California’s $16 billion budget leaves us with many tough decisions to make between now and June 30 when a new budget must be signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. But there’s an easy one ahead: restoring affordability to higher education.
If we want long-term vitality for our economy, we can’t solve our budget shortfall by slashing more funding to our world-class higher education system. That’s why I’m asking you to join me in a discussion of how we can restore promise and relieve the crushing burdens that past fee increases and funding cuts have placed on today’s students.
Since the 2003-2004 school year, CSU fees increased 191 percent and UC fees have jumped by 145 percent. Courses are being dropped, enrollment is being frozen, and students are forced to stay in school longer, leading to more fees piling up. Nationally, student loan debt skyrocketed in the past several years and is now a $1 trillion drag on our economy. According to a recent study, an increasing number of young Californians are leaving the state to attend college. This isn’t the California I grew up in, and isn’t the California I envision for the future.
That’s why I co-authored the Middle Class Scholarship Act, a bill by Assembly Speaker John Perez. The Middle Class Scholarship puts a stop to the rapid rise in tuition and student fees at the University of California, California State University, and community college systems.
The Middle Class Scholarship Act eliminates the so-called “single sales factor,” a corporate tax loophole that benefits out-of-state corporations. Taking this step will restore fairness to the tax code and bring in $1 billion in revenue. Those funds will be used to reduce UC and CSU fees by two-thirds, making college more affordable for families with incomes of less than $150,000. I hope you’ll join me in supporting this measure.
Other contributors to higher education’s decline include bad actors in the for-profit education industry. Many Californians do not know that for-profit schools require a significant amount of public funding from taxpayers, such our Cal Grant funds. There is growing evidence that many of these schools are failing to produce the results they promise and driving up student loan debt that graduates struggle to pay off due to inadequate skills. I tried to cut off Cal Grant fund from the worst for-profit offenders earlier this year, but this powerful lobby stopped the bill in the legislature.
While challenges mount, there is still great hope for our students and our economy. By offering programs such as the Middle Class Scholarship, and demanding more accountability from the for-profit college industry, we can train California’s young workforce to compete in the 21st century and rebuild the California’s prosperity. It’s one of the easiest choices we will get to make this year and in the future.
Assemblymember Bob Wieckowski represents the 20th Assembly District.
