Pathways in Trouble across the University
Curriculum-approving bodies at Bronx Community College and Borough of Manhattan Community College passed resolutions in November demanding (Bronx) and declaring (BMCC) a moratorium on further Pathways implementation. The Bronx and BMCC resolutions and a new national petition against Pathways were followed by a week of new actions:
- The University Faculty Senate (UFS) joined the call for a moratorium on further Pathways implementation with a resolution passed by an overwhelming majority of the UFS plenary on Dec. 4. The UFS resolution calls upon the Chancellery to begin a review of Pathways in Jan. 2013 and conduct this review in consultation with the UFS. It also calls on the Chancellery to stop “further implementation of Pathways until this initial and collaborative review is concluded.”
- At Queensborough Community College, 170 faculty attended a special meeting on Dec. 5 where they considered a resolution to conduct a referendum allowing the faculty to vote on reversing the QCC Academic Senate’s support of Pathway. 130 faculty backed the call for a referendum. While administrators claim the meeting was short of a quorum, the faculty Senate will consider two Pathways-related resolutions this Tues., Dec. 11, one revoking the Senate’s earlier support of Pathways and one calling for a moratorium on further Pathways implementation.
- The Queens College Academic Senate also passed a resolution of dissent on Dec. 6. Their resolution endorses the UFS’s call for a review of and moratorium on Pathways.
- Baruch College’s Faculty Senate also passed a resolution on Dec. 6. The resolution affirmed the elected faculty committees’ statutory authority over curriculum and called for the suspension of an ad hoc committee’s Pathways-related curricular development, because such action would circumvent the governance authority of the faculty.
Sign and Share the New PSC/UFS National Petition for a Moratorium on Pathways
Kenneth Schoenly from California State University, Stanislaus signed the Pathways petition because, as he put it: “Science is not a spectator sport!” As a science professor, Schoenly finds the removal of laboratories from CUNY’s core curriculum “shortsighted and harmful to the long term mission of what a university was designed to do.”
4,500 people have signed the National Petition for a Moratorium on CUNY’s Pathways Curriculum since it was launched, and many hundreds have left supportive comments. Please sign the petition, if you haven’t yet, and forward it to colleagues in professional organizations, research groups and other networks. (A sample email to forward is sent to you along with the thank you note after you sign. It’s also posted here on the PSC website.)
Tell Washington: Defend the Social Safety Net and Raise Tax Rates on the Wealthy
Negotiations over the “fiscal cliff” could lead to cuts and privatization schemes that hurt millions of Americans who depend on Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Please click here to send a letter to your Congress member. The letter urges Congress to protect the Social Safety Net and fix the budget with revenue generated by ending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy. It also asks Congress to reject any “grand bargain” that hurts the poor or working- and middle-class Americans. Learn more about the fight against austerity in the national budget on our Social Safety Net Committee’s webpage.
RF Central Office Rally for a Fair Contract
CUNY Research Foundation (RF) workers at the RF’s central office, represented by PSC, are negotiating to renew their union contract, which expires on 12/31/12. The RF Central Office employees will rally for a fair contract next Mon., Dec. 17 during a meeting of the Foundation’s Board of Directors. The action will take place outside the Research Foundation offices (230 W. 41st St.) from 12:00 – 2:00 PM. The RF Central office workers are demanding fair salaries and paid parental leave, and they are protesting management’s call for reduced compensation and benefits for new hires. Contact Arsenia Reilly for more info.
Tell it Like it is about Standardized Testing
If you worry about what the relentless focus on testing and standardization means for K-12 education, students’ college readiness and CUNY, please send this electronic letter, developed by PSC’s statewide affiliate, NYSUT, to the State Education Commissioner and Board of Regents. The letter is part of NYSUT’s Tell It Like It Is campaign, which lets educators explain how current teaching and learning conditions impact students’ success.
The agenda of privatization, closing of “failing” public schools and widespread standardization that is plaguing K-12 has spread into public higher education. The PSC and UFS are standing up to the corporate forces behind these “reforms” and fighting for educational quality through our campaign against Pathways. Our fellow educators in K-12 are fighting back with efforts like the Tell It Like It Is campaign. By sharing your solutions from the front lines of education you can help make the State understand it’s time to invest in student learning, not testing.
Sandy Relief and Recovery Information
If you are dealing with losses resulting from Superstorm Sandy, please visit an updated Sandy Relief section of the PSC website to fill out a web form the union is using to target support to members in need.
