Workplace Blog

Items of interest from the Canadian Association of University Teachers Bulletin:

Irish teachers say “no” to OECD reforms
The largest union of post-secondary teachers in Ireland is urging the government to reject the recommendations of an OECD review of the country’s tertiary education system. The OECD report, presented to the Irish government late last year, calls for sweeping reforms to the country’s higher education system, including the reintroduction of tuition fees, a greater emphasis on the commercialization of research, and a weakening of the tenure system.

CAUT Calls for Repeal of Anti-Terrorism Act
In testimony last month before special House of Commons and Senate committees, CAUT called for the repeal of Canada’s Anti-Terrorism Act.

Bookshelf: Reclaiming the Ivory Tower
In the last 20 years, higher education in the United States has been eroded by massive reliance on temporary academic labour — professors without tenure or the prospect of tenure, paid a fraction of the salaries of their tenured colleagues, working without benefits, offices, or research assistance, and often commuting between several campuses to make ends meet. Contingent instructors now constitute the majority of faculty at U.S. colleges and universities. Reclaiming the Ivory Tower is the first organizing handbook for contingent faculty — the thousands of non tenure track college teachers who love their work but hate their jobs. It examines the situation of adjunct professors in U.S. higher education today and puts forward an agenda around which they can mobilize to transform their jobs — and their institutions. In this context, Reclaiming the Ivory Tower also provides a guidepost for all those concerned about higher education: tenure track faculty, students, graduate employees, parents, other campus workers, and anyone interested in why a new labour movement has grown up on campuses across the U.S. and Canada.

Halls of Academia No Place for Differentiated Staffing
We have often been told that post-secondary institutions are inherently hierarchical. However, after a century of struggle to democratize higher education, it is becoming clear that the most fruitful model for the future is a co-operative institution in which the discovery and dissemination of knowledge and creative activity are the common endeavours.

The Chronicle of Higher Education: Standing of American Workers Will Decline Unless Minority Education Becomes a Priority, Report Says

The education and income levels of American workers will decline over the next 15 years if states do not do more to improve the number of college graduates from minority groups, according to a report scheduled to be released today by the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education.

The report, “As America Becomes More Diverse: The Impact of State Higher Education Inequality,” examines the projected demographic trends of the work force and the current gap in educational attainment between white and minority workers.

The decline in educational attainment could put the United States at a competitive disadvantage, and public policy must focus on making education more accessible for all groups, and on better preparing students for college, said Patrick M. Callan, the center’s president.

“There are serious consequences to not educating this population,” such as the outsourcing of high-end jobs, he said.

The proportion of minority workers is expected to reach 37 percent by 2020 — double the level of 1980. Meanwhile, white workers are expected to drop to 63 percent of the work force. The report attributes the demographic shift to the coming retirement of the baby boomers and the increasing number of minority young people.

But members of minority groups are less likely to earn college degrees, and if the current educational gap continues, the proportion of the work force with a college education, or even a high-school diploma, would decrease, the report says. The proportion of the work force with less than a high-school diploma would rise to 18.5 percent from 16.1 percent in 2000, and the proportion with a bachelor’s degree would fall to 16.4 percent from 17.1 percent.

That trend would be seen in nearly all states, the report says, with the largest increases in the proportion of uneducated workers occurring in Nevada, followed by California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, and Illinois.

However, if states can close the educational gap so that minority students earn bachelor’s degrees at the same rate as white students, the United States could see the proportion of workers with the degree increase to 20 percent in 2020, the report says.

The drop in the share of the work force with college degrees would also lead to a 2-percent fall in personal per-capita income, from $21,591 in 2000 to $21,196 in 2020, in constant dollars. During the previous 20-year period, that figure grew by 41 percent.

Closing the gap depends on access to higher education, the report concludes, and states must focus on the affordability of higher education at a time when tuition continues to rise but the amount of need-based financial aid is not keeping up. States must also work to ensure that students in elementary and secondary schools are well prepared for college because disparities in early education leave many black and Hispanic students unprepared for college, the report says.

“Education is the most effective intervention available for improving our social and economic future,” the report says. “And given the changing nature of our economy, a high-school education is not enough. Addressing race/ethnic inequalities in higher education will require persistent and meaningful efforts by states to provide postsecondary access and opportunity to steadily growing numbers of undereducated and underrepresented minorities.”

Donga – Seoul, South Korea: Should professors’ union be legalized?

The existing Teachers’ Union Act has an equitability issue because teachers who are not covered by the Primary and Secondary Education Act are excluded. “We should allow university professors to form a labor union to make it possible for them as workers to improve their working conditions and enhance their economic and social status,” said lawmaker Rep. Lee to explain the rationale for amending the Teachers Union

Burlington Free Press: National teachers union shoot for $40,000 base pay

The new Colchester teachers contract means starting pay for teachers in the district will jump from $30,506 to $34,575.

The new sum — though hard-fought by the union — remains significantly below the National Education Association’s goal of $40,000 base pay for all public school teachers across the nation. Only a few Vermont schools approach the union’s goal, and many are a good $12,000 below it.

Still, leaders of the Vermont-NEA and local union chapters across the state are working to improve pay for new teachers on the grounds that it is critical to attracting high-quality employees to schools.

Boston Globe: Union wants base pay of $40,000, Vt. short of that

Vermont has a long way to go if it wants to meet the new goal of the National Education Association: annual base pay for starting teachers of $40,000 nationwide.

The teachers’ union argues that improving base pay is the key to attracting top college graduates into the classroom, and that base pay as low as $28,000 in some Vermont schools has hampered recruitment.

Baton Rouge Advocate: Crisis could alter higher education
Louisiana’s college system could emerge dramatically changed as higher education officials consider once taboo options to cope with the most severe post-hurricanes budget cuts in the state. Melding institutions, keeping closed some storm-ravaged campuses and axing programs and faculty positions “are all on the table,” Higher Education Commissioner Joseph Savoie told a panel of legislators Monday.