A Budget Battle We Can Learn From, AAUP

By Cary Nelson
July 15, 2008
(reprinted with permission from Cary Nelson, AAUP President)

The entire public higher education community in California faces steep
cuts in state funding if governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's budget plan is
approved. As often with California's large population, the human
consequences are substantial. It is estimated that some 10,000 new
students will have to be turned away this fall from the California State
University system alone unless the legislature rejects the plan this
summer.

The damage that will be done to so many young people is sufficient reason
for all Americans to be concerned. But there is another reason for those
of us in higher education to pay attention: California faculty are
fighting back. From community colleges to the California State University
system to the University of California, faculty groups are taking the lead
in reaching out to citizens of the state to get them involved in
preserving this critical opportunity for California's students.

Faculty members nationwide most often leave this sort of budget advocacy
to senior administrators. But groups like the California Faculty
Association, which represents faculty in the CSU system, realize that
faculty have vastly more personal contacts. They are reaching out to
students, staff, parents, and community members in an ever widening
circle, aiming to bring half a million people to this campaign. They are
arguing in part that college graduates benefit states economically: they
earn more, stimulate in-state innovation, and, in time, pay taxes on
increased income or purchases. Public education is an investment in the
public good.

If they succeed, they will establish a model for other states, one many of
us can follow. For more information about the budget cuts and about the
great work the California Faculty Association is doing, visit its Web site
at http://www.calfac.org. Then visit http://www.cucfa.org to learn about
how the Council of University of California Faculty Associations is
spearheading an effort to "Restore the Promise" and reverse the erosion
and privatization of the University of California budget-trends that have
been exacerbated by the governor's repeated budget cuts.

Then sign a petition and tell the governor the whole country is watching.
To do so, you can go directly to http://www.allianceforthecsu.org.

Cary Nelson, AAUP President

The AAUP Online is an electronic newsletter of the American Association of
University Professors. For more information about the AAUP, visit
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