The debate over director salaries at local Parent-Child Workshops has resurfaced once again, infuriating people on both sides of the argument.

City College has spent over five decades partially funding the directors’ salaries at the local non-profit Parent-Child Workshops.

The Channels believes it’s time for the Parent-Child Workshops to become self-sustainable.

The four workshops (The Oaks, Lou Grant, Starr King and San Marcos) require parents to volunteer one morning a week to give toddlers exposure to mental and physical stimulus in a daycare-like setting for a fraction of the price. Parents also are required to attend a meeting once a day. 

 The childcare services are only available to a limited number of community members, who will bear the burden of a possible change in how the workshops are funded. If City College no longer endorses the directors, finances will have to be surmised through other means.

That being said, the college needs to prioritize its budget and can no longer be responsible for these parents or children. A majority of the parents involved in the workshops are not traditionally enrolled City College students.

Childcare skills are already taught through the City College Early Childhood Education department. We also offer other child care programs for our students. Naturally, the distinction between these courses and the workshops is the daycare offered at the latter.

The yearly total spent on the directors’ salaries is $307,128.  Within three years this would add up to nearly $1 million, which should be spent toward helping the students it actually enrolls.

The main affiliation between City College and the workshops is through this funding.  There has been a long-running understanding that City College would finance the workshops.

In July 2010, they developed the first written documentation of understanding between the college and the Parent-Child Workshops after decades of business, said former Superintendent-President Andrea Serban.

That means the workshops were funded for decades without a written contract.

Serban was forced to resign from her position in part due to her lack of sensitivity in handling this Parent-Child Workshop problem.

These illegitimate practices and longstanding traditions are not a sufficient explanation as to why we should have lost a perfectly capable Superintendent-President and these yearly state funds.

The workshop’s clientele should be responsible for helping fund the services and directors’ salaries rather than the taxpayers and students who are not directly benefitted.

The normal cost of equivalent daycare in California is approximately $654 a month.

At San Marcos, parents pay significantly less ($76 to $361 a month) and the time each parent spends volunteering and learning.

Sounds like a sweet deal.

If the parents are not willing to pay a higher fee for these services, then that fault lies with the directors whose salaries are at risk of being cut.

These Parent-Child Workshops should have had the foresight to revisit this issue after Serban reluctantly resigned.

Fundraisers in the form of auctions, benefit concerts or food drives would be great sources of donated income from the community they so graciously strengthen. Any donors would also receive substantial tax benefits by donating to non-profits. This should be sufficient incentive for anyone disadvantaged by the economy.

However, the final call isn’t entirely up to City College. If 2013-2014 state budget passes; they may be forced to halt the spending immediately.

Regarding the Parent-Child Workshops, Superintendent-President Lori Gaskin graciously stated that “the college’s plan of action right now is to wait and see.”

From the perspective of The Channels, this is more than generous.

The director’s salaries have had decades of their state-allotted funds; however, it’s time to focus this money back where it belongs. The students are waiting.

This editorial was written by opinion editor Scott Buffon and reflects the opinion of the Channels editorial board.