South Bay

El Camino College teachers will receive only a small salary increase--1.5%--because of uncertainties over the funding levels that will be approved later this year by the state Legislature, officials said. However, the teachers will get a one-time bonus of 1% if the college’s general reserve fund exceeds $2 million at the end of the school year.

Benefits under the two-year contract, retroactive to last July 1, contrast with the 27.3% pay raise granted over three years in the previous pact with El Camino’s teachers union. When compared with salary schedules in the state’s 106 community colleges, El Camino’s pay rate is highest for beginning teachers with a bachelor’s degree ($22,0100 and third highest for teachers with a doctorate and 14 years of service ($42,304).