State Sen. Abel Maldonado (R-Santa Maria) is in the process of forming legislation to negate the hefty pay raises recently awarded to a handful of California State University administrators. In an interview with the Sun, Maldonado said CSU Chancellor Charles Reed’s decision to approve salary increases of up to 19 percent—placing some salaries in the $200,000 range—“just doesn’t make any sense.” The decision is especially egregious, Maldonado said, considering the state of the national economy. “We’re laying off teachers, the price of tuition is going up, kids have two jobs to pay for tuition, and here’s CSU giving compensation to upper administrators. It’s wrong,” he said. “We’re telling everyone to cut back. And for CSU to thumb their noses at everyone, saying, ‘We’re getting a raise anyway,’ it’s not right. What’s disappointing is that they know better.” The pay increases also come at a bad time since the CSU system just received the green light to turn away at least 10,000 students for admission next fall. Maldonado said he hasn’t had a chance to begin discussing a plan to put a stop to the raises, but counts on doing so once he gets to Sacramento.
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 3, 2008.