Fighting The Cuts

ALBANY, NEW YORK

As the negative effects of the Bush administration's under-funding of state and local governments cascade down, numerous colleges and universities are taking a pounding. Governors have to slash their budgets, sending tuitions sharply higher.

California has been hardest hit. In-state tuition there skyrocketed 40 percent for the 2003-2004 school year. In the State University of New York (SUNY) system, tuition has increased 28 percent. Maryland is close behind. Students and union members are feeling the pinch, and they're making their unhappiness known.

Ellen Krzykowski and her daughter attend SUNY schools. Just to meet the challenge of rising fees, Krzykowski, a member of Local 691 of the Civil Service Employees Association (CSEA)/AFSCME Local 1000, has taken on a part-time job and is maxing out on student loans. Tuition aside, her book prices have doubled.

In spring 2003, more than a thousand students and CSEA members rallied in front of the state capitol to protest the leap in education costs. The students returned in January — braving frigid Albany weather — to deliver 2,700 letters to Gov. George Pataki (R) demanding a limit on expenses. Their message: "Freeze tuition. Don't leave students out in the cold."

"I'm not really sure I hear a response from Governor Pataki," says Krzykowski. "Education at the college level doesn't seem to be a top priority for him. It's unfortunate that most of these kids are graduating with student loans upwards of $60,000."

As states struggle with budget crises brought on largely by a huge national debt, Krzykowski takes exception to the fact that Bush wants to increase spending for the military and space-exploration missions to the moon and beyond: "That's all well and good, but we're not going to be able to educate the people to go to Mars" under the current national economic plan.

At the University of Maryland/College Park, tuition jumped 21 percent. In addition to helping campus workers fight for dignity, junior Simon Fitzgerald and other members of Students and Workers Unite! have been protesting the tuition hike. He believes it's making things even more difficult for students from working-class families attending the school.

Says Fitzgerald: "I don't know if we can reverse the increases, but hopefully we can just slow them down." — J.T.