Higher education budget affects all

Breeze Reader's View

In recent years, college presidents have tried to convince Virginians that the underfunding of our institutions would reach chronic levels. I am not sure whether no one was listening or no one cared, but, as Student Body President, I've listened and I've cared.

The staffs of the money committees released estimates Jan. 8 on the financial need in higher education. Based on a model the General Assembly of Virginia created and adopted, the commonwealth estimates that JMU receives $30.2 million below base adequacy.

Reaching the goal of base adequacy will not make JMU a "well-funded" institution. It will keep us at the average level of funding that our peers have — it will stop us from slipping further behind.

What does this underfunding mean to students at JMU and around the commonwealth? It means that classes continue to get larger, to the point that we routinely have students sitting on the floor and violating fire codes with overcrowded classrooms.

It means that the best professors at our universities flee to public universities in other states. It means that students struggle to find enough available credits to remain enrolled full-time or others take five years to get a four-year degree. Worst of all, as the state continues to fail to meet its promise to higher education, tuition is forced up. We have seen record increases of 20 percent over the last two years, which puts the burden of the state's unkept promise onto the backs of working students and middle class families.

This year, we have an opportunity. Proposals have been brought forward by Gov. Mark Warner and by Sen. John H. Chichester (R-Stafford) to increase funding for higher education. These are not proposals to expand government services with new programs and new initiatives. These proposals invest in higher education to make sure that educational quality does not slip further behind.

Education is the only core service that pays for itself. We students are not calling for an increase in spending. I are calling for an investment in education — an investment in our future. The students at JMU have suffered the brunt of the economic downturn and budget cutbacks of the recent years. We have been cornered between decreasing quality of services and rapidly increasing costs. Students are the only group of Virginians in recent years who have had to pay more for less.

It is time we stood up to fight for our future. It is time we asked politicians to look beyond the next election cycle to the future of Virginia. And, let the students be clear, that future currently is learning at these institutions we are so drastically failing to support.

While students continue to subsidize a failing state budget, legislators question whether increased investment is needed. Some may say that we still can cut our way to a balanced fiscal position. I would remind many of those that the last three years of cuts have forced these unprecedented increases in tuition. Those who want to keep cutting either must believe tuition should rise or that higher education is not vital to Virginia's future. I hope supporters of Virginia's future will start asking their legislators which answer they believe.

Our colleges in Virginia have suffered the third largest cut of any system in the country, and we now rank 40th for in-state support for higher education. That places us below Alabama, Mississippi and West Virginia. Does this seem like a wise move for our future?

In 1981, the state contributed over 70 percent of costs of education — now the state is struggling to meeting 45 percent. The difference does not magically disappear. It is forced onto the back of students through tuition increases. The debate in Richmond is no longer an issue of boom years or down years, of dot com or dot bomb, of tax increases or tax cuts — it's an issue of priorities. Are we willing to continue to pass today's deficits in funding onto tomorrow's leaders?

Levar M. Stoney is the Student Body President at JMU and a member of the Virginia 21 steering committee. For more information on Virginia 21 visit www.virginia21.org.