**Scroll down to the bottom of the post for the sign-up form for Lobby Day events on March 26-27 or complete the registration form and email to Ty Marks. The deadline to register is March 9.**
In his 2012-13 budget address today, Gov. Tom Corbett announced his plan to slash funding yet again for Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities, with cuts totaling another $82.5 million for the next academic year. This comes on the heels of the current year’s cuts and budget freeze adding up to more than $112 million in lost state funding for 2011-12. All told, the governor’s proposed budget would mean a total loss of nearly $175 million in state funding since he came into office.
These cuts would set back the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education to funding levels not seen since 1989-90. That’s right — Corbett is trying to send our universities back to the 1980s. Just for fun, try to remember where you were in 1989… For reference’s sake, it was the year of the Tiananmen Square uprising and the Berlin Wall coming down. The Billboard Hot 100 Song of the Year was “Look Away” by Chicago. “Saved by the Bell” was in its first season.
Here is APSCUF’s official statement:
GOVERNOR CORBETT’S BUDGET CUTS TO PUBLIC HIGHER EDUCATION JEOPARDIZE PENNSYLVANIA’S FUTURE
Funding for state-owned universities is necessary to ensure that Pennsylvania students have the opportunity to go to college.HARRISBURG – Today Governor Tom Corbett revealed his FY 2012-13 state budget proposal, which cuts funding for Pennsylvania’s 14 state-owned universities by 20 percent, or $82.5 million. The president of the association representing 6,000 faculty members and coaches at the State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) institutions expressed dismay that the governor has once again attempted to balance the budget on the backs of students and their working families.
The governor’s proposed budget allocates $330 million to PASSHE, a loss of almost $175 million since Corbett took office. His budget proposal comes just one month after he requested that the State System freeze five percent of last year’s appropriation.
“Since taking office, Governor Corbett has taken every opportunity to decrease funding for our universities,” said Dr. Steve Hicks, president of APSCUF. “We understand that these are challenging economic times, but our students and their families are already struggling to make ends meet. Additional budget cuts are going to put the college dream out of reach for many Pennsylvanians.”
In June, Governor Corbett signed a budget that reduced funding for PASSHE by 18 percent.
As a result, PASSHE was forced to raise tuition 7.5 percent.
“PASSHE has a state-mandated mission to provide accessible, affordable, ‘high quality education at the lowest possible cost to students.’ Our universities cannot continue to meet these goals without critical state support,” Dr. Hicks stated. “The governor’s proposal puts current funding for the State System below 1989-90 levels. This short-sighted budget fix will have a lasting impact on the future of the Commonwealth.”
“Our campus communities must stand together for quality education,” Hicks said. “I urge the legislature to reaffirm the promise of affordable higher education for the working families of Pennsylvania.”
The governor’s budget proposal includes cuts to higher education totaling $265.4 million. In addition to the State System reduction, three of the four state-related universities will see cuts totaling $146.9 million, community colleges, $8.8 million, and the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency, $27.2 million.
So it looks like its déjà vu all over again. We intend to fight these proposed cuts, just as we did last year, but we once again need your help. Here’s what you can do:
1. Share this post with your friends and colleagues, either by forwarding via email or sharing on social media (you can use the buttons at the bottom of this post). We need to get the word out as quickly as possible to as many members, students and alumni as possible.
2. Encourage your students to get involved in the following ways:
- Liking the PA Students Voice Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pastudentsvoice, or
- Following the PA Students Voice Twitter feed at www.twitter.com/pastudentsvoice.
3. Register for our budget mobilization webinar, which will be held next Wednesday at 2 p.m. The APSCUF government relations team will be sharing our strategy to combat the governor’s plan and talking about best practices in reaching out to legislators. It’s limited to the first 100 registrants, so hurry and sign up today!
4. Sign up to participate in the APSCUF Lobby Day events on March 26 and 27. On Monday evening, we will have a reception in Harrisburg at Ceoltas Irish Pub from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. On Tuesday, we will be meeting with elected officials at the state Capitol. Please fill out the following form by March 9 if you plan to attend APSCUF Lobby Day in Harrisburg.
(Don’t know who your state legislators are? Find them here.)
What’s the most effective way of persuading legislators? It’s a face-to-face meeting with constituents. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to meet your representatives and let them know where you stand. We need to stop Corbett’s cuts.
apscuf
/ February 7, 2012Thank you to everyone who is sharing this post on Twitter and Facebook!
