UC Schools Campaign Against Gov.'s Proposed Budget Cuts

POSTED: 4:18 pm PST March 3, 2008

UPDATED: 7:31 pm PST March 3, 2008

SACRAMENTO --

University of California educators and students kicked off a campaign to fight proposed budget cuts, KNBC's Kim Baldonado reported.

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Strategy meetings will eventually be held on all 23 campuses. The first one was held at CSU Dominguez Hills on Monday.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger proposed a 10 percent across-the-board reduction to solve the state budget deficit.

College educators said the cuts would be devastating.

"We prepare the work force of tomorrow," said CSU Dominguez Hills president Mildred Garcia. "We prepare diverse people to go into our communities to become taxpayers and educated citizens."

"Ten-thousand more college graduates (who) we desperately need will not go to college next year as a consequence of threat of these budget cuts," said Lillian Taiz of the California Faculty Association.

On Monday at CSU Dominguez Hills, students, faculty and staff were given fliers showing how to help fight cuts by calling legislators, writing letters and holding town hall meetings.

Administrators said a $386 million cut is the equivalent of shutting down both Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills. Because the cuts are spread out over all the schools, fewer classes will be offered and class size will increase at all locations.

The governor also proposed raising student fees by 10 percent. Schwarzenegger said it wouldn't be fair to give education a break while cutting everywhere else.

The Cal State University system is the largest public four-year higher education system in the country, with 450,000 students attending 23 campuses.

UC Students Protest Schwarzenegger Fee Hikes

Donning ponchos on a bright and sunny Sacramento day, hundreds of college students protested, chanted and demonstrated their frustrations about possible fee hikes at UC campuses across the state.

Images: UC Students Protest Possible Fee Hikes

The protest was well choreographed and involved students from all UC campuses, including Berkeley and Santa Cruz, NBC's Mike Luery reported.

The students claimed that California is "raining debt," with a fiscal forecast of potential fee hikes that students said would be devastating.

"If the money that goes into helping them get into college is taken away, then that means we either have to withdraw or drop out," said UC Berkeley senior Daniel Montes.

UC Santa Cruz junior Hailey Snow said Schwarzenegger's proposed 7 percent fee hike would "really hurt" her.

"As a student, I already work 40 hours a week and I already have $80,000 worth of debt in student loans," Snow said. "That's only being in school three years. So the extra $400 is really unmanageable for me and for a lot of the students out here."

"If the fee increase does happen, which is about a potential 7 percent increase," said UCLA senior Gregory Cendana. "It would have meant the fees have risen about 100 percent in the last five years."

The students are demanding a freeze, something they are unlikely to get, Luery reported.

Despite the student protest, the Schwarzenegger administration said the total number of state dollars going to higher education in California is going up, not down.

The governor's budget calls for $81 million more for the UC system this year compared to last, but mostly from student fee hikes and limiting enrollment, Luery reported.

"The governor has increased money for education K-12, higher education, significantly since he's been in office," said Aaron McLear, the governor's press secretary. "He is absolutely a champion of education. He was before he was governor. He has been since he's been governor. He doesn't want to make these cuts."

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