Cerritos College
Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

Cerritos College • Norwalk, Calif.

Talon Marks

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Golden goodbyes for teachers

Cerritos College needs substantial change if it is going to survive in this gloomy economic climate and the newly proposed retirement incentive program, the Golden Handshake, might provide a silver lining to these financial storm clouds.

The school is struggling to continue providing good service while funding diminishes, so it is great to see the administration trying to find effective ways to save money without cutting resources or courses.

This idea is not terrible; offer senior instructors on campus a fine sum of money to retire a little earlier than scheduled and save the cash that would have gone toward all those tenure salaries.

The money saved by adopting this program is estimated at $1.5 million for the first school year. Those are funds that can be used for a session of summer classes for students.

Having the “Handshake” in place for about five years would see drastic improvement take place on campus, and that doesn’t mean changes would be solely monetary.

Of the 295 employees at school that can utilize it, fewer than half are likely to accept the incentive. If at least 44 accept the offer, the district will approve the program.

Having 26 instructors retire, rather than the fewer than 10 each year, would impact the roster of professors at Cerritos.

With so many tenured teachers retiring at one time, a window of opportunity is wide open for the part-time faculty.

Other, younger educators would have a chance to step up and create their own legacies, while those who are no longer passionate about teaching or burnt out from decades of work can move on to the relaxation phase of their lives.

Students already know these part-timers and trust them. Giving them steady jobs would likely increase the work ethic of the student body.

It may be interesting to have a professor that has been with the college for 20 years, but it will always be easier to relate to a teacher that’s only seven years older than you.

Cerritos College shows a lot of ingenuity and integrity to be so willing to alter this institution and affect its personnel, all to save funds without cutting things we need.

If the school can continue to come up with beneficial and practical ways to be frugal, then we might see the prosperous rays of sunlight yet.

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Golden goodbyes for teachers