Coinciding with the opening of the 2009 Florida Legislative Session yesterday, FAMU students joined a group of more than 1,000 local marchers who protested State University System cuts at the capitol. With Florida facing a $6 billion revenue shortfall in the upcoming fiscal year, FAMU could lose as much as $15 million. GOP leaders have proposed deep cuts and tuition increases in response.
Many critics believe such actions will lead to a net loss for universities. The state legislature has a long history of raising tuition in one hand while cutting multimillions from public university budgets in the other.
Gov. Charlie Crist supports tuition increases, but wants to use federal stimulus money to avoid futher spending cuts.
While GOP lawmakers are slowly warming to idea of closing some tax exemptions, the handful of proposals that are currently on the table will only place a drop in the multibillion dollar bucket.
State Rep. Alan Williams (D-Tallahassee) and FAMU Student Body President Andrew Collins were among those who participated in the rally.
“You know what cuts will do?” Collins asked the crowd. “They'll bring bigger classes. You have more power than the people in the building behind me.”
If there are no budget cuts, where do you propose that the money comes from?
ReplyDeleteCan't spend what you don't have.
What about peeling back some of the sales tax loopholes for big companies that take in billions in profit each year?
ReplyDeleteAlso, many educators have offered the idea of a penny sales tax that will generate billions over the next two-three years. The state of Florida and the Nation has to start caring about education if we want to continue to compete with the rest of the world.
ReplyDelete