CTA and its California Faculty Association (CFA) affiliate are mobilizing members to press Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to sign a CTA-supported measure that would help hold down skyrocketing tuition and fees at the California State University by outlawing outlandish pay raises for senior CSU administrators.
AB 1413, by Assembly Member Anthony Portantino (D-Pasadena), would create more accountability and transparency for California State University’s Board of Trustees. Specifically, the bill would set limits on out-of-control administrative pay and implement sensible procedures for determining pay for these executives.
Lawmakers overwhelmingly approved AB 1413 after widely publicized Trustee actions that boosted the pay of senior CSU executives by an average of 33% over the past two years. At the same time that the Trustees boosted these salaries, they also approved doubling student fees, making it harder and harder for economically disadvantaged students to attend.
Right now, the bill is on the governor’s desk, and he has until October 14 to sign or veto it – but he needs to hear from AB 1413’s supporters right now! You can use a special website to communicate quickly: www.signab1413.com!
Background
CFA sponsored the measure, AB 1413, and CTA is backing it to keep down the costs of attending higher education for all California students and to stop CSU Trustees from approving behind closed doors more outrageous pay boosts of the CSU’s top administrators.
On top of the 33% average raises given to CSU’s top 28 administrators, the Board of Trustees is seeking to boost some executives’ pay by another 40%. These pay raises are exempt from recently approved state regulations, and a new law is required to stop this outrageous behavior. These outrageous raises are hurting students by forcing them to pay higher tuition. Adding insult to injury, these administrative windfall pay raises reduce money available for other purposes, including providing faculty with a fair raise. The pay raises the Trustees approved for their 28 top administrators are more than nine times larger than the 4% given to faculty.
Sample Paragraphs Supporting AB 1413
- As a California taxpayer and CSU supporter, I am writing to urge you to sign AB 1413. AB 1413 will:
- Improve the communication and coordination among the CSU, Legislature, and your office by allowing designees to attend meetings to give input and ask questions on behalf of an absent ex officio member -- but designees won’t be able to vote or attend closed meetings.
- Ensure more responsible and transparent decision-making to curtail the wasteful expenditure of millions of taxpayer dollars that have been revealed by numerous media investigations.
- Enact guidelines to ensure scarce state resources are not wasted on lavish executive salaries and perks. While the CSU claims it has adopted policies to address this problem, the fact is the CSU's policies apply only to executives hired after November 15, 2006, and the policies do not apply to a majority of campus presidents and Chancellor's Office senior staff.
- Put an end to wrong business as usual at CSU.
CTA Members: Here’s How to Help
Please call and write the governor. Use the link below to go to a website set up to help secure the governor’s signature on the measure: www.signab1413.com.
For more information, contact CTA Legislative Advocate Toni Trigueiro or GR Communications Consultant Len Feldman at 916.325.1500.