Higher education cuts unacceptable
Published Aug. 24, 2010
I've never been so angry with a Democrat in my life. When Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon announced over $300 million in cuts to the state's 2011 operating budget this June, perhaps few were surprised.
But I was certainly flabbergasted when I took a look at the specifics. While you and I were busy studying for finals and trotting back home to our summer jobs, the Republican-controlled legislature and Democrat-controlled executive essentially told thousands of students to screw off.
With $50 million in cuts to the Access Missouri grant program alone this summer, our state's neediest students saw their estimated award amounts initially cut in half. Considering that more than 4,000 MU students were recipients of the award in 2007 to 2008 alone, a higher number than that of any other university in the state, we have something very real to be concerned about here.
The more than $4 million cut to Bright Flight Scholarships meant that merit-based awards took quite the hit as well. Apparently lawmakers don't understand the incentive scheme behind retaining Missouri's most high achieving students. Moreover, Nixon's plan to recover some of the $50 million from MOHELA, of all places, seemed lackluster at best.
These cuts coincide with even larger hits to elementary and high school busing, as well as abysmal funding to both these and higher education to begin with. Last year, Missouri was ranked 45th in the nation in per-capita support of higher education in the nation, and it seems like some shortsighted lawmakers are motivated to win this race to the bottom. Social services. Indigent defense. Mental health. Apparently, none of these are high on the priority list, either.
And above all, this comes as a slap in the face when student leaders have been down at the Capitol for years negotiating an increase in both Access Missouri and Bright Flight funding.
We cannot sit idly by and allow lawmakers to assume that our demographic won't do or say anything, because that's what both the Republican legislature and the pseudo-Democratic executive are counting on. They're counting on young, busy students who rarely vote and/or won't completely understand that these cuts could have been limited by a commitment on any party's part to actually raise revenues or better prioritize spending.
How about we actually charge sales tax on luxury yacht purchases? Why don't we forget about state sales tax holidays when we don't have enough money to cover our budget to begin with?
Look into how your legislators measured up this past session and hold them accountable. Write a letter. Make a call. And be prepared to work across the aisle this school year-with any true ally of students and young voters. I'm young. I'm a Democrat. But I know Republican phone numbers, too.
Comments (2)
8:17 a.m., Aug. 26, 2010
Realist said:
If you stop to consider for a moment that Thinker seems to be recommending no change to the current system (or if any, more budget cuts). How are you proposing that this problem will go away. Are you just going to pray for a solution to appear? Wish in one hand... We need to be working at fixing these "hard times" and not just mitigating our loses. Tax free weekends will not help raise revenue. Not taxing luxury goods will not help raise revenue. Forcing our most promising students to another state will not help us grow in the long term. As for why we should be shielding one group from this can be easily summed up. When we invest in our youth we are investing in the future. Policies where we constantly cut the budget doesn't bode well for us, change must occur. We must support our future so we are better off tomorrow, so we can spend more and support a greater economy in the future and this all starts by supporting our students.
4:58 p.m., Aug. 24, 2010
Thinker said:
Have you ever taken an economics class? It doesn't appear so. Maybe you haven't considered that when people spend money, it is GOOD for the economy. When Mr. Millionaire buys his yacht, he is also likely to take said yacht out on vacation, possibly say, to Lake of the Ozarks, if he's a true Missourian. While at the lake, he will probably spend money at local restaurants, do some shopping to stimulate local businesses, and contribute to the economy in other innumerable ways, completely of his own volition and not with any government "redistribution." (I know how much Democrats hate that.) Not to mention the employees at the yacht factory (somewhere, some people must build yachts...) that now get to keep their jobs thanks to his purchase. But what if we come up with a big "luxury yacht tax," which causes him NOT to buy the yacht. Then all the business that he and his yacht could have stimulated sits stagnant, and the economy continues to suffer. Great idea! And to end sales tax holidays when retail sales are already plummeting would only exacerbate the problem. When times are hard, people have less to spend, so a tax holiday that allows them to stretch their buck encourages spending and economic growth. It's not rocket science. Everybody wants a piece of the Missouri budget pie, sweetheart. Students (myself included) should be reasonable and realize that we are just one of many competing interests hoping to get some state funding. Why should one group of people (students, teachers, public servants, etc.) be shielded from the ailing economy while everyone else in the private sector makes sacrifices trying to deal? When there is no money, cuts must be made across the board. Cry me a river.