Despite Governor Jerry Brown’s veto of the Legislature’s June 15 spending plan, which would have cut an additional $150 million from both the University of California (UC) and the California State University (CSU), lawmakers are on a path to cut at least $1.0 billion from the state
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by Jonathan Kaplan, The California Budget Project.
Several weeks ago, a meeting was held between Executive Vice-Chancellor Gene Lucas… During that meeting, Lucas effectively said, "It is not ‘us’ (the UC system, or UCSB, for that matter), it is ‘them’ (the California State Legislature)." While this may have some validity — indeed, there have been massive cuts from the state to the UC system for years, or really decades now — in all likelihood, the state legislature will turn around and claim, "Well, it is not our fault, it is the federal government’s fault." In turn, the feds will assert, "It is not our fault either, it is the global economic system
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by Ralph Armbruster-Sandoval, The Santa Barbara Daily Nexus.
The state’s top educators are about as pleased with the budget passed by the California legislature on Wednesday as Gov. Jerry Brown, who vetoed the budget Thursday. University of California President Mark Yudof and California State University Chancellor Charles B. Reed urged Brown to do just that, criticizing additional cuts of $150 million for each system in the budget backed by Democratic lawmakers. Brown had already proposed a $500 million reduction in state support for both UC and CSU, but even he wasn’t happy with the extra cuts to the state’s major higher education systems. The governor has proposed letting the public vote on extending existing taxes to help close the budget deficit and minimize education cuts, but that plan has been scuttled so far by legislative Republicans withholding any support.
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by David Goll, Silicon Valley / San Jose Business Journal.
"In the end, it’s the students and the working families – in Republican and Democratic districts alike – who will pay the price for these cuts. Legislative Republicans must realize that their obstructionist behavior will undermine California
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by Lillian Taiz, California Faculty Association.
The new budget plan released and approved by the Legislature within the last 24 hours is unacceptable for our state’s public universities. It’s unacceptable to our students and their families, and it should be unacceptable to all Californians. We oppose its implementation, and will marshal the voices of people throughout the state to urge that Governor Brown restore our funds. Our message to Governor Brown and the Legislature is simple: No more cuts to higher education. We cannot let this plan stand.
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by Mark Yudof and Russell Gould , UC Newsroom.
U.S. employers would like to hire more tech professionals in the months ahead, but there simple aren’t enough of them to fill the need. Yes, amid nosebleed-level unemployment rates and an ongoing, can’t-quite-turn-the-corner recession, the nation actually has at least one industry begging for qualified professionals. Recruiters and hiring managers frustrated by their inability to fill open positions say some positions are remaining open for months because of the shortage… It’s sadly ironic, then, that higher education is one of the primary pawns in the ongoing funding battle in Sacramento. As tuitions rise, middle-class families get squeezed — in some cases, right off campus. And who suffers? American business, which is already fighting to compete in a tough global economy.
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by The Editors, The Bakersfield Californian.
The rejection of the University of California, Riverside’s proposed medical school by a national accrediting body has government and health care officials scrambling to firm up financing commitments for the project. But even those efforts may not be enough to convince the accrediting board that California’s ongoing budget crisis will not affect long-term funding for the school. The accreditation is key for the university to start recruiting students for its scheduled opening in the fall of 2012… UCR officials said the national accreditation committee balked on moving forward with the medical school’s preliminary accreditation over fears that California’s commitment to paying for the project may not survive the budget crisis
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by K Kaufmann, The Desert Sun.
No, the parties responsible for under funding are the pension fund officials who don’t require sufficiently large set-asides when pension promises are made — and the politicians who make promises of the public purse without requiring adequate funding up front. The same is true of retiree health care promises, which currently receive small or no set-asides and as a result will impose growing burdens on future government budgets… The victims are those who lose out when current budgets are invaded to make up for past failures to require sufficient set asides.Solving the pension problem requires shared sacrifice, not invective and vitriol. No one is happy that our state now devotes more to retirement benefits than to UC and CSU. Addressing this will require tough choices. But going forward, retirement benefit promises must be adequately funded when the promises are made so that future generations won’t have to divert their funds to meet our promises.
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by David Crane, The San Jose Mercury News.
[T]hey could achieve $260 million in savings simply by bringing UC’s management ratios in line with best practices, from 7-to-1 to 8-to-1. They write, "An analysis of UC’s payroll data reveals the system-wide ratio of non-management employees to management is about 7-to-1. In contrast, the Texas state government, where UC President Yudof formerly worked at the University of Texas, mandates a worker-to-management ratio of 11-to-1." … They also find that more than $20 million in savings could be achieved by eliminating extra perks for 1,000 of UC’s highest paid. Senior managers receive a number of supplemental health, welfare, and retirement benefits.
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by David Greenwald , The Davis Vanguard.
Let’s be be clear about it: if it
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by Rich DeMillo, When Worlds Collide Blog.