Pulisic’s Right Ankle

California professor who teaches at nine colleges rakes in $800,000-a-year by holding 30 classes with 1,100 students | Victor Heller, Daily Mail A new investigation found that professors are playing California's education system by teaching dozens of classes with pre-recorded online lectures, allowing them to cash in big time. Thien-Huong Ninh Villarreal, who teaches sociology, ethnic studies and business, has managed to hold two full-time and seven part-time jobs at different community colleges in the Golden State and made nearly $800,000 in 2024. Ninh Villarreal is currently teaching 30 classes to as many as 1,100 students, an investigation by CalMatters revealed. And she is not alone. There are no rules limiting how many colleges or districts an instructor can work within and no tracking systems to monitor a professor's workload as each of California's 73 districts is governed independently. This has led to a widespread phenomenon, where more than 70 teachers are leveraging these conditions to their advantage and giving lectures across at least five different community college districts, Cal State or University of California campuses at the same time, CalMatters found. Sarah Thompson, president of the Faculty Association of California Community Colleges, told the outlet: 'Obviously no one has enough time in a week to teach 30 classes and do a good job, so that’s very problematic.' Another instructor, Andrew Vanden Heuvel, taught around 50 online classes and labs in astronomy to students in various California cities and even at schools in New Mexico, Michigan, Washington and Florida - all from an office above his garage in Michigan. He instructed as many as 1,000 students in a single semester, which earned him a salary of $758,485 total in 2024, according to the report. Vanden Heuvel insisted his students still get excellent education from his material, and that he is the only astronomy professor available at some rural colleges. He posts much of his material on Youtube, where he has garnered millions of views. He told CalMatters: 'Now, did I push it further than some people think is morally conscionable? I don't think so.' He also explained that 'in its current form, I am not grading anything' but instead all of his quizzes are multiple choice and graded by computer. Bobby Seals also teaches 14 extra courses at four districts aside from his full-time job as ethnic studies professor at Evergreen Valley College in San Jose. He has about 930 students this semester. CalMatters listed four more professors teaching 10 or more classes at different campuses, including disciplines such as computer science, psychology, business and art history. Community colleges evaluate the quality of all courses, but have no insight into the actual workload of their professors. The Cal State and University of California systems can track employment and limit the number of courses each professor can teach. But they might not know whether a professor is simultaneously teaching courses at a community college. Read more: dailymail.com/news/article-1…