Thousands of CSU Faculty Strike… During National School Choice Week

This week is National School Choice Week. As states across the country are enacting universal school choice programs to allow all children to access education options, more than 30,000 California State University faculty have walked off the job in a strike for better pay – 12% better pay now.

Oh, the irony.

“The California Faculty Association began a five day strike at all 23 California State University  campuses on Monday, with around 30,000 professors, librarians, and other employees walking off the job on the first day of the Spring Semester,” the Globe reported Monday.

The CSU strike follows many K-12 district strikes including Los Angeles and Oakland, as well as the large University of California student worker faculty strike in November-December 2022. The UC strike was notable because of the chaos it caused on campuses just before winter break, and also because of the 55% over two and a half years pay raises that teaching assistants and researchers won through the United Auto Workers union.

🚨STRIKE DAY! Thousands on historic STATE-WIDE STRIKE!
📢TELL @thecsu management to invest in their FACULTY & STUDENTS!
⏰Time for manageable workloads, fair pay, more mental health counselors, better parental leave, & safe campuses. #RaisetheFloor #SolidaritySeason pic.twitter.com/nW4ikO83nW

— California Faculty Association (@CFA_United) January 22, 2024

Lance Izumi, Senior Director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute, notes that this week is National School Choice Week, “so it is a perfect time for Californians to tell lawmakers that too many students are being failed by the state’s public education system; that Sacramento needs to focus on student outcomes and not just funding inputs; and that California families deserve the chance to take advantage of the education options available to families in other states.”

If only someone in California state government would listen.

As the Globe reported last week, Izumi addressed the wide funding disparity between regular public schools and charter schools.

“In Oakland, regular pubic schools receive more than $21,000 per student, while charter schools receive less than $14,000 per student, a more than $7,000 difference.

Yet, despite receiving less funding, charter schools in the Oakland area do more for under-represented minority students such as African Americans.”

As we addressed last week, “Total education spending in California is $127 billion, $23,500 per pupil, a 35% increase since 2019.”

Today’s CSU faculty strike is impacting approximately 500,000 students – even as the faculty union has attempted to spin it, claiming that the strike isn’t hurting the students.

With the Governor’s budget deficit resulting in the entire California State Budget being reduced because of the massive deficit ($38 billion-$68 billion), CSU, facing budget crunches, offered a 5 percent pay raise this year, and 15% over three years, saying 12% in one year not being possible.

Meanwhile, the students who are technically the clients, suffer. And ironically, the students in the underfunded charter schools, benefit greatly, proving the cost per child in the K-16 public education system, is over bloated and full of unnecessary pork.

The CSU faculty may have a legitimate beef, although demanding more money for themselves isn’t the answer. Since they are all likely Bolshevicks, they ought to demand a redistribution of wealth from the top of the CSU system.

According to Justin Demon Matthews, Ph.D. the California State University chancellor, vice chancellors, and other top leaders are making bank, courtesy of the tax payers. Who authorized these salaries and benefits?

Mildred Garcia, CSU State Chancellor is making $875,000.

BUT WAIT – THERE’S MORE!

Cal State University workers deserve livable wages.@CFA_United is fighting for those wages.
Here are the folks rejecting livable wages.
—> Please share 💡

Let's start at the top… a salary thread 🧵
Mildred Garcia, Cal State Chancellor
Annual Salary: $875,000 (2024) pic.twitter.com/pFbYbvgDga

— Justin Demon Matthews, Ph.D. 🏳️‍🌈 (@justinlmatthews) January 19, 2024

Christina Checel, Associate Vice Chancellor Labor and Employee Relations Annual Salary: $253,375 (2022).

Andrew Jones, Executive Vice Chancellor and General Counsel Annual Salary: $363,369.93 (2022).

Steve Relyea, Executive Vice Chancellor​ & Chief Financial Officer​ Annual Salary: $423,444.50 (2022).

Leora Freedman, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources Annual Salary: $298,885.64.

Vlad Marinescu, Vice C​hancellor and Chief Audit Officer Annual Salary: $264,612.27 (2022).

Nathan Evans, Deputy Vice Chancellor Academic and Student Affairs & Chief Academic Officer Annual Salary: $248,813.33 (2022).

Michelle Kiss, Associate Vice Chancellor and Chief of Staff Annual Salary: $211,064.00 (2022).

Jessica Darin Associate Vice Chancellor, Strategic Executive Initiatives Annual Salary: $293,131.68 (2022).

There are more I have not included – I’m just tired of the administrative bloat.

Justin Demon Matthews, Ph.D. also posted this:

“Don’t forget the 23 campus presidents. They too are quite comfortable.”

Don't forget the 23 campus presidents.
They too are quite comfortable. pic.twitter.com/uohtONLYbZ

— Justin Demon Matthews, Ph.D. 🏳️‍🌈 (@justinlmatthews) January 19, 2024

This is where and how California taxpayers are being ripped off. And California school children and students are the victims of this gross crime. The adults are remunerating themselves while the students fail:

In November, Izumi addressed California’s shocking student test scores – which should be off the charts in excellence, based on the state spending:

“The proportion of students who met or exceeded grade-level standards on the state math test rose slightly from 33.4%in 2021-22 to 34.6% in 2022-23 — a marginal increase.

So, 2/3rds of the students can’t do math.

The real story is that two-thirds of California students taking the test failed to achieve at grade level.

The proportion of students achieving at grade level in English language arts fell from 47.1% in 2021-22 to 46.7% in 2022-23.” (emphasis the Globe). 

So half of the students can’t read or speak English correctly.

Salaries and benefits have gone up for the adults – teachers, professors and administrative staff – as the students have been dumbed down, failing in math and English language arts.

Every voter, taxpayer and parent should be livid.