To the Editor:
Receiving a statewide award for my long career as a college teacher has left me feeling both extremely proud and deeply sad. As we age, it seems appropriate to focus less on our own fortunes and more on what we are leaving to the next generation. Tragically, the news is not good for the next generation of academicians or college students.
First, I am profoundly grateful for what the American education system provided for me. I got a sound education in a rural school and completed college in the 1960s and ‘70s when the state of Texas picked up 90% of my tuition and fees. Since my minimum wage job met basic expenses, I had to incur only a small student debt, half of which was forgiven after I had taught five years. My undergraduate experience provided a broad-based core curriculum, a world-expanding opportunity to explore the arts, sciences, and humanities with scholars who inspired in me a lifelong love of learning. In fact, I loved the college environment so much that I never wanted to leave it, so I just continued in graduate school and ultimately embarked on a career at North Central Texas College doing what I love. While I haven’t gotten rich, I’ve lived a rich life, exploring ideas with successive generations of aspiring scholars and brilliant colleagues.
But as I near the end of my own career, I see both my students and my young colleagues facing almost insurmountable obstacles. As education becomes more essential to success, those who have already succeeded are less willing to support those who will come after them. For example, Texas has slashed its support for higher education over 20% in just the past eight years, cuts that follow over 20 years of reduced funding and rising costs. Yet this year the most intense debate in our legislative halls was whether to cut property taxes or sales taxes, whether to bestow benefits on those who already own a home or those who have significant consumption budgets.
Colleges manage these budget cuts primarily two ways: (1) passing the costs on to students with higher fees and reduced aid and (2) replacing full-time faculty with low-cost adjuncts. For students, that means they must work more hours at about half what inflation-adjusted minimum wage was in the 1960s. They incur debt at unprecedented levels and hope to finish as quickly as possible with credentials that ensure a job. But a quality education requires time for reflection—time to read closely and critically, time to think and write clearly and analytically. Instead, students get society’s message: All that matters is the end results—degree in hand—not the mind-expanding experience of exploring life’s most perplexing questions from a variety of perspectives.
Cutting faculty positions may be even more devastating long term than reducing support for students. The majority of college classes are now taught by part-time workers who are paid poverty level wages and denied health and retirement benefits. Forced to teach multiple courses for several colleges just to make ends meet, they have little time or energy left over to mentor students or make significant contributions to their disciplines. Every semester I meet these beginning teachers who remind me of myself many years ago—committed to their academic discipline and passionate about sharing their knowledge. It pains me to know that few will have the opportunities that were so readily available to me. In fact, I am ashamed that my generation, so generously supported by those who came before us, cares more about a few dollars in our bank accounts than about the future of our country.
