by Joshua Christopher Harvey
On June 9, 1963 then Vice President of the United States (and our universities greatest alumnus) Lyndon Baines Johnson, stated that we had “entered an age in which education is not just a luxury permitting some men an advantage over others” but rather “a necessity without which a person is defenseless” in a complex and industrialized society. Indeed, our university was established to strengthen the foundation of education in our state and, since 1899, it has risen to be among Texas’s leaders in the number of new educators for the state. But ours is a state in which, despite the job growth and economic clout touted by Governor Perry, has cut and continues to cut education funding.
According to a survey of school districts representing 39 percent of the state by the school finance consultant Moak, Casey & Associates, more than 60 percent of Texas school districts can expect further staffing reductions next year as they grapple with state budget reductions. These reduction come after those districts reported a loss of 9,586 school district jobs — one-third of which were classroom teachers despite those same districts serving 17,593 more students than in the 2010‐11 academic year. Applying these figures across the state would mean there are roughly 32,000 fewer school employees in Texas, including 12,000 fewer teachers.
During its 82nd session the Texas Legislature eliminated a host of grant programs and slashed grants for higher education. These cuts totaled $5.4 billion. Schools through out the state were underfunded a further $4 billion in basic aid and cut $1.3 billion from grant programs that paid for full-day prekindergarten and assisted students struggling to pass state standardized tests. These cuts would have been more drastic for the 2010-2011 academic year had Texas not received a one‐time grant of $820 million in federal education jobs funds to mitigate the impact of the state cuts. But the one-time grant was a double edged knife for the state – more jobs are expected to be lost during the 2012-2013 academic year because schools are relying on the one-time federal money to prop up their budgets this year and some districts will lose additional state aid next year.
Cuts to grants and funding mean increased tuition rates for us as students. Due to cuts by the 82nd legislative session, funding to Texas State University was reduced $10 million. This led to a decision by our nine-member Texas State University System Board of Regents to approve a tuition raise to be implemented in January 2012. We will now spend and additional $16 per credit hour for a total of $167. This tuition hike will only generate about $6.7 million for the university in general revenue which is the main source of state funding for the university. Overall, our university has lost about 3.6 percent of the 28 percent in state funds of the total university budget in the educational and general portion.
Bill Nance, vice president for Finance and Support Services said these cuts have led to the record enrollment that has led to the housing strain on the campus this year. “Given the progress we’re trying to make at the university, we just didn’t feel like we could go in and start cutting things like degree programs,” Nance said. “When you increase enrollment it puts stress on the workload of our existing faculty and staff. We don’t like having to do that, but it’s what we had to do to survive the cuts.” Our enrollment increased 4.7 percent from 32,572 in fall 2010 to 34,113 for fall 2011.
In 2008 the College Board’s “Trends in College Pricing” reported that in the ten years prior the public college costs have risen at an average rate of 6.9 percent per year and four-year private college costs have risen at an average rate of 5.8 percent per year. As we grapple with high student loan payments for the first few decades of our adult lives, we will have less money to spend and invest in our nation and her industries where it would have been spent in future years. Unlike our parents, we might not be able to spend and invest enough to allow great economic growth to occur. It is vital to our survival as an economically competitive nation to hold education as a necessity and a fundamental cornerstone to our democracy.
Public education and higher education is for the whole of society and to fund both it to invest in our future. Without adequate funding many of the gains our schools and universities have worked so hard to realize will fall short in the growing face of international education and business competition. Even our own corporations see this as they continue to divest in our nation, ship jobs overseas and charge us more back home to cover their costs. The argument that education is a privilege not a right advocates a selfish society in which the American dream can never flourish. It is an argument that justifies a class system and allows for greater disparity in opportunity. For us to rise on the wings of a stable economy, attract back jobs and foreign companies and elevate our society we must not cut funding to education.
The structure and bureaucracy that exists within the educational superstructure itself hinders our progress and must also be addressed and combated. But first and foremost, if Texas is to succeed economically and, to quote President Eisenhower from a 1958 speech – “if the United States is to maintain its position of leadership and if we are to further enhance the quality of our society, we must see to it that today’s people are prepared to contribute the maximum to our future progress and strength” and the only way to do that is if “we achieve the highest possible excellence in our education.”
Save our teachers, save our schools, save our grants and our future will prosper.
Texas State: Occupied 