James Gaggini
/ February 8, 2012Additional funding cuts will negatively impact the qualityof and the affordability of meducation at state funded institutions. In a time that constantly emphasizes the need for a well educated work force, these cuts will in effect deny many students that opportunity.
apscuf
/ February 8, 2012Professor Gaggini: Thank you for your comments! We agree wholeheartedly!
Vincent Spina
/ February 8, 2012This situation will never change unless the union comes together with the presidents of the PASSHE schools and they tell the governor that the schools will close down unless the budgets are restored and that it is up to him to find out how to fund them…not only the universities but all public schools. If Corbett won’t concede, then both union and presidents go on strike, wild cat if necessary. Of course, this will never happen. The presidents are owe their allegiance to Harrisburg and not the colleges they represent. The rest of us are too comfortable to ever do what unions have done in the past: take tremendous hits to preserve the rights of man. In the meantime the ball will keep rolling toward a society of education and privilege for the those who can afford it and ignorance and sacrifice for those who can’t.
apscuf
/ February 8, 2012Dr. Spina: Thank you for your thoughtful comments!
Jerry Carbo
/ February 8, 2012We need to be clear that these cuts are not necessary as so many of our representatives are saying today. The reality is that this crisis, much like the federal budget crisis is a intentionally created crisis to achieve a different agenda of slash and burning the public sector and driving more public money into the private sector. You cannot argue that there are not enough revenues while at the same time establishing huge tax free zones, giving 1/6 of sales tax revenues back to big box stores, passing a bonus depreciation tax rebate, agreeing to use any impact fee to pay for the capping of wells (you drill a well, we should at least expect that you cap it). What we have here is a clear policy choice about who will be given the burden of paying for our state operations. What our Governor has decided is that the students will pay through increased tuition, state employees will pay via lay-offs, increased workloads and stagnant wages, and the weakest members of our society will pay through cuts to needed services.
While so many of our reps today are arguing that our spending is not sustainable as a state, the reality is that these cuts are not sustainable from a social, economic or environmental standpoint. Just think about the lost future productivity and innovation as fewer students are able to further their education, the lost demand in the economy as students pay back loans rather than building our economic system, the brain drain we will experience as PA becomes a state that is no longer viewed as a great place to live as our K-12 schools are decimated and higher ed becomes available only to the few, inequality grows and all of the negative social outcomes of such follow. These cuts are not a necessity, they are a misguided choice, a choice with no empirical or any sound theoretical support to suggest that these are good policy choices.
apscuf
/ February 8, 2012Dr. Carbo: Excellent points… Thank you for sharing!
Randa
/ February 9, 2012As a student at Clarion University, one of the state owned schools, I know how expensive and unaffordable obtaining and education is – it should not be this way! I recently attended a private college, where tuition was more than double what I pay now; yet, here I am taking out more debt at the state university than I did at the private college. The budget crisis will only perpetuate and be made worse by stripping the next generation of their ability to become educated. Taking away funding for our state schools will further widen the gap between middle and upper class. With these cuts, middle class families will have an even more difficult time affording secondary education. We should be working as a team; working to make further education a realistic goal; working to ensure our futures will be full of prosperity & success; working to make sure we stay competitive and ahead of the game. Cutting funding for education is an embarrassing mistake.
apscuf
/ February 10, 2012Randa:
Thank you for sharing your experience! We share your concerns about everyone having access to a higher education if we continue down this path. I would encourage you to reach out to your fellow students and help to educate them about how these cuts could affect them. Also, please consider reaching out to your state representative and senator and let them know that you believe funding higher education should be a top priority for them. You can find your legislators here: http://www.mypls.com/Default.aspx?tabid=819.
Again, many thanks for taking the time to voice your thoughts so eloquently!
Randa
/ February 11, 2012I have been reaching out to our representatives, but thanks for the link. I will definitely pass it on!
Michael M. Dawida
/ March 13, 2012This is a critical time in the decison of our society as to whether we are going to continue our support for public education. We rightly are examining how every nickel of public tax money is being spent, however I am surpised that support for higher ed has so rapidly diminished at a time when it is most critical.
I had 92 students in my last class. The escalation of student to professor ratio does no one any good. We are at a crossroads ! To paraphrase Robert Frost ” Two roads diverged into a yellow wood & I took the one that may destroy our public Universities “.
Mike Dawida