The Justice of Fair Raises

This last year the college gave its instructional support staff a 0% raise which did not even help it keep pace with inflation at the same time congress gave the federal supreme court the same raise. Here is what Justice John Roberts had to say about getting a rise.

"The judiciary's needs cannot be postponed indefinitely without damaging its fabric."

I could not agree more with this assessment of the path that both congress and our college management has decided to embark on during this last year.

Educational employee’s needs cannot be postponed in this state indefinitely without damaging the fabric of our higher educational system. The industry is willing to pay twice what our college systems are for these talented individuals who have families to rise and debts to meet. If New Mexicans wish to provide a quality higher education then they must demand that educational staff be paid a fair and just salary.

I can completely understand the pain and frustration of Justice Roberts because for the past eight years I have faced the same problem. Neither of us left our respected industries with the understanding that we would loss ground when it came to our long term salaries. We did understand that we would be giving up huge salaries in order to become public servants but had faith that the systems in place would treat us in a fair and justice manner.

When the economy makes a turn for the worse people in control of our government have cut both the educational system and the judiciary. The very things that we value most in this country are the very first items to be cut. People in control of this country and this state give themselves pay raises without feeling any need to support the items that would provide for this country’s future development of our economy. Core systems are being damaged for the sake of saving money that is them spent to give people even larger pay increase in administration positions and yet it has only lead to an increase in loss of good paying jobs in this state and in this country.

I have already interview two candidates for the local school board but cannot bring myself to write them up because all I hear is more of the same from these individuals. They value the same old methods that have led our educational system down a path of damage that has made us one of the least respected in this country and twenty seventh in the world. To say that we spend huge amounts on salaries for both education and government are true but the money is not going to educational staff or judges. The systems are broken and no longer support the reasons or the people they were created to support. They no longer support providing the services in which they were created to support.

Our only hope is that with the changes in people that were elected last November that change will come to the governmentally bodies that form the policies that will create future budgets. Over the next month these individuals will take office and begin to create policy so it is my dearest hope that these individuals will work hard to create a system that supports our core values of education, justice, and economic development.