Gov. Andrew Cuomo has picked a truly obese target by telling New York’s public university systems to get serious about cutting the fat — starting with bloated executive salaries.
Fact is, getting to the high rungs of both SUNY and CUNY looks to be the most lucrative career path in state government.
As the Empire Center for Public Policy notes in its yearly review of taxpayer-funded salaries, 47 of New York’s top 50 publicly paid employees work for SUNY — and the other three for CUNY.
That includes SUNY Stony Brook’s basketball coach and SUNY Buffalo’s football coach, each paid nearly $450,000 — more than 2½ times what Cuomo makes.
Then there’s the windfall raked in by CUNY ex-Chancellor Matthew Goldstein — who retired in 2013. As chancellor emeritus (a new position), he’s drawing annual pay of $300,000 for five years. But his 2015 take included unused vacation and sick days — for a jaw-dropping total of $546,393.
That, says state Operations Director Jim Malatras, is the “public equivalent of a golden parachute” — with taxpayers footing most of the bill.
Adding insult to injury, many of those topping the salary list work for SUNY Downstate Medical Center — which is financially struggling.
Malatras has warned SUNY and CUNY that the “exorbitant” salaries “raise questions about administrative costs, inefficiencies and duplication in both systems” — and demands they submit cost-reduction plans.
Both systems defend the salaries as competitive, but say they’re working to identify savings. That shouldn’t be hard: The National Center of Education Statistics says SUNY and CUNY have the highest per-student overhead costs of any US public university system.
College everywhere costs too much, thanks to bloat and waste; nationwide reform is long overdue. Let’s hope Cuomo can push SUNY and CUNY into leading the way.