Community College Staff, Teachers to Get Raises

The Los Angeles Community College District on Wednesday approved pay raises of 8% for its teachers and from 8% to 12% for clerical, maintenance and other workers.

The increases will be retroactive to the start of the school year. They will boost the pay of full-time faculty members to between $25,231 and $50,058, depending on experience, education and position, officials said.

Board of Trustees President Lindsay Conner said he was delighted that the agreements were reached without a strike. But trustee Hal Garvin, the lone vote against the raises, warned that the nine-college system could soon face a debilitating budget crunch.

“It pains me very much to vote against faculty pay raises because they are not overpaid. But I thought 6% would be stretching it as much as possible,” Garvin said. Conner said cutbacks in administrative costs would help finance the agreements.