Wednesday, February 25th marks the second annual National Adjunct Walkout Day. Last year, dozens of higher-ed unions across the United State engaged in rallies, teach-ins, walk-outs and other public activities to promote fair contracts, just work and dignity for all adjuncts, everywhere. While LEO will not be participating in any organization-wide walkouts, we are encouraging our members and allies to participate in our Facebook "I Am LEO" profile picture campaign to show solidarity and support! Please forward the image and tag fellow LEO members and allies to get the ball rolling, and check the Facebook page all week for continual updates from National Adjunct Walkout Day activities across the country!

AFT Randi Weingarten has drafted a letter to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan regarding the many shortcomings of the Administration's proposed college rating system. AFT is also asking its higher ed members to send comments to Washington before February 17th.

The proposed college rating system is based primarily on graduation rates, and is largely punitive as institutions with low scores may eventually see cuts in the Pell Grant funding. The proposed system has the potential of harming many institutions, especially those that serve large numbers of low income, minority students. For U of M institutions, the rating system will experience that largest negative impact are the Flint and Dearborn campuses, where graduation rates are much lower, 37% and 52% respectively than Ann Arbor where the approximate rate is 91%. Using graduation rates is highly problematic because it does not consider the variety of factors, such as average student GPAs and ACT scores, that that are used for university acceptance, which surely have an impact on graduation rates.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted along party lines on Thursday to raise the full-time employment threshold in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) from 30 to 40 hours a week. The Republican majority in the Senate is expected to support the legislation, but it faces a certain veto from President Obama. If made law, the 40-hour rule could impact college faculty across the country, perhaps including UM lecturers with a 75% appointment who enjoy health-care benefit eligibilty under the current law. 

AFT President Randi Weingarten issued a statement opposing the bill:

“Contingent workers, including college and university adjunct faculty, make up an increasing share of the workforce. If the threshold for coverage is raised from 30 to 40 hours, many of these contingent workers will lose a hard-fought opportunity for employer health coverage. This is wrong and unfair. Rather than embracing the spirit of the ACA to help expand healthcare for all working families, this unwarranted change would subvert the law’s intent to cover more Americans and would close off a much-needed health insurance option.”