Next year, the CSU system will need to spend $77.4 million more than this year just to stay afloat.
To do that, the CSU board of trustees is recommending a 10 percent fee increase.
Another $312 a year per student.
More money for less education. Again.
Now it's up to the state Legislature.
And why shouldn't they raise the fees? If they decide against the increase, the Legislature will have to find some way to come up with $32 million that the proposed increases in Governor Wilson's budget will not meet for the CSU system alone, according to CSU governmental affairs.
But the Legislature should not vote for the 10 percent increase because the students in the CSU system deserve an affordable quality education.
The more we educate, the more we propel our economy with an educated work force and the less we pay for welfare and correctional services.
Education needs once again to be prioritized in the state of California.
And we -- the students -- need to explain why. We need to flood the offices of state Senate and Assembly members with phone calls and letters with reasons why we cannot afford another fee hike. We need to show up at their meetings in great numbers so that they can see the faces of those who their decisions will affect.
If we don't, the fees will continue to increase. Ten percent next year. Maybe another 10 percent the year after that. And classes will be harder to get, and resources will disappear from our classrooms and libraries.
The four-year college degree myth will evolve into an eight-year reality.
A letter simply addressed to your district state senator or state Assembly member, State Capitol, Sacramento, CA, 95814 will get read. Pick a name: Willie Brown, Quentin Kopp...
We need to show them that we are a powerful voting block. If enough of us write, they will have to listen.