What is wrong with CSU's trustees?

I came across an article in the Orange County Register written by an old professor of mine and I could not be in more agreement. What is wrong the California State University's (CSU) trustees? Currently, California is dealing with major budget issues. Teachers from all realms, elementary, secondary, and higher education, have been laid off; classroom sizes have been increased; and tuition has increased. During all of this turmoil, CSU's trustees have decided to pay their new CSU San Diego president a salary of $400,000. This is substantially more than other presidents within CSU. Moreover, this proposed salary is higher than what even the governor of the state makes ($173,987). I find it despicable that such a high salary would even be an option. Everyone in the state has to make cuts – on a personal level and on a state level. CSU’s trustees should keep this in mind before offering someone an astronomically high salary. I am tired of hearing about people being overpaid from our tax money. It was reported a couple of days ago that a prison surgeon, who has not seen a patient in over six years, is being paid over $700,000 dollars this year from tax payer money.  I should research what administrators in local school districts are making. I would not be surprised to find to find out that administrators in Capistrano Unified or Laguna Beach unified are making over $250,000 per year. You never hear about administrators losing their jobs. It always the teachers who seem to make it to the chopping block.

The article from the OC Register:
http://www.ocregister.com/opinion/state-308186-salary-president.html

Only 10%?!?!?!?!

Recently, the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a policy that no more than 10% of a student's grade can come from homework. The school distrcit has sited that not all children have a equal homework environment. Since not all students have an equal homework environment, applying more than 10% of a weight is not fair or equitable. Many teachers are not in agreement with this approach, including myself. If you restrict all teachers to a 10% benchmark, many problems can arise. For example, many times homework is given to practice skills taught in class. For some subjects, like mathematics, practice is essential. With homework accounting for only 10% of a student's grade, what incentive do students have to actually complete the homework? Moreover, education is not so cut and dry - not all class are created equal. In a high school English class, for example, students are expected to write essays on different literature. Normally, writing an essay is something that is done outside of class. Class time is generally reserved for discussing the literature, revising, and how to write a paper. Furthermore, students are in school for a limited amount of time which means teachers have a limited time for instruction. When are students supposed to get these assignments done? Not to mention, what are we teaching our students. One day, our students will be in the work force or in college where you have to do outside work. It is better to learn good study habits now. We should be teaching our students to succeed in life. I do not think you can look at education in a homogeneously manner.

Check out this article in the LA Times regarding the new policy:
 http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/27/local/la-me-homework-20110627