CUCFA President Bob Meister was quoted extensively in an article about the importance of Proposition 30 to public higher education published in the Huffington Post Tuesday.
The full article is online at
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/23/prop-30-california-budget_n_2005239.html?utm_hp_ref=tw
And here is an excerpt:
When Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed the FY 2013 budget, it included an agreement with the University of California not to raise tuition, and the California State University system pledged that if Prop 30 passed, its students would receive a $498 tuition reimbursement. But Robert Meister, president of the Council of UC Faculty Associations, said its budget is dictated by that of the state. Because California’s budget was predicated by the passage of Prop 30 — or significant trigger cuts if it fails — Meister calls the arrangement a form of “budgetary terrorism” on higher education funding.
Nevertheless, Meister said faculty have no choice but to support the measure, because there is no plan B to shore up university funding and the alternatives are much worse.
All but 1.6 percent of the $6 billion trigger cuts would hit some level of public education, with much of that directed to K-12 schools.
If Prop 30 fails, both the University of California and California State University systems will get a $250 million cut. UC would likely increase tuition by a minimum of 20 percent to respond to the shortfall; CSU would likely raise tuition and admit 20,000 fewer students to respond to its own cut, according to reports. Community colleges would get another $338 million cut in the middle of the 2012-13 academic year, and faculty could expect more job losses and furloughs, not to mention a lack of a pay raise.
“[Brown] came into office with the promise that he would go to Californians and defend the public the sector,” Meister said. “His approach instead is to act like a bad parent and hold a gun to the head of the favorite child”: education.