CSU, Labor Leaders Advocate For CSU Budget
The letter below was sent on January 30, 2008 to all CSU employees on behalf of CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed and all the university's labor unit leaders.
As we begin a new year
at the California State University, it is clear that 2008 will present significant
budget challenges for the CSU system. Faced with a growing $14.5 billion
state budget deficit, Governor Schwarzenegger has proposed a $312.9 million
cut to the CSU budget approved by the board of trustees for the 2008-09 fiscal
year. The proposed budget fails to fund access for 10,000 students and puts
at risk our ability to provide quality education for the nearly 450,000 students
already enrolled.
In the face of these proposed budget reductions, the CSU
community -- faculty, students, staff, alumni, administrators and the Board
of Trustees -- have agreed to work together to advocate that the legislature
and the governor consider alternative solutions. We are all alarmed by the
$386.1 million reduction to the CSU budget consisting of the governor's unallocated
cut of $312.9 million and the $73.2 million necessary to avoid a 10 percent
student fee increase in the 2008-09 academic year.
This funding reduction
comes only three years after our budget was reduced by over $500 million
during the 2002-03 and 2004-05 fiscal years, which led to significantly reduced
student access, as well as a dramatic increase in student fees. History will
likely be repeated if the governor's proposed CSU budget reductions are sustained
by the legislature.
Some policymakers believe that we should "live within
our means" without new taxes and that resources to fund public services should
be generated by a stronger California economy. As you know, the CSU is California's
economic engine, strengthening the economy by graduating 90,000 students
into the state's workforce every year.
We play a major role in the state's
workforce in the areas of nursing, teaching, agriculture, business, public
administration, and engineering. The CSU returns $4.41 to California's economy
annually for every $1 invested by the state. Given the state's General Fund
condition, we believe investing in the CSU is a smart solution to address
the state's fiscal deficit.
Working together, the CSU community is urging
the legislature and the governor to support alternative options to maintain
the state's investment in California's economic engine -- the CSU. We are
also asking the legislature and the Governor to find other sources of revenue
-- other than higher fees for our students and their families -- as a way to
support the CSU budget. There needs to be a more balanced budget approach
that considers the CSU as a valuable investment in the future economy of
California.
We would like to ask all members of the CSU community to help us advocate for the California State University by writing to your legislators, talking with your friends, and making your voice heard about the importance of restoring our budget and protecting the state's investment in higher education. As the budget process proceeds, we will be asking you to join us in our efforts to ensure that the CSU gets the budget our students and California deserves.
