Mesa Legend - ARCHIVES - Vol. 40, Issue 7


Volume 40, Issue 7. Today is .

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Volume 40, Issue 7.
December 3, 2002

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Bouncing checks & balances
Kurt Froehlich, Editor-in-Chief
Kurt R. Froehlich
Editor-in-Chief

The institution of education in the United States has, within the last couple of decades, had more downs than ups.

I encourage those who are interested to go and check out the myriad statistical diagrams, bar charts and research found on the web sites for the U.S. Department of Education or the National Center for Education Statistics.

“. . . it’s as though the Governing Board
does not realize that their jobs depend on those
who work beneath them.”

One will see that there is something lacking when, as a national average, we are spending approximately $19,000 per student to be educated and the rate of science proficiency in secondary level education is dropping, with mathematical proficiency barely climbing.

That is quite a sum of money to be spending with such a mediocre turnout.

But why is it in such a state?

Of course, I realize that there is no single answer for this question.

Mediocrity happens.

It may come from a complex amalgamation of many different factors including a lack of familial support, negative peer pressure, the influence of technology, substandard and/or unqualified teachers.

While we may not know exactly how to improve education based on the complexity involved with such factors, there are certain directions that we should know, through common sense, will only lead to even shoddier educational statistics.

One of these directions is the lowering of teachers’ salaries.

One might wonder, “Why would we do that? Teachers are already being paid meager wages.”

Well, they should be asking the Governing Board for the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD) that question.

Recently, the MCCCD’s Governing Board released a memo stating that due to the rising cost of health care, employees will be paying more for their benefits package.

Also, the faculty members will be suffering a pay freeze.

Oh yeah, and the state retirement packages may also cost more.
Altogether, the decrease of income for district employees could be as great as 8.7 percent, in some cases.

Yes, the MCCCD Governing Board certainly loves their teachers.

And all of this is riding on the coat tails of a recent 1 percent pay increase for the district’s higher-ups, and a big fat juicy 6 percent raise for the district’s chancellor.

I imagine that the district might believe that everybody needs to sacrifice a little during these hard times.

I can also imagine the same people licking their lips lasciviously as they catch the faint aroma of American currency.

Maybe I’m a bit too hard on them.

But I get a little suspicious of where their priorities lie when I look through the Governing Board’s meeting notes or their agendas and I see that they have proposals for $111,116 in monument signage or $246,731 in remodeling projects.

What’s wrong with postponing some of these minor projects in order to assist the employees.

Heck, it’s as though the Governing Board does not realize that their jobs depend on those who work beneath them.

Not that everybody is going to up and quit, but any decrease in income doesn’t really benefit a person’s morale.

The teaching staff at MCC is an outstanding one, and they deserve to have a little more thought put into the decisions that affect their lives outside of the world of academia.