Professionals Get Welfare-Level Pay
Terry Boyden teaches nearly a full load of classes in Spokane Community College’s English department, yet she’s paid as a part-timer. One day when Boyden described her $11,000 annual salary to her class, one of her students was earning exactly the same amount - on welfare.
The salaries for part-time faculty members at the Community Colleges of Spokane have been appallingly low. Last spring, part-timers banded together to draw attention to their plight, describing paychecks so slim that these teachers were able to qualify for food stamps and free school lunches for their children.
It makes no sense that a woman like Boyden, with two master’s degrees, would be paid so poorly after a nine-year commitment to teaching in the community colleges.
Just over a week ago, community college faculty approved a new pay increase that will give part timers a 10 percent boost over the next two years. That’s a significant step but it’s only a beginning. The salary disparity remains. With the new pay increase, the average full-time salary will be $42,415. A part-time teacher with a full class load will earn an average salary of $17,185.
This system seems inherently unfair to students as well. Exhausted part timers may race from their classes to second and third jobs. Their time constraints often prevent them from remaining on campus to advise students. They may also save time by relying on quick-to-grade multiple choice tests or by sticking to the same course outline and textbook year after year.
A Seattle instructor, Keith Hoeller, makes a similar argument in a complaint he has filed with the U.S. Department of Education. Hoeller, who has taught part time at four of Washington’s community colleges since 1990, challenges the accreditation of the state’s community colleges. He believes the state’s reliance on part timers reduces the quality of education that students receive.
In technical fields, especially, it makes sense to round out the faculty with a few part-time instructors. But at the Community Colleges of Spokane, there are 360 full-time faculty members compared to 520 part-time instructors. Administrators say two thirds of the classes are taught by full-time faculty. Still, the sheer number of part timers is significant.
The most misleading term here is the term “part time.” These lesser-paid staff members often teach course loads nearly identical to those taught by full-time faculty. They aren’t required to attend as many meetings or post as many office hours, but the class preparation and paper grading time is the same. Even with the new pay increase, full-time faculty will make $740 to $940 per credit hour, while part timers make $350.
Community colleges must balance the salaries of their faculty with the need to provide affordable tuition for students. What must not be lost in that equation is the fact that the work of community college instructors, particularly in a low-wage city like Spokane, is vital. These teachers encourage struggling learners and turn welfare recipients into wage earners.
While they’re at this important work, they deserve to be paid fairly.
, DataTimes The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Jamie Tobias Neely/For the editorial board