When did Dr. Singh know about the changes to our high-demand funds?
At the Board of Trustees meeting on November 18, 2025, Chemistry faculty and VP for Dispute Resolution Mary Whitfield addressed the Board, asking important questions about when Dr. Singh knew about the changes to the high-demand funds that sparked the re-negotiation of our high-demand salary increases that started in August, just two months after the original negotiation finished.
In previous academic years, the funds that Edmonds College received from the state to pay our high-demand salary increases were under proviso, which means that colleges who received the funding must use the funds to pay the salary increases to faculty and report to the state on how those funds were distributed. This proviso was removed in June 2025, which means that, by law, the high-demand funds were now placed in the general fund of the college. In other words, the college could legally use that money for any purpose they liked and did not have to report how it was used to anyone. As we soon found out, they wanted to keep that money for themselves and thereby violate the legislative intent of the Workforce Education Investment Act of 2019.
In the September 2025 BOT meeting, Dr. Singh made the following statement about the removal of high-demand proviso:
““This year in June the proviso was removed from funding….. It caught all of us off guard, and we were trying to figure out what happened.”
However, Dr. Singh’s statement at that time might not be correct. Mary Whitfield stated the following in her public comment:
- A recording of an SBCTC board meeting in June 2025 shows that the removal of the proviso on the high-demand funds was requested by college presidents.
- The Board of Presidents voted to request the removal of the proviso and the college presidents lobbied for the proviso to be removed during the state legislative session that began in January 2025.
Mary Whitfield ended her statement asking for more transparency from the administration of Edmonds College, especially when contract negotiations start in January 2026.
It is currently unclear when Dr. Singh knew that this proviso was going to be removed, but we are left to wonder why Dr. Singh, a member of the Council of Presidents, had not heard of this lobbying initiative from January 2025 that would directly affect the paychecks of the faculty of his college.
Scott Haddock shares student support for faculty with the Board of Trustees
Our union president, Scott Haddock, also spoke to the Board of Trustees during the November 18 session. You can find the full text of his statement here. During those remarks, he shared many statements from students who wrote postcards to Dr. Singh in support of faculty during weekly table events that union members have been organizing since September. Examples of these statements can be found below.
“Moving two hundred thirty-three thousand from teachers violates the purpose of the funding and creates a clear mismatch.”
“A quality education requires quality instructors. To get and retain high-quality staff, we need to pay them what they deserve.”
“Our faculty are not just educators; they are the basis of the quality of instruction, mentorship, student success, and even the college’s reputation. Their role is pivotal, and any decision that affects their morale and trust has a direct impact on the college's standing.”
Scott also shared that these and other statements from students showed the impact that the faculty of Edmonds College have had on our students and illustrated the support that our students have for us.
High-Demand Bargaining Update
The union’s High Demand Bargaining Team has been hard at work negotiating our non-Nursing high-demand salary enhancements. The latest report from the faculty bargaining team is that the administration’s current proposal gives all of the high-demand funds that Edmonds College received from the state to the faculty eligible for high-demand salary increases. This is a huge change from the administration’s initial signals that they wanted to keep all of the high-demand funds and the administration’s previous proposal in which they wanted to keep one-third of the funds, which amounted to $230,000.
The faculty bargaining team is concerned about some of the language contained in the new MOU, so bargaining has not ended yet. That said, it is clear to us that the administration would not have changed their mind about giving the faculty their full salary on their own. These changes are the result of union members sharing information with faculty and students, students writing postcards to the administration supporting faculty, and faculty speaking to the Board of Trustees about this issue. Once again, it is clear that when we fight, we win!
When We Fight, We Win!
Here’s what you can do to help.
- Send a message to Dr. Singh (amit.singh@edmonds.edu) or VPI Kim Chapman (kim.chapman@edmonds.edu) to express your support for our faculty in the upcoming contract negotations.
- Visit the Union Table on Mondays and Tuesdays from 9 - 11 am in the lobby of Mountlake Terrace Hall or Hazel Miller Hall, where you can…
- Get a button to show your support for faculty!
- Write a postcard to the administration to ask them to pay the full salary of our faculty!
- Get the latest updates on contract negotiations!
If you want to join the fight, contact our VP for Action and Advocacy, Chuck Mueller, at cmmuelle@gmail.com.