The State Center Federation of Teachers (SCFT) Local 1533 has been in contract talks with the central San Joaquin Valley community college district for almost a year.<\/p>\n
Union leaders say the\u00a0goal of the proposed raises, which would boost salaries for both part-time and full-time faculty by roughly 11% in its first year, is to stay competitive with College of the Sequoias in Visalia and other central San Joaquin Valley districts \u2014 with higher pay scales that SCFT say keep luring talented people away from State Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t expect to be paid on an LA or a San Diego scale,\u201d said Keith Ford, the union\u2019s president. \u201cBut we should be the best in the Valley.\u201d<\/p>\n
While contract talks have remained \u201cmostly civil\u201d at the table, Ford said, tensions are exploding related to a parallel effort led by the union to oust the district\u2019s chancellor, Carole Goldsmith.<\/p>\n
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Goldsmith, who has led the district since January 2022<\/a>, recently announced plans to retire from the role in September 2026.<\/p>\n The union, however, wants her gone much sooner. They\u2019ve demanded Goldsmith step down immediately after passing a historic vote of no confidence in her leadership at a meeting Nov. 13.<\/p>\n Though these efforts are happening simultaneously, union leadership denies one has anything to do with the other.<\/p>\n No matter what\u2019s happening in Sacramento or Washington, we will continue to do what we\u2019ve always done: hold our local officials accountable and report the stories that shape daily life in Fresno. <\/p>\n Become a monthly member today during our crucial end-of-year campaign so that we can continue to tell hyperlocal stories you won’t find anywhere else. All donations are matched through December 31.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is not a negotiation tactic,\u201d Ford said. \u201cThis is about her not respecting faculty purview, and about her and her managerial style making it significantly worse to work here than it was before.\u201d<\/p>\n Goldsmith has disputed the union\u2019s characterization of the vote of no confidence in comments to the media<\/a>, saying they\u2019re \u201cnot uncommon\u201d during bargaining.<\/p>\n She declined to comment on this story.\u00a0<\/p>\n State Center spokesperson Jill Wagner said in a statement that votes of no confidence are \u201csymbolic, nonbinding, and have no governance effect on the District or its leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n Following the union\u2019s reproach, leaders with various local non-profit and faith-based organizations came to Goldsmith\u2019s defense<\/a>, pointing to accomplishments under her tenure including the opening of Fresno City College\u2019s West Fresno Center campus.<\/p>\n The board has since then taken no reportable action<\/a> on Goldsmith\u2019s role \u2014 other than approving a retroactive cost-of-living-adjustment<\/a> to her and other district leaders\u2019 salaries at a Dec. 16 meeting.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the meantime, other faculty groups have also voiced rebukes of Goldsmith\u2019s leadership, including the Academic Senate at both Fresno City College and Madera Community College.<\/p>\n To Ford, that says that the fight isn\u2019t over.<\/p>\n \u201cThe depth of negative sentiment has not yet been fully plumbed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is she\u2019ll be gone in January.\u201d<\/p>\n What are the sticking points?<\/p>\n SCFT represents over 2,300 instructors, librarians, counselors and other faculty members across State Center\u2019s main campuses in Fresno, Clovis, Reedley and Madera. About two-thirds of their members work part-time.<\/p>\n The union has cited the district\u2019s post-pandemic enrollment recovery that outpaced the state of California<\/a>, as well as positive trends in student retention and degree completions over the past five years, as evidence of their faculty\u2019s high quality of instruction \u2014 deserving of top pay in the Central Valley to match that.<\/p>\n On top of the roughly 11% pay increase the union is pushing for in year one of the contract, SCFT is seeking raises equivalent to the COLA plus 1% in years two and three of the agreement, according to the union\u2019s treasurer Doug Gong.<\/p>\n That proposal is actually higher than what the union originally asked for in its first proposal to the district earlier this year \u2014 which is not something you often see in bargaining, Ford acknowledged. But, he added, extenuating circumstances permit this kind of move.<\/p>\n \u201cThe National Labor Relations Act and PERB are both pretty clear on the fact that if negotiations (take) a long time and new information presents itself, which is relevant, then you can change,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n PERB\u2019s General Counsel Felix De La Torre didn\u2019t comment on specific details for this story, but generally confirmed in an email to Fresnoland that the \u201cchanged circumstances\u201d principle has precedent in previous PERB cases and is a \u201cdefense against allegations of bad-faith bargaining,\u201d including accusations of so-called \u201cregressive bargaining.\u201d<\/p>\n For SCFT negotiators, the changed circumstances in their case was news that College of Sequoias instructors got an additional 3.3% raise this year.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, they\u2019re doing even better than they were, in relation to us, than before. And if what we\u2019ve been saying this entire time is that we want to be competitive with them,\u201d Ford said, \u201cwe felt justified in increasing that ask.\u201d<\/p>\n There are sticking points for the union outside of salary, too. That includes concerns over the current dual enrollment policy in the district, which allows high school teachers to teach State Center\u2019s college courses to high schoolers enrolled in the program.\u00a0<\/p>\n Under existing agreements, those instructors aren\u2019t considered State Center faculty that are bound to SCFT\u2019s contract, Ford said. Instead, they\u2019re compensated for their instruction by the K-12 districts where they teach.<\/p>\n \u201cAnybody who teaches one of our courses needs to be in our bargaining unit and therefore subject to our contract,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, they can still be primarily a high school instructor, but when they\u2019re teaching our class, they are our part-timer, and they would get paid by our districts.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAnd then they would also be evaluated by us,\u201d he added. \u201cRight now, we can\u2019t evaluate them.\u201d<\/p>\n Outside of compensation, the union is also demanding members be guaranteed the sole rights to intellectual property created for their courses and for lab instructors to be compensated fairly for the hours they work. Right now, for every hour they work, lab instructors receive pay for three-quarters of an hour, according to the union.<\/p>\n State Center declined to comment on any particulars of bargaining for this story. In a statement, Wagner, the district\u2019s spokesperson, said State Center remains \u201ccommitted to bargaining in good faith through the appropriate channels.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe understand that negotiations can create tension,\u201d Wagner added, \u201cand that heightened rhetoric can emerge as part of the process, but it does not reflect the reality of our organization. The State Center Community College District is strong and thriving, enrollment is at record levels, finances are solid and as a result we are adding both faculty and classified positions, and student success rates continue to rise.\u201d<\/p>\n What about the vote of no confidence?<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/12162025_scft_goldsmith-5.jpg\")
Keith Ford, president of the State Center Federation of Teachers, addressed the district\u2019s board of trustees at a meeting Tuesday, Dec. 16, 2025. The faculty union he leads has been in negotiations with the community college district since early 2025. Julianna Morano | Fresnoland<\/p>\n