Faculty face nation-wide threat

Latest

Michigan’s Jackson College says their manufacturing technology classes are “building the future,” but their actions show it’s a future for corporations, not workers.  PHOTO/JACKSON COLLEGE, MI
Michigan’s Jackson College says their manufacturing technology classes are “building the future,” but their actions show it’s a future for corporations, not workers.
PHOTO/JACKSON COLLEGE, MI

LOS ANGELES, CA —This July, corporate outsourcing came to Jackson College, west of Detroit, MI.  It became the sixth Michigan college to bring in EDUStaff to hire “adjunct” (that is, part-time) faculty.  EDUStaff is a company that can do hiring and payroll for public schools and colleges. This is a warning about what’s in store for public higher education throughout the country.
The Detroit region once was the model for how to achieve the American Dream.  The workers in its auto plants and unions won lifestyles which the world envied.  Public colleges were built to serve their kids.  But now the capitalists who replaced them with overseas factories and industrial robots are also replacing their educational systems.
By bringing in EDUStaff, these six public colleges get out of paying into the state pension plan for these part-time faculty.  Full-time professors were so desperate to protect themselves that their Jackson College union agreed to let this happen.  But full-timers only weaken their own power as workers when they let adjuncts be abused.
That’s because adjuncts are the majority at many campuses, like Arizona’s Rio Salado College, where 60,000 students are now served by only 22 full-time professors—and 1,500 adjuncts.  EDUStaff started its business by taking over the recruitment of substitute teachers in some Michigan K-12 public schools.  It now sees that the “new class” of adjunct professors is ripe for new forms of exploitation.
At the University of Southern California, the Delphi Project studies the changing role of faculty in America, but Director Adrianna Kezar told Inside Higher Ed that she didn’t realize how widespread the practice of outsourcing faculty hiring had become, when news of Jackson College’s decision broke.  Most California faculty and staff are also unaware of how today’s developments in Michigan threaten their future.
The government-backed corporate takeover of public services in Michigan is a test of what is planned for every state and city.  Every defender of public education should educate people about that, and help their class unite in self-defense:  not as full-time against adjunct, or as Californians waiting passively until the events in Michigan affect them.
Steve Teixeira works at California State University, Los Angeles and is active in the struggle to defend public education.

+ Articles by this author

Free to republish but please credit the People's Tribune. Visit us at www.peoplestribune.org, email peoplestribune@gmail.com, or call 773-486-3551.

The People’s Tribune brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: ©2024 peoplestribune.org. Please donate to help us keep bringing you voices of the movement. Click here. We’re all volunteer, no paid staff.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Featured

Another Big Beautiful Betrayal for Rural America

You slash Medicaid, you’re swinging an axe at the heart of our rural hospitals, community clinics, doctors and nurses — and every family that depends on a job for a living. It’s not too late to raise hell.

ICE Terror Campaign Threatens Us All

Several recent Facebook reels show how ICE is ramping up its campaign of terror against immigrants, citizens and protestors alike as the effort to create a police state continues and resistance grows. One creator speaks to the significance of Haitians now being targeted.

Medicaid Defenders in Wheelchairs Arrested Ahead of Senate Budget Vote

Over 60 people, including grandmas in wheelchairs, were arrested in the U.S. Senate Rotunda in a nonviolent protest against cuts like Medicaid and the SNAP food program in Trump’s “Big Beautiful Budget Bill.”

Zohran Mamdani Delivers Stunning Blow to ‘Billionaire-Backed Status Quo’ in NYC

New York City proved that a movement powered by hope, courage, and working class people can beat the money of billionaires.

The American People Want Peace, Not War!

The US's immoral and illegal attack on Iran threatens the whole world with war. The American people have a special responsibility to come out into the streets and rein in the US government, which has become a rogue state.

More from the People's Tribune