Due to plunging tax revenue because of the weak economic situation, Washington State will run a budget deficit of $5 billion over the next two years. Legislators are exploring all possibilities for balancing the budget, including a $600 million (20 percent) cut to higher education. A budget cut of this magnitude would have dire consequences for students and campus workers (including faculty, staff, and maintenance workers). Meanwhile, the legislators in Washington, D.C. find $3 trillion for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and more than $1 trillion to bail out rich investors.
The students of this campus and at public universities across the State cannot afford to take the cost of this $600 million on our backs. Nor should we settle for larger class sizes and fewer courses of study. We are already paying far more for our education than our parents' generation. Public grants for higher education have declined in value over the past 20 years. In 1987-88 the Pell Grant covered a student's expenses for half the school year. In 2007 that number declined to one-third, with expensive private loans taking up the slack. If the budget-slashing goes forward, tuition hikes and faculty lay-offs will make higher education even less accessible.
And yet while students will surely be hurt by the slashed higher education budget, we will not be the only ones under attack in the coming period. Governor Gregoire is proposing massive cuts to State programs across the board, which will put people dependent on those programs into dire straits. It is exactly during a recession that working families need these programs. Furthermore, State workers everywhere will face attacks on their wages, pensions, and health care.
No alternative has been offered by the Governor or our legislators to this dilemma. They have never once raised the prospect of abolishing the regressive sales tax in favor of a progressive income tax that targets the wealthy and big business to boost revenue. Nor have they proposed approaching the federal government for aid to schools. Therefore, we must do it ourselves.
We must respond quickly. Evergreen Socialist Alternative is calling for an organizing committee to be formed to plan a response to this crisis. The Evergreen Committee for Full Funding will meet on Wednesday, December 10 in SEMII A1105 at 4:00pm. We are trying to link up all students, faculty, staff, and workers who will be affected by these cuts, and encourage everyone to come be part of the discussion and decision making process. We are proposing various activities including a march on the capitol for some time in January or early February, after the legislature convenes. We must organize on all public school campuses and all State work sites to make the largest possible impact. Some will say that the government cannot afford to sustain current levels of spending, yet there is always enough money for corporate bailouts and war. The money is there if the political will is there, and we can create the political will if we organize.
Students and workers have already been forced over the last 30 years to cut back on their quality of life because of the offensive on unions and students carried out by big business. We must not let them put the weight of this economic downturn on our shoulders. Instead, we will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our teachers, staff, and building maintenance workers to defend against the imminent attacks on our quality of life in the classroom and on the job. We need a movement to fight for our right to a good education and living-wage jobs based on a platform of:
No program cuts,
No layoffs,
No tuition increases, and
No attacks on wages and benefits of state workers:
To be paid for by federal aid and taxes on the wealthy.
Contact EvergreenCFF@gmail.com to get involved or come to our meeting in SemII A1105, Wednesday, December 10 at 4:00pm.
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