In order to do our due diligence in negotiations we need reliable data and analysis of the data. We are dedicated to working with the District to find a solution to our fiscal problems causing the least harm to Palomar College students and employees. Toward this end we asked the District for data regarding salaries and benefits. What we received from them was rife with errors and poor analysis.
One example of this was that the District reported that the average faculty salary is $182,628.27. This is clearly way off. The maximum salary of a 10 month of a full time faculty, who has a doctorate, and has been teaching for forty years is $132,367.62 (and we have no faculty at that level). Their mistake was adding part-time and full-time salaries and dividing only by the head count of full time faculty almost doubling the average salary. This error, along with many others, does not engender trust in the rest of their analysis. It is sloppy at best and manipulative at worst. In addition, when determining the executive salaries total the District failed to include President Blake’s salary and payout. This is executive salary and should be included. Dr. Blake is still on the payroll.
Moreover, it has also come to our attention that the District is telling the management team “we are in the last stages of negotiations” and providing them with this inaccurate data. Given this poor analysis, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
The data we received is inaccurate at best and manipulated at worst. There is documented evidence that different data is being provided to different groups at different times. This does not allow for negotiations in good faith. If the District’s expectation is that the Faculty will bear a significant burden in alleviating the District’s financial woes, then the Faculty’s expectation is that we have a right to accurate and truthful data. Be assured we will not agree to anything until we are confident that the numbers are right and any cuts are appropriate and reasonable.