Faculty has borne the brunt of budget woes

The one-day job action by CSU faculty and staff set for Nov. 17 is not about the few dollars we stand to gain from a modest 3 percent pay raise over several years. The main issue is equity and fairness. Faculty and staff have borne the brunt of CSU budget woes via furloughs, tightened resources and increased workloads caused by reduced or deferred hiring.

Our students have suffered radically increased tuition and reduced course offerings. I see the effects every day as students struggle to balance school and work. Often, the result is exhaustion and poor performance. Trying to help struggling students further increases demands on faculty and staff already stretched to the breaking point.

During all this, CSU executives have enjoyed yearly pay increases to their already generous salaries and perks such as "housing allowances." There appears to be enough money to fatten executive pay and maintain a bloated top-level bureaucracy, but not to fulfill obligations to faculty, staff and students. Our pay raise was negotiated in good faith. Independent fact-finders have supported our raises -- twice. Chancellor Charles Reed needs to spend less time fighting workers over a few dollars and more time improving quality [and access]* to higher education.

Ted M. Coopman

Lecturer Department of Communication Studies

San Jose State University

* omitted in published letter