by Joe Kiskis and Eric Hays
Several hundred people from up and down the state converged on the John Burton hearing room for the afternoon sessions which covered K-12 education, child care and development, and then higher education. Attendance at this meeting was about an order of magnitude larger than either of us have previously seen at a hearing. After the main hearing room and an equally large backup room both overflowed, many people were packed into the stifling halls hoping for an opportunity to address their representatives. Evidently this level of interest was unanticipated by hearing planners. We hope that the sheer number of dedicated speakers carried a compelling message from citizens to their representatives.
Here's our take of what UC President Mark Yudof actually said at the hearing (UCOP has a press release on their web site based on the materials Yudof prepared in advance of the meeting, it is quite interesting to note the differences):
Yudof said some programs should be eliminated -- should probably have been eliminated in the past and now can be cut due to the crisis. He said there would be furloughs, salary reductions and programmatic cuts -- all three. He said his biggest concerns were access and research. Research was spoken of, both by Yudof and others, as separate from teaching. Joe will rectify that misunderstanding in his follow-up letter to the committee members.
After access and research, Yudof said that the "race to the bottom" was another major concern. He pointed out that in 1990 the state paid $16,000 per student (inflation adjusted) and if Schwarzenegger's budget passes the state will only be paying $7,700 per student.
Senator Ducheny asked what UC was doing to force (her word) faculty to teach more than 2 classes. Yudof said that, after most non-tenure track instructors are laid off, faculty will have to teach more, it would be inevitable. His statement implies that he has already decided to lay off almost all non-tenure track instructors.
Yudof, Reed and Scott all simply assumed significant cuts were coming and asked that they be, as much as possible, unallocated cuts, so as to give institutional leaders flexibility in accommodating them. All three higher ed leaders met with the Governor before the hearing to talk about who knows what. All three defended Cal Grants, which are being eliminated in the Governor's budget. Also being eliminated in the Governor's budget is any state funding for Hastings College of the Law.
The Governor is going to address a joint legislative session Tuesday about the budget.
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