TFA Electronic Briefing Spring 2007
Welcome to the spring 2007 edition of the Texas Faculty Association's electronic briefing. Our objective is to provide our members with timely and important information regarding Texas higher education.
In this briefing:
- TFA finds House funding level for higher education disappointing
- TFA supports two textbook bills; opposes two others
- TFA opposes bill linking exit exam testing to incentive funding
- Faculty salaries in Texas public universities remain near the national average; community colleges salaries continue to lag behind
- Contact your local TFA chapter or the state office early when you have an employment related problem
TFA finds House funding level for higher education disappointing
TFA is generally disappointed by the budget that the House of Representatives has approved for the 2008-2009 biennium for higher education. General Revenue Funds (GRF) for general academic institutions (universities) would increase by a scant 3.5 percent and for public community colleges by a meager 3.4 percent. Funding for health-related institutions would do better with a GRF increase of 7.8 percent. One bright spot is that the TRS state contribution rate would increase from 6.0 percent to 6.7 percent and the ORP base rate would increase from 6.0 percent to 6.4 percent. Also, in order to bring the state’s premium contribution rate for higher education employees closer to that of state employees, GRF would increase by $26 million. Why is the budget for higher education disappointing at this point in the appropriations process? The explanation lies in the fact that the legislature remains under the control of fiscal conservatives who are more interested in making further tax cuts than they are in providing Texans with a truly first class system of higher education. All is not lost, though. The Texas Senate traditionally has voted to fund higher education more generously than the House. The moment of truth will come in May when a House-Senate conference committee on the Appropriations bill will meet to iron out differences in the funding levels between the two chambers. At that point, legislative leaders may throw more money higher education’s way. It is imperative before the conference committee meets that legislators hear en masse from higher education faculty and staff about higher education’s needs.
TFA supports two textbook bills; opposes two others
TFA has supported two bills regarding textbooks filed in the 80th Legislature and has opposed two others. The Association testified before the House Higher Education Committee in favor of HB 1434 by Rep. Patrick Rose (D, Dripping Springs) exempting textbooks purchased by college students from the sales tax and in favor of HB 2009 also by Rose providing that instructional materials will be made readily available to college students in bookstores other than the "official" campus bookstore. The Association opposed HB 960 by Abel Herrero (D, Corpus Christi) and HB 956 by Scott Hochberg (D, Houston). The bills place certain restrictions on how often and under what circumstances faculty members may change textbooks in core curriculum courses they are teaching; additionally, HB 956 sets up a system requiring faculty members to take cost into consideration in selecting textbooks and empowers the state Building and Procurement Commission to negotiate discounts with textbook publishers. All four bills remain pending in the House Higher Education Committee.
TFA opposes bill linking exit exam testing to incentive funding
The Association vigorously opposes SB 1029 by Sen. Florence Shapiro (R, Plano) linking incentive funding to exit exam testing in public institutions of higher education. The bill includes the key provisions contained in Governor Rick Perry’s plan for reforming higher education unveiled last February. In brief, if students were to attain above a certain score on a standardized exit exam, the school would receive money. TFA’s major objection to SB 1029 is that it would damage higher education by fostering the same "teach to the test" mentality that is now widely viewed as a failure in Texas K-12 education. Although it does not appear that SB 1029 will go very far in the 80th Legislature, the powerful forces calling for greater "accountability" in higher education (including Governor Perry; Margaret Spellings, Secretary of the Department of Education; and Charles Miller, the former UT Board of Regents chair and currently chair of Spellings’ Commission on the Future of Higher Education) practically guarantees that the issue of requiring Texas public institutions of higher education to use standardized exit exam tests will not go away. TFA believes that our public institutions of higher education should be encouraged to develop their own methods for assessing student learning; however, we did not believe that a plan should be imposed on them by the state or federal government.
Faculty salaries in Texas public universities remain near the national average; community colleges salaries continue to lag behind
Based on the latest salary figures from the National Education Association, the average salary in 2005-2006 for full-time faculty on 9/10 month contracts in the United States was $67,909. In Texas four-year institutions, the average was $67,077. That’s $832 or 1.2 percent below the national average. In two-year institutions, the average salary 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. In terms of national rankings, the figures show little change compared to 2004-2005. TFA has recommended to the 80th Legislature that it appropriate funds to close the gap between the average faculty salary in Texas and the national average by 2009. For more information on faculty salaries, go to NEA’s higher education research center website.
Contact your local TFA chapter or the state office early when you have an employment related problem
Recently, TFA has been contacted by members experiencing employment related problems who have waited too long to seek our assistance. This can make it more difficult for TFA to assist them effectively. Why? For one thing, sometimes members make mistakes that could have been avoided had we been advising them. Then too, experienced TFA volunteer grievance representatives or state staff may be able to figure out a way to nip the problem in the bud before it gets worse. For example, if you think that you may have trouble getting tenure, don’t wait until you have been denied tenure by the provost or the president to contact TFA. We will be mailing copies of our pamphlet, "Hello TFA…I need help!" to members in the near future. When it arrives, please take a few minutes to read it over.
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