College Trustees Approve Major Faculty Cutback

Despite a round of denunciations by faculty leaders, the Los Angeles community college trustees voted Wednesday to lay off 142 full-time instructors, the first dismissal of tenured teachers in the district’s history.

The faculty members, most of whom are in the fields of physical education, nursing, psychology, history and a variety of occupational areas, will receive a layoff notice by March 15 and are expected to lose their jobs at the end of the spring term.

In addition, all the part-time teachers in those fields--a number estimated at more than 100--also will lose their jobs.

Trustees described Wednesday’s action as the first step in an “educational realignment” of the district, one that will allow the nine colleges to offer more courses in subjects that are in greater demand.

Faculty union leaders contended that the sharp staffing cutbacks--which amount to 8% of the full-time total--will “destroy the district.”

“A college is a fragile institution. It depends on a satisfied and loyal staff,” Raoul Teilhet, director of the California Federation of Teachers, told the trustees. By “declaring war” on the faculty, he said, “you will lose the heart and soul of the colleges.” His statement was cheered by an overflow crowd in the board room.

Hal Fox, president of the district’s faculty union, charged that the trustees had “panicked” over recent budget embarrassments and were making cutbacks that went well beyond the need to balance next year’s budget.

Nevertheless, the trustees voted 6 to 1 to go ahead with the layoffs.

They agreed, however, that the cutbacks would not save much money. The dropping of the full-time and part-time instructors was projected to save about $5 million, but trustees also announced Wednesday that they plan to spend an extra $4.6 million next year to add courses in subjects such as English, mathematics, business and computer science.

Low Class Loads

“This is not a question of balancing the budget. It is a question of putting our money where the students are,” said Dr. Monroe Richman, Board of Trustees president. “We can’t continue to offer classes with five or six or seven students. Not even the best private institutions can afford that.”

Since 1982, the nine junior colleges in the Los Angeles district have lost about one-third of their students, a decline attributed variously to the new $50-per-semester fee, a drop in the number of 18-year-olds coming out of high schools, the improved employment picture or a general dissatisfaction with the course offerings and climate on the district campuses.

Whatever the cause, district officials say they have more instructors than they need in many fields. As a result, some teachers taught with just a handful of students, or they were assigned other projects to keep them occupied.

Although the faculty union contract calls for classes to have more than 30 students, district chancellor Leslie Koltai told the board Wednesday that nearly one-fourth of the classes this semester have fewer than nine students.

‘Academic Social Welfare’

“We have been operating an academic social welfare system,” Richman commented outside the hearing room.

By eliminating teachers in the fields with few students, district officials say, they plan to offer more courses, particularly in the evenings, in the popular fields.

But officials admitted that the cutback will affect a significant percentage of the teaching force, especially women and minorities. The 142 instructors to be dismissed will be those with the least seniority within their departments.

In addition, the district said, it will dismiss enough part-time teachers to make up the equivalent of 70 full-time instructors. Although officials could not say how many part-timers will be affected, they acknowledged that coaches of the junior college sports teams will be especially hard hit.