Staff and faculty members of the California State University system came out on Wednesday, Sept. 23 to protest recent actions that the board of trustees has made to solve this year’s fiscal deficit.
The protest took place in the form of a mock funeral right outside of the office of Chancellor Charles B. Reed in Long Beach, during a board of trustees meeting at 10:30 a.m. Both students and faculty members protested recent budgetary actions. CSU Coalition encouraged attendees to come for the 90-minute demonstration and to dress in black attire. The demonstration included a coffin labeled “California’s Master Plan for Higher Education.” Those who were not able to attend the fake funeral were encouraged to wear mourning clothes to campus.
The Californian Master Plan for Higher Education, established in 1960, maintains that at least the top one-third of California’s high school graduates have access to a CSU education.
Those behind the fake funeral argue that the state’s priorities have been flipped. “It costs more to imprison one inmate ($47,000 a year) than to send a student to college, averaging $28,000,” the CSU Coalition invitation said. The shocking nature of the protest drew attention to a sizable CSU budget shortfall, estimated at $564 million for 2009-2010.
“Now is our time to rebuild, to insist that public higher education be fully funded by the state as a public good,” said CFA President Lillian Taiz in a press release before the event. “The time has come for us to join in common purpose to ensure that all children, through their talent and perseverance, have a chance at the California Dream.”
Erik Fallis, a representative of the chancellor’s office, said that the California Faculty Association helped put the event together. “The California State University had to make some hard decisions,” Fallis said. “It’s been a difficult year (and) budget cuts had a significant effect on the system.
“It’s important for students to express opinions (on the cuts),” he said.
Events also took place at CSU East Bay, CSU Los Angeles and Cal Poly Pomona.
No events have been planned at Cal Poly.
Steps taken to address this year’s budget shortfall included mandatory furloughs, program cuts and two separate tuition increases.
The California Faculty Association, the largest union in the CSU system, voted to approve the furloughs in July by a 54 to 46 margin. The furlough resulted in a 10 percent pay cut but some union members have said that there is not a corresponding cut in the workload.
A preliminary 2010-2011 budget presented at the board of trustees meeting included the reinstatement of $255 million cut this year in a line-item veto. This assumes a stream of funding will continue to come via the Higher Education Compact. Another potential piece of the budget includes $94 million from the state and a request for an additional $882 million to be added to the CSU budget to “begin to reverse the damage caused by recent state budget cuts, including restoring courses and services to students and providing compensation increases to faculty and staff.”
Over the next two years, an estimated 40,000 fewer students will be admitted to the system as part of the CSU’s plan to deal with budgetary problems.
Two CSU students have sued the CSU over the second tuition fee increase, saying double charging students is ilLegal. This case is similar to one brought against the University of California in 2005 when tuition was increased after students had been billed.