teaching, I am doomed to a subsistence level quality of life.
I share custody of a 12-year-old girl. All she sees is this overworked, underpaid, grumbling, disappointed curmudgeon who wonders why he even liked to read and write in the first place. My eyes are going bad from all the bad writing I've had to read. My neck is a mess from all the nights in front of a computer.
And for what? I’ve been passed over every year for a tenure track position because I am not a "team PLAYER"--In other words I say it like it is, you can call it all the sour grapes you want but this country is going to the dogs and those ignorant of history (like my students) are doomed to repeat it.
You are welcome to the next generation. You think they will suddenly get curious about all the ways their freedoms are being taken away day by day? Rhetorical question? It won’t hit them till they’re in their thirties, still living with their parents, unable to pay off their student loans and worst of all, useless as far as contributing to society. What society? It’s a big gang of owners and we ain’t in the club.
I share custody of a 12-year-old girl. All she sees is this overworked, underpaid, grumbling, disappointed curmudgeon who wonders why he even liked to read and write in the first place. My eyes are going bad from all the bad writing I've had to read. My neck is a mess from all the nights in front of a computer.
And for what? I’ve been passed over every year for a tenure track position because I am not a "team PLAYER"--In other words I say it like it is, you can call it all the sour grapes you want but this country is going to the dogs and those ignorant of history (like my students) are doomed to repeat it.
You are welcome to the next generation. You think they will suddenly get curious about all the ways their freedoms are being taken away day by day? Rhetorical question? It won’t hit them till they’re in their thirties, still living with their parents, unable to pay off their student loans and worst of all, useless as far as contributing to society. What society? It’s a big gang of owners and we ain’t in the club.