If your employer told you they were going to reduce your pay but still require you to do more work, what would you say? I quit! Right? Or how about if your favorite coffee shop raised their prices but then reduced the size of their cups? Oh... heck no!
It seems with the current state the economy is in right now, it’s only logical for many businesses and employers to cut budgets and their expenses. Yet it is these very things that are happening to not only business, but our CSU and UC systems as well. Teachers are given more students but less pay and students are being taught less but are paying more for their education.
We are finding ourselves in the worst economic crisis in almost 60 years and students are feeling the pressure. With furlough days, fee increases, increase in class sizes, decrease in teachers and their pay, and the decrease in the availability of classes, students are unable to afford school and teachers are being overworked.
According to the Public Affairs division of the CSU's website, www.calstate.edu, a recent higher education poll was taken and showed "Californians gave high marks to the state’s public higher education systems, but are concerned about the effect of continued state budget cuts and college affordability." California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed was also quoted, "...you cannot continue to operate the largest public university system in the country and offer students a quality education when your budget gets cut by 20 percent in one year."
It is clear society benefits and relies heavily on our CSU system. Yet more and more students are unable to obtain higher education. A presentation that was delivered by Robert Turnage of the CSU's Board of Trustees last July 2009 stated that, "CSU is slashing enrollment by another 30,000 students for fall 2010." What many fail to realize is the impact of this dramatic decrease of students. In turn, this will be creating another wave of young men and women unable to acheive their educational and financial goals and thus unready for the demanding job market. The long term affects could be drastic.
Furthermore, already so many teachers have lost their jobs because of these budget cuts. Turnage's presentation stated that "...over 85% of CSU’s operating budget is spent on salaries and benefits.This means that large expenditure cuts...require significant reductions in labor costs."
What's a tired teacher and starving student to do? Protest and write letters! We must write letters to our state representatives, the Governer and California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed.
Governer Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Buildsing
Sacramento, CA 95814
Email: http://gov.ca.goc/interact#email
Chancellor Reed
401 Golden Shore, Suite 641
Long Beach, CA 90802-4210
As of November 12, the CSU announced, "... CSU’s board of trustees will consider the system’s budget request to the legislature and governor for 2010-2011, and is expected to ask for an additional $884 million from the state." We are in dire need of a revival of the hope and support for the CSU system, with community college transfer rates reaching sky high, it will simply get more difficult for the young citizen to obtain an education.
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