Dear Dr. Fierro and Cerritos College Trustees,

We, the undersigned, ask you to support the teachers, counselors, librarians, and instructional specialists working at Cerritos College for the following reasons:

• Many of our students are first generation and come from low-income communities. They deserve high-quality teaching and counseling services.
• To attract and retain the best people our college needs to offer competitive wages for all teachers – part-time and full-time.
• Cost of living in LA County is almost 4% and housing costs have risen about 5%. The State has given the college a Cost of Living Adjustment of 2.71% but the District has refused to pass that on.
• Our part-time teachers receive roughly 44 cents for every $1 earned by a full-time teacher for equal work. Moreover, they receive no health benefits unlike some other surrounding community colleges.
• Our students lack adequate access to office hours because part-time teachers are offered compensation for only a fraction of the hours offered by full-time teachers.
• For most of its 60 year history – even through the worst of the recessions - the college has prioritized the healthcare needs of all of its full-time employees. But this year you have proposed a two-tier healthcare proposal that hurts new full-time teachers with families. Plus you have capped the healthcare coverage of our full-time employees. This means employees with families with special needs will have to pay $4,000/year for their healthcare.
• You have done all this even though there will be $14 million dollars of additional ongoing revenue coming in.
• You have done all this even though you have $70 million in tax-payer revenue sitting idly in reserves.

We urge you to do the right thing in providing fair and competitive compensation for all our teachers. Our students need and deserve quality teaching and counseling delivered by trained professionals.  Help us to provide the best possible education for Cerritos College students.