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The Issue
SWC superintendent has been misleading the public
Our Position
SWC deserves honesty and accountability from its leaders
Southwestern College Superintendent Dr. Raj K. Chopra has been very busy this year spinning his version of events in the San Diego County media and in conversations with community groups and individuals. Problem is, much of what Chopra is telling the media and citizenry has little or no basis in fact.
It is the mission of any ethical newspaper to hold its public officials accountable for their words and actions. For this reason, the Sun has fact checked many of Chopra's statements, documents and conversations to determine whether they are accurate or not.
Myth: No teaching jobs were lost this year (as stated by Chopra on Channel 10 News in August)
Reality: Nearly 300 adjunct instructors lost their positions during the 2008-09 academic year. Hundreds more lost classes. An estimated 350 or more will lose positions in the spring. The names of every adjunct will be stricken from the spring 2010 catalogue, on Chopra's order, in preparation for yet another round of teaching job cuts.
Myth: No classes were cut this year. (Channel 10 News)
Reality: One of Chopra's most preposterous statements. Nearly 1,000 class sections were cut in 2008-09 - 15 percent of the total catalogue -- including the near-elimination of summer school. Chopra has directed that between 22 and 27 percent of the classes in the spring 2010 schedule be cut, including core transfer classes like speech, math and English. SWC has lost nearly 40 percent of its classes in the past year.
Myth: Chopra played an "indispensable role" in the passage of Proposition R.
Reality: Chopra was nearly completely absent from SWC's stealth campaign, except to tell some community groups and SWC employees that he did not care if Proposition R passed or not.
Myth: SWC faculty members earn "six figures and work half days"(comment to community members) and think they are "self employed" (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Reality: SWC faculty salaries range from $48,058 to $103,795 based on years of service, levels of academic attainment and staff development units, according to college salary schedules. The average salary is far below $100,000. Professors are required by contract to work at least 35 hours per work. Most work many more, some as many as 70 hours per week for no extra pay. Chopra earns more than $200,000 per year in salary and has perks that drive his compensation close to $300,000.
Myth: Chopra "saved" the college from "over-expansion and financial ruin." (comment to community members)
Reality: Former President Norma Hernandez, former Vice President Ron Dyste and other administrators began the effort to make SWC run more efficiently. SWC has never been in worse financial shape than under Chopra, who is the first superintendent in nearly 40 years to lay off employees, make massive cuts to class offerings and severely cut basic services like cleaning.
Myth: The Southwestern College Sun student newspaper is stocked with students who never transfer. (Statement to community members and SWC students)
Reality: All 22 of the sophomores who served as editors during the 2008-09 academic year transferred to universities, most on scholarships. Recent Sun editorial board alumni have graduated from or are attending Yale, Berkeley, UCLA, USC, Stanford, Texas, Syracuse and various UC and CSU schools.
Myth: "We need to straighten out finances first, then we can work on curriculum and instruction." (statement to faculty)
Reality: Chopra, a lifelong K-12 administrator, has zero training or experience with college curriculum and instruction, and had never worked in California. He has very little teaching experience at all and has not worked in a classroom for 35 years. His only relevant administrative experience is in finance.
Myth: Adjunct professors are the equivalent of "substitutes" and are undesirable. (La Prensa de San Diego)
Reality: Substitute teachers are employed in K-12 districts to fill in for a short period of time until the regular classroom teacher can return. Adjuncts are highly-trained professionals in their fields and most have master's degrees or doctorates in their subject area. They are semester-long teachers-of-record with full responsibilities for their students. SWC's adjunct team has included medical doctors, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, lawyers, engineers, biologists, exhibited artists and other highly successful professionals.
Myth: Chopra had to get the "faculty under control." (San Diego Union-Tribune, community groups)
Reality: Faculty work under the direct supervision of cognizant deans. Most of SWC's faculty has never even met Chopra, and never received advice or direction from him regarding their fields of expertise. There is nothing for the superintendent to "control." Faculty members are doing their jobs teaching their classes and running their programs. Chopra's continuing campaign to scapegoat and denigrate the faculty is reprehensible and needs to stop now.
Myths: The budget crisis required layoffs (San Diego Union-Tribune).
Realty: Layoffs were a choice made by Chopra in lieu of more than 100 other options brought to him by faculty, staff, community members and even some governing board members. No other San Diego County community colleges chose to lay off employees. (One chancellor went so far to say layoffs were immoral.) SWC made a $2.1 million profit in 2008-09 even after putting another 1 percent of the budget into reserves.
Myth: Chopra has the support of the San Diego County media as witnessed by fawning editorials in the San Diego Union-Tribune and La Prensa de San Diego newspapers.
Reality: The national Society of Professional Journalists, Student Legal Press Center and several San Diego County news organizations have condemned Chopra for his bullying of student journalists, disrespect of the First Amendment and punishment of the newspaper's adviser for his refusal to censor his students. National press, legal and civil liberties organizations have also condemned Chopra and are closely monitoring the situation at SWC. Chopra's supporters at the Union-Tribune are editorial board member Don Severins and former editorial board member Beth Barber, who until recently worked in Chopra's office in the place of laid off Communications Director Nevada Smith. Shortly after each newspaper ran supportive Chopra editorials they were rewarded with large and expensive display advertisements paid for by Chopra's friends in the conservative Lincoln Club.
Myth: The October 14 governing board meeting could not, as requested, be moved to Mayan Hall to accommodate more people because the set for an upcoming theatrical production took up the entire stage. (KFMB Channel 8 News)
Reality: The set for upcoming production of "You Can't Take It With You," like most theatrical sets, takes up the back portion of the stage area and leaves the entire front portion for actors to perform. The Mayan Hall stage had ample room to put up the tables and microphones required for a board meeting. What's more, the meeting could have easily been moved to the gymnasium or Student Center East. The truth is Chopra did not even ask about the possibility of moving the meeting, which attracted about 300 people. Room 214, where the board holds its meetings, holds only 85 people and is consistently unable to seat all the people from the SWC community who wish to attend. By excluding members of the public, Chopra and the board are in willful violation of the Ralph M. Brown Public Meetings Act.
It has been said that a lie told loud enough and often enough becomes the truth in the minds of the people. The Sun wants to make it clear that as long as we are here we will ensure that no lie becomes the truth.
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