L.A. College Board Will Rescind Layoff Notices

The Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees voted unanimously Wednesday to rescind 1987-88 layoff notices that could have resulted in the elimination of as many as 59 full-time faculty positions by next fall.

Leslie Koltai, district chancellor, said the rescision was made possible by “indications” from Sacramento that the governor and Legislature would provide additional state revenues for the financially troubled college district.

Although pleased with the board’s action, representatives of the American Federation of Teachers, the faculty and staff union for the district, said that the board’s about-face was a direct result of this month’s community college board elections.

Out of four races on the ballot last week, the one union-backed incumbent won handsomely, while three of the union’s other candidates received enough votes to force their opponents into runoff elections.

“There was strong indication that the voters of Los Angeles didn’t like what was going on on the community college board,” said Martin Hittelman, a union representative and professor of mathematics at Los Angeles Harbor College.

The board last March had approved the layoffs to save an estimated $1.5 million in the coming academic year. In total, the board anticipated a shortfall of about $12 million, according to estimates prepared by the district’s administrative headquarters.

“The funding gap will be less than $12 million, by at least $1.5 million . . . which means that we can eliminate the least desirable option” of cutting faculty positions, board member Lindsay Conner said.

In a prepared statement, Koltai said, “A new report has just been released by the state legislative analyst’s office showing that state revenues are running at least $450 million higher than expected. . . .

“Perhaps more important, the yearlong efforts of our district board and administration to reach out to all sides in Sacramento are now bearing fruit,” Koltai said, adding that “based on meetings Monday, I believe there has been a change in attitude in Sacramento. . . . I believe that community college education will be among the priorities of the governor’s education advisers for the coming year.”

Despite what may be an improvement in the district’s budget prospects, board members emphasized at their meeting at Los Angeles Mission College that the district may still face severe cuts in its operating and construction budgets for the remainder of this year and next.