Teachers Hitch Raises to District Finances

In an unusual “shared risk” contract, teachers in the South Orange County Community College District have agreed to tie their future raises to the financial performance of the district, which is undergoing sweeping administrative changes and is under financial scrutiny by the state.

The new contract, covering nearly 300 full-time and approximately 700 part-time instructors at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo and Irvine Valley College in Irvine, provides no raise for the current school year, one of two community college districts in the state forgoing raises this year.

“The negotiating climate was obviously very tough,” said Kenneth Woodward, an economics professor and faculty bargainer. “This might be the first contract in the state where there is such shared risk.”

Under the five-year contract, the district must end each year with a 3% reserve or teachers will not get an annual cost of living allowance. Faculty members approved the hotly debated contract earlier this week by a 104-86 margin.

The district Faculty Assn., part of the California Teachers Assn. (CTA), said many teachers were upset with the absence of a first-year raise and with the “shared risk” concept.

CTA officials said they were not aware of another contract that specifically ties raises to district financial performance, but said teachers always are mindful of limited local resources.

“You can’t ask for something they can’t afford to give,” said spokesman Jan Anderson.

The CTA also frowned on the length of the contract, saying most teacher contracts statewide are three-year pacts.

A key contract provision all but ends the practice of “reassigned time,” under which teachers could forgo teaching one or more classes per semester in exchange for spending time on administrative or approved nonclassroom duties.

Some teachers said that would limit the ability of professors to participate in campus decision-making processes, such as the Faculty Senate, which represents faculty viewpoints in academic governance matters.

“What you’re going to see is a very weak Faculty Senate,” said Lisa Alvarez, an associate professor of English at Irvine Valley. “A cynical view would say that is what this contract was designed in part to do--weaken the voice of the faculty, and that bothers me.”

But some trustees see it as a way of ensuring that teachers remain in the classroom. Trustees split 4 to 3 over approving the framework of the contract in February. Trustees favoring the pact touted it as a cost-saver, but those opposing it said it cost the district as much as $5.6 million in added benefits and salaries over the five-year period.

The split by trustees and faculty over the contract reflects political divisions on the campuses, where one trustee is the subject of a recall campaign. Meanwhile, administrators are trying to meet state fiscal standards for budget reserves and win release from a state fiscal watch list. The district was placed under financial watch last fall, when budget reserves were dwindling.

John S. Williams, president of the district board of trustees, said instructors will drop from the highest-paid faculties in the state to fourth as a result of the new contract, leaving teachers at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton as the state’s best paid.

“I’m sure that a 0% raise hurts when you see people in other districts getting 3% to 5% all around us,” he said.