940-397-4125
An Urgent Message to Governor George W. Bush:
Higher Education Needs Your Attention as Well!
Meeting you in person at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas, on July 15, 1998, was a genuine honor and a wonderful experience. Governor, I came away from that meeting convinced that you are very sincere in your concern of the best education of Texas school children. However, all of your speeches and the media reports make it seem that your focus is restricted to Texas students in Kindergarten through Grade 12. On behalf of the 30,000 college professors teaching on the 34 campuses of the senior public colleges and universities in Texas, I am asking you to expand your focus to include the one million students enrolled in higher education as well.
Your efforts to improve and increase the literacy level of all Texas school children is certainly praiseworthy, as we all know that reading is the very foundation of every child's education. Are you aware, however, that at the other end of the educational spectrum Texas is on the verge of a major shortage of qualified reading teachers? Texas colleges and universities are having an incredibly hard time hiring faculty members to teach reading certification courses on the college level. In several Texas education colleges, there exist two-and three-year vacancies now open for qualified reading professors despite very active and ongoing recruiting searches both in and out of state. You can easily see the drastic prospect of a state-wide reading teacher shortage in grades K-through-6 occurring very soon. A very competitive bidding for the services of the few graduates of our Texas higher education reading programs is sure to follow.
Judging from what I have read and heard about you, it seems you may be the most education-oriented governor in the history of Texas. Your stated education goals seem genuine, and I feel your immediate response to the news I present to you may very well be: "How did this happen, and what can be done to solve the problem?"
Well, the reasons for this happening are not complicated or difficult to explain. In the last six years, the State of Texas has dropped to tenth place in faculty salaries among the ten most populous states; the optional retirement benefit paid by the state has been reduced from 8.5% to 6% by legislators who do not appear to recognize the difference between a defined benefit and defined contribution plan; and academic freedom in Texas college classrooms has been severely challenged and decreased. In short, Texas has become less and less competitive in attracting and retaining high quality professors.
Solving this problem is much less complicated in that our State legislators could do the following three things: they could pass Senator Tom Haywood's proposed legislation to bring Texas faculty salaries up to the average level of the 10 most populous states over the next six years; they could restore the optional retirement benefit paid by Texas to the original 8.5% (Oklahoma pays 15%); and they could indicate their intent to allow Texas professors the academic freedom to work within the guidelines established by SB 149 on Performance of Tenured Faculty passed by the 75th Legislature.
Governor Bush, none of the above can be accomplished without your whole-hearted support. In a recent visit to the State Budget Office we learned that you may be considering asking the legislature to dedicate approximately $180 million to reading programs in the education departments of Texas universities. While this is certainly a step in the right direction, it does not solve the larger crisis of Texas higher education in terms of diminishing faculty salaries, noncompetitive retirement benefits, and a continuing erosion of academic freedom. These are important issues that deserve your attention.
We have also learned from the Comptroller's Office that Texas citizens can look forward to a budget surplus ranging from $2.5 to $5 billion over the next two years. Working with data supplied to us by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board and the American Association of University Professors, we have produced a fiscal note of $87,329,042 as the cost of funding Texas faculty salary increases to the average level of the ten most populous states as proposed by Senator Tom Haywood. This appears to us as a very "doable" project in light of the projected budget surplus.
Governor Bush, we know how strongly you feel about education as the foundation of success for young people. That is part of what makes you a truly great governor. In your speech on July 15, 1998, you stated that education and small business were integral parts of the engine that drives the Texas economy. We agree with you, and we share your concern. Since December 1948 the Texas Association of College Teachers has been dedicated to the best system of higher education in the nation. We continue to pledge ourselves to the highest standards of teaching, scholarship, and research. The citizens of Texas deserve the very best and nothing less. We are asking you now to include higher education in your overall plan for the future of Texas students. With much respect, thank you.
Dr. Hoffman is an associate professor of English at Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls, Texas.
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