by GENE BLOCK
Some of the same state legislators who benefited from the higher education system now won’t act to keep it whole.
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Early this year I was asked, as the chancellor at UCLA, to prepare the campus for nearly $100 million in budget cuts. It was our share of the $500-million reduction proposed for the University of California system in Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget proposal.
And that’s the good news.
As we all know, more extreme reductions lie ahead because of the state’s budgetary crisis and political stalemate. The governor has attempted to forestall those further reductions by asking voters to approve extensions of several state taxes, taxes that Californians already pay. Thus far, there are not enough legislators to support putting the extensions up for a vote on the June ballot.
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Ten years ago, students paid about $3,700 to attend UCLA. Next fall it will be $11,600. The governor has predicted that, without passage of the ballot measure, annual UC tuition could rise to $20,000 to $25,000.
If that scenario comes to pass, a year at UCLA, including housing, books and other living costs, could easily exceed $40,000. That is a frightening number for any parent of modest means trying to send their son or daughter to the University of California. For students attempting to save money by attending community college, budget cuts will restrict opportunities for many students to use this pathway.
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Overall, two-thirds of the Assembly and Senate members attended a community college, Cal State or UC, many of them two or three of these institutions. These leaders, in other words, built their careers in public service upon the foundation of the state’s esteemed Master Plan for Higher Education — now in tatters — that assured an education to every qualified student in California. Of the 42 Republicans in the Legislature — none of whom has yet to provide one of the two GOP votes needed in each chamber to put the tax extension on the ballot — 29 are products of the state’s higher education system. They include the Senate and Assembly minority leaders — who attended Los Angeles Valley College and Fresno State, respectively — as well as the vice chairman of the Assembly’s Higher Education Committee, who went to UC Irvine.
The list of California leaders who received the benefits of the state’s university system extends far beyond the Legislature. Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa attended my campus, UCLA, as did congressmen Henry Waxman and Howard Berman. Apple’s Steve Wozniak and Google’s Eric Schmidt attended UC Berkeley.
What did California get in return? Let’s take the example of UCLA: More than three-fourths of its alumni remain in the region after graduation, becoming leaders in every segment of our society. They are key contributors to the area’s workforce and economy; they serve our communities and public and private institutions.
LA Times for more
(Thanks to reader)