Letter to Dan Branch, Chairman of the Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance
August 9, 2007
The Honorable Dan Branch, Chair
Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance
Texas House of Representatives
P.O. Box 2910
Austin, Texas 78768-2910
Dear Chairman Branch:
The Texas Faculty Association was pleased to learn that the Select Committee on Higher and Public Education Finance will hold a hearing September 6 on community college funding, including state contributions to group health insurance coverage.
Please find enclosed a letter that TFA sent to the governor expressing our dismay regarding his decision to veto $154 million in fiscal year 2009 funding for group insurance contributions for public community and junior colleges. As you know, our two-year institutions of higher education have been forced to compensate for this loss in funding by raising tuition and fees or by cutting services.
TFA is particularly concerned by the impact the $154 million veto will have on faculty salaries. Based on the latest salary figures from the National Education Association, the average salary in 2005-2006 for full-time faculty in two-year institutions on 9/10 month contracts in the United States was $55,380. In Texas two-year institutions, it was $49,253. That’s a huge gap of $6,127 or 11 percent. Texas community and junior college faculty members are reporting to TFA that scheduled salary increases are being pared back because of the governor’s veto. This means that the salary gap between Texas two-year institutions and the national average is likely to widen over the next two years. Consequently, our community and junior colleges will have a more difficult time recruiting their fair share of the best and brightest faculty members. What is more, many full-time faculty members will find it necessary to teach heavy overloads—sometimes as many as seven courses per semester—in order to make ends meet. Ultimately, teaching heavy overloads semester after semester is not good for them or their students.
Under your leadership, TFA believes that a sensible solution to this funding crisis will be found. Please do not hesitate to contact us if we may be of any service.
Sincerely,
Charles Zucker, Ph.D.
Executive Director
Letter in response from Senator Judith Zaffirini, August 23, 2007
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