"I believe we can all agree our current system is in crisis, and we can all engage together to rescue it before it’s too late," said Assemblyman Ira Ruskin, D-Redwood City. All three education leaders said the challenge involves stabilizing funding from the state rather than making sweeping changes to the 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education, which serves as a model for access, affordability and academic excellence. "The Master Plan is not broken," said CSU Chancellor Charles Reed. "The future of California is tied to education. More people need an education today than they did when the Master Plan was first envisioned." Scott noted that California’s colleges and universities accounted for 17 percent of state spending in 1965 compared to slightly more than 10 percent today. Each system has asked the governor and lawmakers to increase their budgets next fiscal year to make up for the recent cuts. However, the state is already facing a nearly $21 billion gap in its fiscal 2010-2011 budget.

Read full article [here].
by Samantha Young, The Sacramento Bee.

Posted: December 8th, 2009, by: admin. Categories: . Awaiting Comments.