A photography teacher earns $208,169 a year. A computer instructor takes home $222,791 - more than his colleagues and even the college president. And a maintenance worker's annual paycheck is $93,706.

These are a sampling of wages at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills and De Anza College in Cupertino, which make up the Foothill-De Anza Community College District.

Not everyone at the two-year public colleges earns such lucrative pay. But the 500 or so full-time faculty members teaching there are among the highest-paid community college instructors in the state, with 83 percent earning more than $80,000 in base pay alone. At City College of San Francisco, 65 percent of instructors earn as much in base pay.

Meanwhile, Foothill-De Anza is asking voters on Nov. 2 to approve Measure E, a $69 parcel tax to raise nearly $7 million a year for the colleges. The tax would pay for additional math, science and English classes, as well as prep courses for high-demand fields like health and technology.

Chancellor Linda Thor says the money is needed in a district that has lost $20 million in state funding over two years. The district has cut 178 jobs since 2008, canceled 500 classes and wiped out cost-of-living increases for all district employees, Thor said. This year, the district shifted $5.3 million in medical costs to employees.

Wages questioned

But some voters wonder if the district is justified in holding out the hat while paying such high wages.

"It sounds like maybe they need to do a better job of controlling their payroll before going out and asking for a new tax," said Douglas McNea, president of the Silicon Valley Taxpayers Association and author of the No on E ballot argument.

At the same time, experts in college compensation - including a traditional critic of excess spending - say Foothill-De Anza's high wages may actually represent a cost savings.

The number of employees earning at least $150,000 rose by 61 percent - from 38 to 61 -between 2007 and 2009, records show. Those earning at least $100,000 rose by 18 percent, from 353 to 415.

The fat salaries in an era of austerity recently caught the attention of the Daily Post, a Palo Alto paper, which broke the story this month and named each employee earning above $100,000.

But Patrick Callan, president of the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and a frequent critic of high executive compensation, said the hefty pay doesn't necessarily mean the colleges are squandering taxpayer funds.

"Foothill-De Anza has a pretty aggressive recruiting effort, where they go after the very best people they can," Callan said. "Would it be better for them to go out and hire less-qualified people?"

Thor said top instructors are why the district ranks near the top in UC transfers and earned a perfect pass rate on licensing exams in 10 fields, from paramedic to massage therapy.

Also significant is the extra pay employees earn for working longer hours and teaching more students.

"If they weren't doing that, we'd be hiring part-time people" at higher costs, Thor said.

Long hours

The photography teacher is a case in point.

With a master's degree in fine arts, Ronald Herman's base salary at Foothill College was $98,116 last year - 5 percent higher than the district average of $93,117 for full-time faculty.

His regular salary covered a typical 12 hours of instruction each week - three classes last fall, two in the winter and three in the spring - as well as helping students in the photo lab, arranging student shows and serving, as required, on a committee.

But Herman served on four committees. He also taught seven extra classes during the year. Paid at a lower, part-time rate, this "overload" boosted his pay by $72,150.

He earned another $35,709 for four summer classes and for leading a trip to Peru, bringing his total above $208,000.

"He's one of our best instructors," said Mark Anderson, Foothill's dean of fine arts and communication. "I get here at 7:30, and he's usually here before I am. I see him here on Sundays. I've seen him here on Christmas!"

Two computer instructors also topped $200,000.

One was William "Mike" Murphy at De Anza, whose base salary was $96,034. Extra classes more than doubled his dollars to nearly $223,000 - higher than the De Anza president's $218,000.

A rare breed

Certified as a Cisco Networking instructor, Murphy is a rare breed in community college, district spokeswoman Becky Bartindale said.

By contrast, the highest paid instructor at City College of San Francisco earns $80,000 less than Murphy.

The practice of piling on courses, not unique to Foothill-De Anza, may actually save money, said Vice Chancellor Patrick Perry of the state community college system.

"You could make the case that there's an efficiency to doing that," Perry said. "You could have one faculty member teaching all 30 units for $220,000, or you could hire two faculty and pay them $250,000."

Yet, anti-tax voters like McNea question whether the district has been as efficient as it could be before going to voters.

For example, the district rejected employee furloughs, which saved millions of dollars last year at the University of California and California State University.

"At a time when we are asking all employees to take on more and more work, the last thing we wanted to do was send a message to them that they were not valued," Thor said.

Consequently, some employees at Foothill-De Anza have steadily boosted their pay.

One is Miguel Baez-Acevedo, an apprentice maintenance worker at De Anza College who earned $93,706 last year, up from $87,953 in 2008, and $82,384 in 2007. Nearly $18,000 of last year's pay came from overtime, paid at 1 1/2 times the regular rate.

"I'm quite surprised that staff makes considerably more than I ever did," said Barbara Rieder, retired director of public health nursing for Santa Clara County, who signed the pro-Measure E ballot argument.

"It seems to be the way of the times," she said. "I still support Measure E. Absolutely."