A Battle for Californias Future.

            We know him as the Terminator, Kindergarden Cop, and also Governor of the State of California. Arnold Schwarzenegger is his name and he’s been kicking bad guys ass since the early 90’s and continuing to do so today. Arnold’s current fiscal plans are on track to make California the 5^th state to spend more money on jails than on schools. Wait what? That’s not a good thing at all, even Texas doesn’t do that. More people to jail and less to school? Why can’t we just educate more people and watch the crime rate drop? Why can’t we educate more people and watch our states tax revenues rise due to higher average incomes? Why can’t we educate more people and give everyone a chance to accomplish their dreams which is such an inherent idea in what it is to be American and more importantly a Californian. I can’t help but feel this isn’t a very hard idea to grasp, but our Governor does not and currently is proposing a budget cut of $386 Million to the CSU system. Today, Tuesday, April 08, 2008, over 800 students and faculty came together in CSU Chico’s BMU auditorium to hear the Alliance for the CSU discuss what we as members of the academic community can do to avoid these budget cuts and why we need, NEED, to be concerned.

            The Alliances message is simple: “The CSU is the solution!” The solution to what you might ask.  The solution to helping our state out of our budget deficit. Every dollar that the state invests in the CSU directly generates $4.41 in spending and CSU students and grads generated $3.11 billion in tax revenue in 2003. It’s the solution to not needing to spend more money on jails than schools by increasing the general education level. And it is the solution for all minorities and low-income and first generation students.

            Each year the mean enrollment grows for most CSU campuses, more people are finding a way to get a four year degree as it is required to compete for attractive jobs these days. 2008-2009 will not see a growth in enrollment, and possibly even a drop in enrollment if the budget cuts were to pass, leaving over 5000 eligible students for CSU Chico alone to be turned away. As the Governor calls for 100,000 more teachers, an impossible reality if the CSU is cut. CSU’s produce the vast majority of teachers and nurses. Of California’s professional work force, the CSU produces 51% of our engineers, 52% of Agriculture degrees and 65% of our business majors. It seems clear that cutting back on the CSU budget will disrupt our states ability to produce educated people capable of helping the state go towards the right direction. California has the 7^th largest economy in the world. This is due to forward thinking in a master plan that accommodated the baby boomer generations. There will be no swift solution to California’s current deficit. We need to act for the future once again by raising our states education level and making it easier for people to access degree programs, not the opposite.

WHAT CAN I DO???? First, go online to www.allianceforthecsu.org and sign up. The final description for the budget cuts will be made this summer. As most of the academic world scatter for the few summer months it is very hard to keep student and faculty informed. By signing up you can receive information on when to contact your local legislative representatives. A vital part of avoiding this budget cut is to get our legislature involved, make them understand the detrimental effects of a cut and make them understand that education is our priority. Also mark your calendar for April 21^st as this will be the day of the “March for Higher Education”. This march will bring thousands of faculty and students to the capitol in order to make our cause be known and to allow participants to voice their opinions to their local legislative members. As we here in CSU Chico reside much closer to Sacramento than our southern CSU counterparts we are obligated to represent the CSU if at all possible.

The alliance repeats again and again that the cuts have not been made yet and they are not inevitable. By joining the alliance we can fight these cuts and can beat them. Do we as students who plan on living in California in the future want to raise our children in an environment that favors jail over education? No brainer right? So do your part, even if you don’t have time to participate in the march or other rallies you can do your part just by staying informed. As was said before, there is no quick solution to our current deficit; “THE CSU IS THE SOLUTION!”