It is known fact that the Texas State Legislature is dealing out notable spending cuts to compensate for our more than $24 billion deficit. While many areas of spending have been affected, one of the most significant areas that will see massive funding cuts is education. Higher education, alone, is facing more than an expected $9 billion in cut in funding for Texas Universities and Colleges. Unfortunately, many schools are resorting to tuition hikes to make up for the damages. The University of Houston is increasing student tuition by 3.95% while Texas Tech has decided to raise tuition 5.9% at their Lubbock campus. Even higher, San Angelo State University has agreed upon an astonishing 9.9% jump in tuition. With the absence of some of their much needed state funding, many of Texas’ higher education institutions have no choice but to push this financial burden onto their students… or do they?
While reading through the Texas Tribune earlier this week, I came across some rather interesting information regarding the salaries of Government employees in the state of Texas. In particular, the salaries of many University and College professions caught my eye. Most notable of these was Mack Brown, the well-known head coach for the famous University of Texas football team. While universities and colleges alike are struggling to keep their tuition rates flat, Brown rakes in an annual $5.1 million or more in earnings. (Richard Barnes, another head coach at the University of Texas Athletic Department, earns $2.2 million.)
To compare, the median salary for a UT professor is in the area of $112,000 and the maximum professor salary for any UT professor is currently at one million. Appalling. As our college students bear the cross for the financial cuts plaguing their schools, coaches like Mack Brown are being paid ridiculous sums of money for a profession that by all means, is not education related. I am well aware of the financial gains brought to the State of Texas from the UT football team. Additionally, I understand that in Texas, football isn’t a game; it is a way of life. However, what I cannot comprehend is the fact that while Brown is sitting on an annual paycheck in excess of $5mil, the President of UT MD Anderson Cancer Center is making about one-fifth of that sum. Indeed, Texas is known to have fanatics, but is football really more important that cancer? This of course is a far-fetched statement; however, the comparison works well to illustrate how Texas doesn’t exactly have its priorities straight when it comes to the issue of funding public education. I believe Brown should be content with taking a measly million and let UT use the rest to allow those who are struggling the opportunity to attend college.
To compare, the median salary for a UT professor is in the area of $112,000 and the maximum professor salary for any UT professor is currently at one million. Appalling. As our college students bear the cross for the financial cuts plaguing their schools, coaches like Mack Brown are being paid ridiculous sums of money for a profession that by all means, is not education related. I am well aware of the financial gains brought to the State of Texas from the UT football team. Additionally, I understand that in Texas, football isn’t a game; it is a way of life. However, what I cannot comprehend is the fact that while Brown is sitting on an annual paycheck in excess of $5mil, the President of UT MD Anderson Cancer Center is making about one-fifth of that sum. Indeed, Texas is known to have fanatics, but is football really more important that cancer? This of course is a far-fetched statement; however, the comparison works well to illustrate how Texas doesn’t exactly have its priorities straight when it comes to the issue of funding public education. I believe Brown should be content with taking a measly million and let UT use the rest to allow those who are struggling the opportunity to attend college. 
In the blog Let Freedom Ring the author takes on the problems facing higher education in Texas, budget cuts. She talks about how most colleges are having to resort to tuition hikes amongst other cuts in programs. She goes on to point out the hypocrisy of these tuition hikes due to the overinflated salaries of athletic coaches and some professors at these schools. I really enjoyed how she points out the salary ranges for professors and Mac Brown specifically. The professors salaries do not bother me as much as Mac Browns or Richard Barnes. I believe that teachers are worth a lot of the money we pay them, but quite frankly I do not understand why we value athletics more than education at these institutions. It is good that she points out her understanding of the reasons given for the bloated salaries, but still points out the hypocrisy of it. She uses the president of UT MD as an example of how much more athletics make than actual educational programs. I would also like to point out that I believe UT's falling in the ranks is karmic retribution for Brown taking such a huge paycheck when the rest of the school is suffering.
ReplyDeleteIn Annie Burke's blog Let Freedom Ring, she writes an editorial titled "Texas, it is time to get your priorities straight!" where she addresses Texas' budget deficit and specifically focuses on one are of concern, education.
ReplyDeleteThis year, Texas' Legislature is having to make massive cuts on the budget to meet the $24 billion deficit; spending on education is going to take one of the larger blows. More specifically, Burke concentrates on higher education, which will face a $9 billion cut alone. In order to deal with the cuts, many schools, like Texas Tech University in Lubbock and the University of Houston, are having to raise their tuition this fall. In particular, San Angelo State University is raising their tuition by 9.9%. Because of the cut in education spending in the budget, many student are feeling the consequences, but they should not have to.
Schools and Universities could deal with the budget cut by looking elsewhere in their budget. Taking a look at the salaries of University and College professionals, there is a tremendous amount of money that could be redistributed elsewhere. Burke specifically focuses on the University of Texas' head football coach, Mack Brown; Brown makes $5.1 million a year. The median salary for a professor at the UT is $112,000 a year with the highest professor's salary reaches almost a million. Cuts can be made on college professionals salaries in order to benefit the students coming to these colleges and universities.
To further illustrate the absurdity of some salaries, Burke compares Brown's salary to that of the president of UT MD Anderson Cancer Center, who is only making about one-fifth of Brown's salary. Pretty much what this is saying is that football is more important than cancer research. To me, and apparently to Burke, this is completely absurd. If the Legislature is going to be making cuts to education funding, then it is up to the university to make cuts of their own in order to benefit their students.