Striking Green River College faculty don’t really care about their students

Over 100 union faculty members at Green River College in Auburn are on strike for the next three days, angry that the school may cut 11 programs to save money. Only, with a couple weeks left in the semester, their “concern” for the programs is actually going to end up hurting students trying to earn a college education for a meaningful job. The move is selfish (and not to mention, illegal).

A big concern of the faculty is President Eileen Ely; they accuse her of budget mismanagement. I won’t pretend to know the inner workings of the school, but understand the context: tuition dropped, state funding has been cut by $1.5 million, and those faculty members who are now striking received a bump in pay.

Perhaps mismanagement played a role. But even if it did, stopping these students they claim to care about is not the answer. Green River College’s student government published a letter today detailing their concerns:

Students should be at the center of this institution. We fear a strike may not allow students the time in the classroom they require in order to acquire the skills and knowledge they need for success. Some students are close to graduating and fear the loss of instruction will hinder their future academic progress. Students who are transferring to other colleges and universities fear that the strike will hinder their provisional acceptance those programs; since they were unable to complete their required courses at Green River. This is a scary thought for most students. This creates a climate of fear and uncertainty. This environment is not acceptable.

Faculty members (with their now-higher salaries) have a duty to the students who are enrolled in their classrooms and it’s ironic that they complain about programs being canceled as detrimental to student’s success, at the same time they end up canceling classes that are pivotal to these kid’s futures.

Hey faculty members, if you truly cared about these students, you wouldn’t be hurting them with a selfish and illegal protest. Want to bring attention to alleged mismanagement? Hold a rally after hours. Oh, but you won’t get paid to strike then? You won’t get to use kids as props to make your voices heard? Gotcha.

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