Students and faculty from California's public education systems rallied throughout the nation yesterday in protest against State government budget cuts that will result in student fee increases and layoffs.
The National Day of Action to defend education saw student and faculty-led protests throughout 33 states.
In Los Angeles County, there were rallies at Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Long Beach Wilson, Gladstone High School in Covina, and Pershing Square.
Student fee increases have been enacted to help bridge budget deficits within the public college systems and to shore up ever-narrowing State support. Increases have slowly made college in California unaffordable.
This past November, a 32% fee increase was enacted for all 10 University of California campuses and over 191,000 students across California to buffer a loss of $637 million in State support.
Current annual tuition at UCLA is $8,851. Fees for the 2010-2011 school year will rise another $1,344 to $10,195 for California residents.
Similar increases have hit the 23 colleges in the California State University system, who have over 450,000 students and have lost over $525 million in State support.
Current annual tuition at Cal State Northridge is $4,801. Having enacted an increase that jumped $978, fees for the 2010-2011 school year are expected to rise another $81 to $4,882 for California residents.
All 110 California community colleges serving over 2.9 million students have lost $520 million dollars in State support. They are also threatened with the prospect of losing 21,000 students due to rising student fees and overcrowded classrooms, despite a steady growth over the past 5 years.
Current annual tuition for a full-time student at Los Angeles City College is $780. The Chief Legislative Office recommended that fees for the 2010-2011 school year could rise to $40 a unit, bringing annual tuition up to $1,200 for California residents.
Budget cuts trickling from the State of California have threatened the quality of education for students. The number of classes offered colleges has dwindled to what have been considered the "core classes." This has resulted in overcrowding and long wait lists, which have delayed graduation times and added to student expenses.
Faculty and staff members have been doing more with less resources and face crippling job anxiety.
"Professional staff are having to prove why their positions are needed" said Dominique Lupisan, a Graduate Assistant at Cal State Northridge's Student Involvement Center.
"They are hurting just as much as the students."
Teachers and professors have taken the pay cuts and unpaid furlough days. UC Employees have taken pay cuts of 4 to 10%. Over 48,000 employees in the Cal State system took a 10% pay cut through furloughs. Click here to read "California: a denied dream"
Employees within the K-12 system statewide however still may suffer the hardest hits. Click here to read "California Budget Crisis Diaries: K-12 education has bigger cuts"
The second largest employer in LA County, the Los Angeles Unified School District proposed to layoff 5,200 employees in attempt to shore up their own $640 million dollar deficit. This year with no money coming from the federal government, a new crop of counselors, nurses, in addition to teachers will face the possibility of layoffs.
Under this new round of proposed layoffs, class sizes would increase from 24 to 29.
Cuts to supporting public education are one part of Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to shore up the $20 billion dollar State budget deficit. Also in the works are plans to cut Medi-Cal which is health care for low-income programs, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and a number of human service programs.
Perspective: Contextualizing the cuts and solutions
The State of California, 8th largest economy in the world, even with "the Governator" as its Governor has taken quite a beating.
"From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support." said Paul Harris of the Guardian.
"At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOUs instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest figure in 70 years." Click here to read "Will California become America's first failed state"
Many advocates in public education have cited the passage of Proposition 13, passed in 1978, as the blow that has led to the depletion of the quality of California's support services and public education.
Before Proposition 13, school districts were funded primarily by local property taxes. Local people directly supported local schools.
However, instead of allowing taxes to be assessed based on the economic tide, proposition 13 limited the tax to 1% leaving school districts to rely on State funds. As a result, local communities have lacked stable sources of income.
The restrictions of Proposition 13 severely handicapped local government's ability to address local needs. Click here to read "How Tax Cuts Killed California"
Despite having the 9th highest per capita incomes in the nation, California ranks 46th in education spending.
Part of the school funding problems could be solved if individuals the highest income brackets paid their fair share.
"Between 1995 and the present, the top one percent of income earners--people who make on average 2.1 million dollars per year--have more than doubled their incomes in real terms, says Marty Hittelman, of the California Federation of Teachers"
"Their lowered state tax rates have cost the state billions of dollars in revenue each year." Click here to read "The Time to March for California's Future is now".
Discussions of how to raise revenue for public services inevitably brings up the question of taxes.
Additional taxes tend to reduce saving rather than actually reduce consumption. Consumption is what is needed to boost the economy. Those with higher incomes have the ability to save more, which means that less money circulates to boost the economy. Click here for Public Policy Institute of California Report "Budget Cuts or Tax Increases at the State Level"
One idea for revenue generation has been to redistribute excess local property taxes. Excess local property taxes totaled $265 million in 2005-2006 and were stored in surplus.
According to the Public Policy Institute of California, distribution of these local property taxes would allow lower-income areas to make schools better. Click here for Public Policy Institute of California Report "Funding California Schools".
A solution specifically for higher education involves the passing of Assembly Bill 656, an oil severance tax for California. Sponsored by Assemblyman Alberto Torrico (D-Newark), over $2 billion a year could be generated. Click here to read "Tax Oil Companies, Not Students". Also, click here to read "A California tax on drilling, why not?"
Another solution involves making a more responsive State government. Currently in California, any kind of economic legislation is effectively stopped when a minority, or just 37% simply do not agree. The California Democracy Act, authored by UC Berkeley Professor of Cognitive Science George Lakoff, needs over 1.3 million signatures by April 15th to qualify for the November ballot.
If the state government of California is to respond effectively to a soaring unemployment rate at 12.5% and the slashing of public services and education, they need to be able to generate revenue. As most private businesses know, to generate revenue, they need to be able to move without unnecessary restriction, effectively.
Comments
As someone who was well educated in the public schools of California from kindergarten to college, it's hard to stomach the virulent and unceasing attack that the Republican right (not that there is a Republican middle or liberal branch anymore) and so-called taxpayer organizations who flak for the very rich have conducted on a once proud educational system. Proposition 13 in California has made it impossible to pass even the most basic taxes, even while the state disintegrates economically, and now California is held hostage by a hateful minority whose greed is exceeded only by their inability to understand even the most basic tenets of community. What they have promoted successfully is the spread of their cancerous notions across the nation until the very foundations of not only our educational system but the very underpinnings of a humane and informed democracy are infected.
On the part about "understanding basic tenets of community", I wonder about the many different ways engrained in our culture that we disable a community-minded thinking. How do our systems and institutions stultify this community-minded thinking is something I would like to explore more and write about.
Sadly, we always find money to bail out Wall St crooks or to fund a new war, but not to fund our nation's school children. Our country has misplaced priorities. We have lost our way.
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