Higher Education Cutbacks Have Impacted Carmichael Residents

’s budget proposal of Jan. 10 calls for deep spending cuts to public higher education to help balance the state budget, facing a $26 billion deficit.  

Brown has proposed cutting a total of $1.4 billion from the state general fund in 2011 – 2012, for the budgets of the California Community Colleges ($400 million), the California State University ($500 million) and University of California ($500 million) systems.

Under the governor’s proposal, students at the state’s 112 community colleges would see the price of one unit rise from $26 to $36, a 38.5 percent jump. One of those students is Tanya Lowe, who lives in Carmichael. Since 2006 – 2007, she has attended American River College, where the spring semester began on Jan. 17.

“At this point the proposed unit price increase will have no effect on me,” Lowe said, “as I am eligible for a grant from the Board of Governors of the California Community Colleges.”

Currently, the BOG grant covers the costs of her units only. However, that grant does not pay for her other college expenses such as textbooks. But the limits of her BOG grant is not what worries Lowe the most.

“My concern is that the cost of higher education is being placed more on the backs of the middle class,” said Lowe, a technical theatre major at ARC. Her sentiments about proposed state spending cuts resemble those of one official with the Los Rios Community College District.

“The defunding of higher education in California is very sad,” said Susie Williams, vice chancellor of communications research for the Los Rios district, whose more than 90,000 students attend ARC, Consumnes River College, Folsom Lake College, and Sacramento City College.

Gov. Brown’s proposed $1.4 billion reduction in higher education spending represents 11.2 percent of the $12.5 billion in cuts to close a $26.6 billion deficit. The California constitution requires a balanced budget. Unlike the federal government, the state is legally barred from running a budget deficit.

The governor’s proposal to shave $500 million from the CSU system’s budget represents an average of $21.7 million in spending reductions at each of the system’s 23 campuses.

California State University, Sacramento, where the spring semester began on Jan. 24, received $140,795,817 from the tax-supported general fund for the 2010 – 2011 year. Thus a $21.7 million budget reduction for 2011 – 2012 represents a cut of 15.4 percent in state funding, or 15 cents of every tax dollar.  

Spending reductions of such magnitude at Sacramento State and system-wide “will limit access for students seeking to enter our universities, and reduce classes and services for our current students,” according to a CSU budget sheet.  

Just ask Sue Anne Foster, who lives in Carmichael and was until recently a part-time art instructor teaching future elementary classroom teachers at Sac State. She is not currently teaching at the university. A lack of funds led to the school offer fewer sections of the art classes that she teaches.

“Deep slashes to education will cripple not only the basic offerings at the university level, but further break the spirit of learning,” Foster said. “I think we have lost our way in education and as a state need to rethink our priorities.”

Still, she supports Gov. Brown.

“I like Jerry Brown and if cutting education forces us to totally rethink how we educate and prepare students for the 21st century, maybe crippling the old structures to such an extent will force a total redesign of our systems,” Foster said.

Meanwhile, the cost to attend a school in the CSU system is climbing, according to Michael Uhlenkamp, a CSU spokesman.

“For 2010-11, there have been two increases 5 percent ($204) in June and an additional 5 percent in November ($105 for the spring 2011 term only)," he said.

At the November 2010 meeting, the CSU Board of Trustees voted to increase 2011-12 tuition fees by 10 percent ($444). The latest fee increase will take effect in fall 2011.

An additional increase to the CSU system’s tuition fee has not yet been discussed in relation to the governor’s proposed budget cuts for 2011-12, Uhlenkamp said. The CSU Board of Trustees hiked student fees twice for a total of 32 percent in 2009.