For Kevin Pace, the president's health care law could have meant better health insurance. Instead, it produced a pay cut.

Like many of his colleagues, the adjunct music professor at Northern Virginia Community College had a hefty course load, despite his official status as a part-time employee. But his employer, the state, slashed his hours this spring to avoid a Jan. 1 requirement that all full-time workers be offered health insurance. The law defines "full time" as 30 hours a week or more.

"We work so hard for so little pay," he said. "You would think they would want to make an investment in society, pay the teachers back and give us health care."