I read with interest the article “Jindal Has Trained College
President Well” by Robert Mann in the Jan26, 2014 Times-Picayune. Mr. Mann, in my opinion correctly, compares
“system presidents and other education leaders” to obediently trained
dogs. After 6 straight years of
disastrous budget cuts to higher education, Louisiana colleges and universities
have sunk to a low level, with massive faculty layoffs, virtually no pay raises
(even with promotions), cuts in programs and professional development, reductions
in student services, technology and extremely low morale. Perhaps these leaders
fear for their jobs if they protest, since the price of crossing Louisiana
governors is legendary.
I wish to make three points: 1. Losing a $200,000+ job is
quite different than losing a $35,000 job.
2. There is power in numbers. I think that all these leaders should have
and should still TOGETHER openly and publicly protest this long term budgetary
debacle. (The current proposed
increases are small, symbolic and based on tuition increases, and may NOT
signal the end of the cuts.) These leaders
are prestigious, nationally ranked higher education administrators. Their
unified voice would send a strong message. Even if there was no immediate, tangible
result, the message would be recognized by the public. Moreover, if they speak
in a strong, unified manner, it is unlikely that all would lose their
jobs. 3. Louisiana needs to
constitutionally protect the higher education budget.
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