-Adam Pryor, TigerTV Reporter
Higher education took no further cuts in the budget submitted last week by Governor Jindal for the 2010 fiscal session, but this does not mean that universities are in the clear.
The proposed budget must go through the state legislature this summer, where it could be amended to allow for further budget cuts in the future.
As of now, the Louisiana constitution does not protect health care and higher education departments from funding cuts; whereas, other agencies are required by law to have at least minimum funding.
Therefore, in situations where funds have to be cut to make up for state deficits, health care and higher education are the first to suffer and often end up suffering the most.
The LSU school system will continue to take blows from state budget cuts unless something is done to amend the constitution to protect higher education, and people are realizing this larger change must be made in order to permanently protect these institutions.
Students at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette started a petition to help disseminate this idea. Their Petition to Defend and Advance Louisiana Education – which can be found at http://ultoday.com/node/520 – seeks to persuade “elected officials to amend the Louisiana constitution to protect and advance education, kindergarten through college, once and for all.”
LSU is also not without its students helping to get the word out.
Greg Upton, chief economic adviser for student government, and Dr. Naci Mocan, will give a seminar about the budget cuts on March 11. Dr. Mocan is the Distinguished Chair of Economics at the University and a research associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research. Their seminar will focus on the condition of higher education in Louisiana along with student government’s proposal to the state legislature.
Upton said having a faculty member give half of the seminar and a student give the other half will symbolize students and faculty working together in these tough times.
He further added that though adding protections to higher education would help lessen the problem, making it so no agency is protected by the constitution could be a better solution.
The state deficit is expected to reach $3 billion in the next two years, but Jinda said he will not raise taxes to offset it. He has the political capital to make some real changes, but instead chooses to do the politically expedient.
He has, however, voiced his support for constitutional ratifications that could potentially protect higher education.
Temporary fixes implemented, such as tuition increases, will only provide enough money to momentarily lessen the blow from the budget cuts. Unless the constitution is ratified, funds will continue to be taken from higher education.
Raising tuition is analogous to using a bandage to heal a wound that really just needs a stitch or two. It will stop the bleeding, but that wound will still need stitches in the end.
Something at a fundamental level needs to be changed to completely fix the problems the university is facing.
