Update: New information revealed in salary-gate
Last month, Special Trustee Agrella backed off approving a new administrative salary schedule after community protest of what appeared to be a 19.3% salary increase. Since then, Chancellor Tyler has acknowledged errors regarding administrative salaries, and more information and questions have come to light.
The good news: CCSF administrators are not being given a blanket 19% raise at a time when faculty are still 4% below what we made in 2007, classes are being canceled, there is a shortage of staff from layoffs and attrition, student workers make $1.74 below SF’s minimum wage, and CCSF workers have not seen even part of a COLA in years. (Administrative salary schedules posted on the District website appear to be inaccurate; given the District’s apparent inability to furnish accurate salary schedules for faculty, this should perhaps come as no real surprise.)
The bad news: The issues uncovered in the last several weeks regarding administrative pay are quite disturbing: they point not just to a lack of transparency but to violations in Board process and of the public trust under Special Trustee Agrella and Interim Chancellor Scott-Skillman. They also point to growing inequities in CCSF salaries as decisions are made to widen the gap between the college’s 1% and the rest of us.
Here is what we have determined:
- New top-tier administrators (VC Finance, VC Academic Affairs, VC Student Services) were hired last year without any Board/Trustee resolution approving their exorbitant salaries, which range between $202K and $217K and bear no relationship to any existing salary schedule. The new CTO will follow suit in this salary range.
- These salaries were and are being paid without public notice and without any apparent legal authority.
- An after-the-fact Board resolution approving these high level salaries is on the docket before Trustee Argrella for Thursday, February 27, 2014. (Full agenda here.)
- Simultaneously, administration is implementing an after-the-fact policy allowing top administrator salaries to exceed the maximum step on the administrative salary schedule and “be independently adjusted based on market variations.” Such a policy represents, to our knowledge, a departure from previous CCSF policy.
- The 5% pay cut imposed on faculty and administrators in July, 2013 has now been deemed “temporary” for administrators but “ongoing and permanent” for faculty. Both groups received a 1% restoration in January, 2014 and will see an additional 0.5% restoration in 2015.
AFT 2121 continues to demand full documentation of administrative salaries and stipends, but has not yet received all of the relevant information.
Salarygate demonstrates the need for transparency, input—not a one-person trusteeship
This lack of transparency and blatant disregard of Board processes in setting inordinately high salaries is a slap in the face to the faculty who have endured nothing but pay cuts and to San Franciscans’ diminishing access to their community college.
Unelected, outside officials—supposedly sent here to “help” CCSF—should not be able to make decisions about our College with no oversight or accountability. To date, no plan to restore the voice of SF voters and democracy has been provided by State Chancellor Brice Harris, who had to change regulations in order to impose the Special Trustee With Extraordinary Powers.
We are joining others, including Supervisor David Campos and Assemblymember Tom Ammiano, in demanding the restoration of our elected Board and an end to state-imposed trusteeship. Join the fight to restore democracy at CCSF!
Click here to send the Special Trustee “public” comment
Given the serious implications and concerns about items on the CCSF February “Board” meeting, we have provided a sample email for Agrella: click here to send targeted “public” comment to him. You may edit or amend it as desired. These comments are due by 5pm on Thursday, Feb. 27.
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