Issue link: http://educator.cta.org/i/2868
California colleges face deep cuts Colleges are considered part of the solution when it comes to improving our troubled economy. In tough eco- nomic times enrollment in colleges al- ways goes up as scores of people look to secure new marketable skills. Unfor- tunately, looming budget cuts threaten to undermine higher education — as well as the future of this state. And budget cuts have already severely im- pacted many California State Univer- sity and community college campuses. The CSU system Gov. Schwarzenegger proposed more than $300 million in cuts to the Cali- fornia State University sys- tem last January, but mem- bers of the Alliance for the CSU — faculty, staf f and students — staved off dra- conian cuts. The budget signed in September grant- ed the CSU system the same amount as the previous year — $2.79 billion — de- spite an increase of students. However, the 23-campus system did receive $215 million in cuts based upon the state’s not honoring the Higher Education Compact, a multiyear commitment by Schwarzenegger that was supposed to bring financial stability and enhanced academic quality to the CSU and UC systems. And now, huge midyear cuts have “Chancellor Reed knows this is ex- actly the wrong thing to do for Califor- nia, especially during an economic cri- sis,” says CFA President Lillian Taiz, a professor of history at CSU Los Ange- les. “Public higher education helps to solve financial crises because it prepares people for better-paying jobs in sectors that revitalize the economy. College graduates pay more taxes, rely less on social services and play a bigger role in solving society’s problems.” Meanwhile, inadequate funding is already hurting the strapped CSU system, since the $215 million cuts combined with another steep student tuition increase has closed the door to 10,000 potential students. “Basically, the CSU sys- Kevin Wehr, vice president of CFA CSU Sacramento tem has to do more with less,” says sociology profes- sor Kevin Wehr, vice presi- dent of CSU Sacramento’s CFA chapter. “Campuses throughout the state have had to cancel low-enroll- ment classes and increase enrollment in other classes to make up for the short- fall. When you increase class size, less attention is given to students.” Students are suffering already from become a very real possibility. CSU Chancellor Charles Reed announced in October that the CSU system would be forced to cut $31.3 million. The Cali- fornia Faculty Association maintains the midyear cuts are not required — they were a “voluntary giveback” by Reed — and base this finding upon cor- respondence between the chancellor and the governor’s Department of Fi- nance. the cuts, says Wehr. “Their tuition is go- ing up, and of course they are struggling to get into classes that they need to graduate. So they are sticking around longer, paying more and getting less.” “It def initely pushes your degree progress back when the number of classes is limited,” says Jordan Glynn, a senior at CSU Sacramento majoring in marketing. Marketing major Kung Nguyen says budget cutbacks have definitely affected the classes that he needs to graduate. “There is one class I’m supposed to take and there is only one teacher teaching it and one time it is offered,” he says. “I Jordan Glynn, senior at CSU Sacramento. tried to get into it but the class was packed. I guess I’ll just have to wait.” Community colleges Community Col lege Associat ion members are bracing for the spring se- mester, because midyear cuts could re- sult in shock and awe among students and faculty. “Community college presidents are proposing midyear cuts that include cutting many classes or sections,” says Ron Nor ton Reel , CCA president. “That’s what is being proposed to com- bat the budget problem. It is possible that entire divisions and departments will cease to exist.” Reel says the chancellor reported that community colleges will lose any- where from $150 million to $350 mil- lion, depending upon the deficit. At San Joaquin Delta Community College, part-timers have been told that they are losing their entire class load or that it will be reduced significantly. “Basic skills classes are taught by part-timers 80 percent of the time,” says Reel. “If those classes are cut, you will see a t remendous decrease in the amount of basic education classes for students who are trying to learn English to improve their lives and help them get jobs Continued on page 33 november 2008 | www.cta.org 23