City College Trustee: Deal Preventing Layoffs Only a Short-Term Fix

Umi Hagitani

City College of San Francisco's Mission campus.

The Board of Trustees for City College of San Francisco on May 10 voted on a plan to reduce teacher pay instead of laying them off, a plan that members of the teachers union had also voted on and approved. But this is only a short-term fix to one of the college’s recurring financial problems, said Alan Wong, a member of the Board of Trustees and a legislative aide to Supervisor Gordon Mar. Wong joined “Civic” to share his take on the bigger picture of City College’s financial future and a vision for a community college that serves adult learners and English learners as well as students hoping to transfer to a four-year university, rather than making transfer students the main focus.

“We’ve been relying on Band-Aids, and unless it gets long-term and permanent change, ideally funding, we’re going to be at the same crossroads again next year.”

— Alan Wong

A segment from our radio show and podcast, “Civic.” Listen at 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays at 102.5 FM in San Francisco, or online at ksfp.fm, and subscribe on Apple, Google, Spotify or Stitcher

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