Stockton institutions — city government, San Joaquin Delta College, Stockton Unified — all have failed the public for the same reason: they were hijacked by special interests.
The current story about Delta College is a classic of this form. Delta owes an estimated $122 million to cover lifetime retiree health benefits for its teachers – an amount, this story points out, greater than the college’s entire annual budget.
Set aside the fact that projections calling for these costs to level off in the future sound iffy, and that the costs, if anything, may get steeper. Simply focus on how an employee group made it all about themselves, not the students.
That’s how Stockton rolls — downhill. And how it will continue to languish until its leaders get a spine and lead for the greater public good.
