The United States economy is in the tank right now. There is no way around that fact. The financial situation is the worst it has been since the Great Depression and it doesn’t look like it will greatly improve any time soon.
Every industry is hurting and jobs are being lost at alarming rates ‘- on Jan. 26 alone, more than 71,400 jobs were cut from six companies in the manufacturing and service industries, according to CNN. In addition, the U.S. government says more than 1.9 million people were laid off in 2008.
This terrifying economic crisis is also affecting areas financed by public funding.
According to The Boston Globe, Gov. Deval Patrick announced Jan. 24 that he will cut local aid by $128 million, and propose increasing the cut to $375 million in the next fiscal year. Local officials have said the carving of the budget will obligate them to close public schools, reduce library hours and lay off teachers, police officers and firefighters.
We at The Massachusetts Daily Collegian fully understand the need for the tightening of purse strings in this sour economy, as we are suffering just like everybody else. We do have a problem, however, with the way the budget cuts are being implemented.
Taking away funding for all levels of public education is just a bad idea. Now more than ever, students and their families are finding it painstakingly difficult to finance a private education. As a result, more and more kids are attending public elementary, middle and high schools and colleges at the same time that these institutions’ budgets are being slashed.
Voters decided on Election Day to not get rid of the state income tax, fearing a repeal would negatively affect public education. But now, despite the choice of Massachusetts residents to keep the tax, schools are still losing state funding. This seems hypercritical of the state government.
All their lives, kids are told to buckle down in school in order to have a better shot at higher education. Massachusetts students, many of whom are educated in the public school system, work hard to make the grade in order to reach the intersection of life ‘- college. And now, when a whole generation of students is graduating from high school, the state cuts funding to public colleges.
The Collegian feels there is no point in investing so much time and money into public grade school education and telling children that getting into college is the most important thing they’ll ever do if the state is going to reduce spending on public higher education when students reach that level.
Like all other public schools in the Commonwealth, the University of Massachusetts is expected to take a major hit.
In an exclusive interview with The Collegian’s news editor, William McGuinness, Chancellor Robert C. Holub that this could result in larger class sizes and make it more difficult for students to get the specific classes they want or the specific times they want. He also said that some classes that are offered in both the fall and spring semesters may be held in just one or the other.
In an e-mail to all UMass students, Holub addressed the financial crisis, stating that the campus is projected to experience more than $45 million in budget cuts. And UMass spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said the financial crisis has also resulted in a hiring freeze and a scaling back of travel.
But the tough economic times shouldn’t mean that professors and other staff members can’t be hired or that students can’t take the classes they want or need. The state government has told students that a college education is crucial and, though hard times are definitely soon to come, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure that public colleges and universities don’t suffer in the future.
Because, whether you like it or not, the future is exactly what today’s students are.
Unsigned editorials represent the majority opinion of The Massachusetts Daily Collegian editorial board.
