{"id":26764,"date":"2023-05-31T13:09:40","date_gmt":"2023-05-31T20:09:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=26764"},"modified":"2023-05-31T13:09:41","modified_gmt":"2023-05-31T20:09:41","slug":"new-city-college-board-rescinds-layoffs-sets-plan-for-rebuilding-the-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2023\/05\/31\/new-city-college-board-rescinds-layoffs-sets-plan-for-rebuilding-the-school\/","title":{"rendered":"New City College Board rescinds layoffs, sets plan for rebuilding the school"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Turns out the union’s budget numbers were more accurate than the administration’s.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By TIM REDMOND<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MAY 29, 2023 (48Hills.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With two new pro-labor trustees leading the way, the City College Board last week voted to overturn the layoffs<\/a> that deeply damaged the education of hundreds of students last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Susan Solomon and Anita Martinez, who along with Vick Chung ran for office last fall as critics of the layoffs<\/a>, put forward the resolution, which the board approved unanimously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three easily ousted incumbents John Rizzo, Brigitte Davila, and Thea Selby, who had voted for the layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the most interesting elements of this: The faculty union, AFT Local 2121, challenged the need for the layoffs last year, offering an alternative budget scenario\u2014and it turns out the union was more accurate than the administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The school ended the year with a substantial surplus, that could have kept all of the full-time faculty on the job, and saved classes and programs that students badly needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere was a waiting list of 300 people for English 1A, which is a requirement for everyone,\u201d Martinez told me. \u201cI talked to students who were ready to finish their program, but the person who taught a required class was laid off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Course offerings dropped over the past four years from 7,877 sections to 4,382 sections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time of the layoff vote, the resolution states, the decision was based on the Board\u2019s understanding that the District was \u201cfacing extraordinary financial circumstances and [needed to] make budget adjustments in order to ensure its continued operations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, \u201cthe District\u2019s FY 22 audited actuals were fortunately later determined to be significantly improved over what was projected in the FY 22 budget.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Clare Heimer, a math professor at the school, told me that the union carefully analyzed the budget and found all sorts of problems. \u201cThey told the board there was a deficit balance,\u201d she said. But in fact, a lot of money was set aside for contracts and work that was never done, and millions were transferred out for a self-insurance fund that was already solvent. \u201cThere\u2019s no other way to say it, they were squirreling that money away\u201d while classes were being cut, Heimer said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The union budget analysis states that<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

How did AFT have more accurate projections than two CPAs? Because layoffs were [Chancellor] David [Martin\u2019s] end goal, and budget numbers and projections were contrived to support that goal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

David \u201cassumes aggressive enrollment growth\u201d without a credible plan to achieve it (e.g. sufficient FTEF growth). Teachers, counselors and librarians know what it takes: educational services offered, and a focus on recruitment and retention. The District cannot continue to invest in everything but the classroom (reserves, transfers, trust funds, supplies, consultants, etc.) and expect to grow.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The union\u2019s proposed budget for next year leaves plenty of room for hiring faculty and expanding efforts to grow enrollment\u2014which, in the end, is the only long-term solution for City College.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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From the AFT press release:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

Trustee Solomon and Martinez\u2019s Resolution marks a new day for the college. In the words of Board President Alan Wong, \u201cThis is a moment to redeem ourselves.\u201d It is a moment to build a college that is capable of meeting San Francisco\u2019s demand for new skills, better jobs, and hope.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tim Redmond has been a political and investigative reporter in San Francisco for more than 30 years. He spent much of that time as executive editor of the Bay Guardian. He is the founder of 48hills.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Turns out the union’s budget numbers were more accurate than the administration’s. By TIM REDMOND MAY 29, 2023 (48Hills.org) With two new pro-labor trustees leading the way, the City College Board last week voted to overturn the layoffs that deeply damaged the education of hundreds of students last year. Susan Solomon and Anita… Continue reading → <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26764"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26764"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26764\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26768,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26764\/revisions\/26768"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}