By Michael Isberto |Staff Writer|
There are 23,000 California State University (CSU) educators that have been fighting for a salary increase, and I believe they deserve it.
“Fight for Five,” is the slogan the California Faculty Association (CFA) is using for their cause to fight for a 5 percent general salary increase for all faculty.
The CFA is an association representing many of our CSU educators.
Their website states, “We are a union of 23,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches who teach in the California State University system. In classrooms on the 23 CSU campuses, CFA members work hard to teach our students the critical-thinking skills, the technical know-how and the cultural insights they need to be thoughtful, productive and artistic participants in our society.”
The CSU system is offering an increase of 2 percent to educators instead of the proposed 5 percent the CFA is asking for.
But the union is standing strong, and have not accepted the terms. Members of the union have already voted to strike and walk out of classrooms in April.
If your favorite professor walked out of the classroom, would you follow him or her out the door? How important do you regard your education?
It is not breaking news. I think everyone knows that educators are underpaid.
I have heard it throughout my academic career when I was thinking about becoming a teacher. People warned me not to do it because it does not pay well.
But if most people are aware of this, why haven’t things changed?
The education system is important to everyone.
We are all looking to better ourselves and get a respectable job after we finish school. But that’s the thing; we all need to go through school, learning from professors who feel unappreciated, and this has to change.
I think it has to start at the top. It seems as though administrators are living the good life while the rest of the faculty are struggling.
The LA Times reported, “More than half of CSU faculty make less than $38,000 in gross earnings.”
The Chancellor of CSU and the presidents are all making an average of $300,388.29 a year plus benefits since 2014, according to Transparent California.
So, while some our favorite professors are taking second jobs, and living off food stamps, there’s a chance we may see CSU administrators in fancy new sports cars.
I’m not saying they need to be paid the same, but I believe the income gap between administrators and faculty should be narrowed from what it currently is.
People talk about the disappearance of the middle class, that soon the world will only see very rich people and very poor people.
It’s a scary thought to think that it’s happening in our education system as well.
They need to give the professors what they deserve. If this matter is not settled and my professor walks out of the classroom in April—so will I.
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