Our coalition has proposed some updates to the Post-Secondary Education section of the California Democratic Party Platform. The current platform language is online. Our suggested edits included putting tuition- and debt-free higher ed at the top, foregrounding labor rights for all, and advocating state funding for housing. Here is how that section of the platform would read with our proposed changes:
Invest in Higher Ed for All: Free access to both two- and four-year public institutions.
- Return to the objectives prescribed in the 1960 Master Plan.
- Work to return to tuition-free public college and university systems for all Californians funded through progressive taxation, because a college-educated workforce without debt is vital to California’s future;
- Prioritize higher education to correct years of underfunding, some $1 billion each for UC and CSU and $1.4 billion for the California Community Colleges, to restore top-quality post-secondary education and ensure a place for all qualified in-state students;
- Work toward federal higher education reform such as the College for All act, funding for HBCUs and other Minority Serving Institutions, and doubling the Pell grant.
- Increase funding for financial aid programs such as Cal Grant so that aid helps to cover non-tuition costs, such as housing and transportation, to eliminate student homelessness and food instability, and covers the full cost of attendance for low income students;
- Support financial aid for students pursuing an apprenticeship or trade school in a manner that is equitable to students pursuing college or university;
- Expand the Cal Grant program within the community college system;
- Support adequate financial aid programs so that no California student pursuing higher education takes on any debt.
- Support State investment in the construction of affordable student housing on college and university campuses.
- Support equitable access to federal and state financial aid programs for undocumented students.
- Support nursing program funding in order to allow for more instructors and students to meet the State’s nurse deficit.
- Provide financial aid credits and reduced tuition for students who must work full-time, are single parents, are disabled, or are caring for someone who is disabled. They need accommodations and the current educational system is creating barriers instead of bridges, as well as lifelong debt for a population that already experiences extreme financial hardships.
Cancel Student Debt: Release students and institutions from crippling debt burdens.
- Support the cancellation of all currently held student debt, now approaching $2 trillion nationally and almost $150 billion in California, which disproportionately affects women and URM.
- Provide medical school debt forgiveness for doctors who agree to work in underserved rural areas;
- Seek official acknowledgment of the debt California owes indigenous communities for the unceded land on which our colleges and universities sit;
- Support the extension of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) protections for students with disabilities through college, trade schools, and any other educational programs.
- Support the cancellation of all student debt for students who a public college or university withheld their graduation and degrees until the debt is paid off. These students lost wages and career opportunities by the very system that was supposed to do the exact opposite. They deserve restitution.
Equity at the Center of Student Learning and Success
- Support the re-establishment and implementation of equitable affirmative action in admissions processes at California’s public universities and colleges;
- Support state funding for existing community college online class systems and eliminate funding for non accredited completely online community colleges;
- Support Adult Education and Community College programs for life-long learning;
- Work to expand the CalFresh program for students and other programs that address food insecurity such as food pantries and food bank partnerships;
- Support access to healthy eating in and out of school though nutrition classes and cooking classes and availability of food choices that do not increase the risk of diabetes and obesity;
- Support learning environments that include robust Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs and encourage partnerships between school districts and local building and construction trades councils through use of project labor agreements/community workforce agreements to create pathways to construction careers;
- Advocate for creating public, open-source digital media learning platforms instead of outsourcing the teaching mission to private, for-profit technologies that do not guarantee student privacy, data security, IP ownership, free speech, or academic freedom;
- Support the use of OER (open educational resources) textbooks in order to reduce the cost of attendance for students.
- Support the free and ready access of menstrual products on all California college campuses.
- Support specialized services for the most vulnerable student populations to ensure their success, such as former foster youth, undocumented students, and veteran students.
- Reform student governance regulations in the education code to allow for greater and equitable participation
- Support robust access to mental health services at every public college or university.
- Support for strong, clear, and streamlined transfer pathways that benefit students’ educational journey and are in line with the California Master Plan for Higher Education.
Guarantee Job Security, a Living Wage, and the Right to Unionize for all campus workers.
- Close the wage gap at colleges and universities by paying workers the same wage for performing the same job; equal pay for equal work.
- Expand tenure to end the adjunct crisis by converting current non-tenure faculty to tenure track;
- Ensure that adjunct and part time faculty are paid for all their work including mentoring, advising, serving on committees, and writing letters of recommendation;
- Ensure higher education administrators bargain in good faith.
- Support an increase in adjunct and part-time faculty load limits.
- Support state funding of purpose-built workforce housing for public colleges and universities.