The Governor has previously mentioned his commitment to education, but his new proposal actually puts it in writing this time. Schwarzenegger’s proposal intends to change the state constitution to guarantee funding to the University of California and California State University systems. He actually wants to ensure that California does not spend more on prisons than it does on the universities. Students and faculty are very excited about this proposal as it will help secure their future, but their will be definite opposition from prison guards’ union and lawmakers who are trying to fix the budget issues. Many residents of California are wondering how this might affect overall public safety and if it will complicate things even more in an already troubling time
The proposal looks to boost overall funding to the 10 UC campuses and 23 CSU campuses across the state. Over the last few decades, overall spending on higher education in California has gradually declined. This reduction in spending has led to numerous tuition and fee increases as well as faculty pay cuts. In turn this has resulted in the universities having to take in fewer students and offer reduced course schedules. If the proposal goes through, it would mean that the CSU and UC systems would get 10 percent or more of the general fund budget. Governor Schwarzenegger’s plans are very aggressive when you factor in the current state of the economy. However President Obama and many others feel that education is key to economic recovery and investing in it now will pay off in the future.
Tags: California Economy, california education, California Universities
