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EVERGREEN STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF “WALK OUT” AGAINST BUDGET CUTS
TESC Community Protests Impending Layoffs, Tuition Hikes, and Shrinking Financial Aid
February 5, 2010
11:30AM – 1:30PM
The Evergreen State College, Red Square
Olympia, WA
At 11:30 AM on Friday, February 5, 2010, hundreds of Evergreen State College students, faculty, and staff members plan to “Walk Out” of their classes and jobs in a protest against Governor Gregoire's proposed budget cuts to higher education, social services, and environmental protection programs. As legislators scramble to solve the $2.6 billion shortfall, TESC faces a $1.6 million cut, bringing the college's 2010-2011 funding to 1999 levels. Statewide, low-income students seeking affordable higher-education may lose many State Need Grants and State Work Study jobs.
Evergreen's Walk-Out, organized locally by the Coalition for a Fair Budget, is part of a statewide response to a call from the Washington Student Association to mobilize against further cuts to higher education and financial aid programs.
The Walk-Out rally, to be held on Red Square, will begin with a performance by the Hungry Emcees, an Evergreen freestyle hiphop group, with food provided by Olympia Food Not Bombs. Following the performance will be speakers including Professor Peter Bohmer, representatives of Seattle's Sisters Organize for Survival and Olympia's POWER (Parents Organizing for Welfare and Economic Rights), and students whose ability to attend the school will be endangered by rising tuition and shrinking financial aid. A march around campus will follow.
“If the Washington Legislature cuts my access to the State Need Grant and Work Study, I won't be able to attend Evergreen next year. That's the bottom line,” said one Evergreen student. “We need a fairer tax structure in the state so these shortfalls don't happen again year after year. I need this education to have a better life.” Another said, "Look at all these cuts happening to everyone! It's seeming more and more dangerous to rely on the state for anything. We need to rely on ourselves and each other."
On Friday, January 29, Evergreen President Les Purce sent an email to all faculty and students in which he stated, “The college recognizes that this kind of action can be an important part of actively participating in our democracy and that students and employees may conclude that such participation is their civic responsibility.”
Last year students saw unprecedented disinvestment in education, reductions in financial aid eligibility, and massive tuition increases. Across the state, Washingtonians are feeling the squeeze as the recession deepens and the shortfall further threatens their faltering economic security.
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Comments
How much again is Purce
ticked off
You must be really ticked off about that.
A lot less then he brings in with his advocacy for students
do the math...
...and then please share.
Which students will lose funding?
really?
Try MIT online here
I'm not sure it breaks down like that Chez-
-pretty easy to access stuff to learn here in the US, good points about the lab and access to technology.
It doesn't break down like that.
“If the Washington
“If the Washington Legislature cuts my access to the State Need Grant and Work Study, I won't be able to attend Evergreen next year. That's the bottom line"
“We need a fairer tax structure in the state so these shortfalls don't happen again year after year. I need this education to have a better life.”
"Look at all these cuts happening to everyone! It's seeming more and more dangerous to rely on the state for anything. We need to rely on ourselves and each other."
This makes me want to puke. How about you get a job, and a student loan like the rest of us? Yeah, that's right. SOME of us work. SOME of us make too much money to qualify for "need" grants. SOME of us are working AND going to school to put YOUR ass through college! I'm going to a 2 year college again so that I can put your ass through university! Give me a f'ing break.
Wow, dude...
Good for you
As I posted below. If I'm trying to go to school, and can't afford my own tuition, why am I financing other peoples tuition?
are you?
Where do the funds for grants originate?
Not a simple answer, no?
Your loan benefits the lender.
I think the FA system is lame.
I worked, had FA, & still owe & am paying (BA, 2005).
I count myself *lucky* to have gone to the UW & TESC & live in the USA.
peace
Sorry you make too much money Norm
It should
Did you catch the part about the loan? I make too much money to qualify for a need grant, or even a pell grant, but I can't afford to put myself through college without borrowing money. I'm not at poverty level, but I can tell you that I am WELL below the median household income for this state. I would consider quitting but I have health care insurance, which is something that is hard to come by these days.
So why am I financing others college tuition when I cannot afford my own?
The situation you're in is
The situation you're in is really unfortunate. Honestly, I don't believe anyone should have to pay a dime out of their own pocket for higher education.
Everyone in our society benefits from a well-educated public. Companies make better products, non-profits offer better services, scientific progress grows, and we all have a better quality of life when our fellow citizens are well educated.
I also believe that democracy itself depends on a high quality education system. There is nothing inherently strong about the democratic process. The ability of our system to make good decisions rests on the ability of the public to make good decisions... and this requires critical thinking and a passion for knowledge. Good reason for everyone to go to college.
The current education system causes most college educated people to begin their working lives under an insurmountable mountain of debt. Even those who are able to access need grants and pell grants finish college with an unacceptable level of debt. I can not imagine any better deterrent to education than to charge someone exorbitant tuition during a time when they cannot fully tap their earning power.
The viewpoint and complaints you offered here are commonplace, and I believe they are the product of the problem I describe above. It is natural to be resentful of people that get more assistance than you, when the reality is that your own tuition ought to be fully covered as well.
Bread & Roses
Minimum Wage reality check
($8.55 x 40)x4=$1368 a month - minimum wage in Washington state
$19,000 a year - salary for a fulltime certified nursing assistant position (the folks that take care of your gramndma).
Most of us think we don't have enough money for tuition, but the truth is that others have less, even if they work, and especially if they have kids and are a single parent family.
For instance the story in the Counter Point Journal this month.
Even if you don't have very much money, you still have more than others who are in need. If someone is doing worse than you, why not share? Many people go to school to get better jobs so that they can support themselves and not be dependent on the whims of the state or charities. That means they will pay plenty of taxes when they graduate to support others going to school. Doesn't everyone deserve that opportunity?
The current system inherently unfair.
It predictably pits people on the low economic rungs of society against those on even lower rungs. It is understandable that working class and lower middle class people feel resentful about paying tuition for others.
I agree with Phil. Government funded college tuition should be something we ALL have access to.
Loans & FA
Hey Norm-
My perspective: American-folks = lucky < way blessed >
I got grants, loans, FA, and budget when I went to school & worked at college.
I did research and brought grant money to my groups, campus, and community.
I have contributed to the development of public resources while at school, and this was all while working and going to said school, all the while managing a group household of anywhere from 6-10 individuals for survival as well as trying not to lose our credit rating (we rented a house for college after living in group housing for 2 years, at TESC).
>whew<
(hindsight, I should have learned how to work on cars and start a construction company, like my Dad said...then goto school while I took a break from work and raise kids, but that is another story)
The snow is always deeper on the other side fo the fence, ya know?
My well-off buddy from overseas (from a well-developed nation) came to the US and got even more FA cash that I did going to TESC and other US colleges!
Life ain't fair.
Be glad you can work as hard as you have to. Ability is a blessed as aptitude, ya know?
Nothing wrong with lots of hard work...
...but what I think I'm hearing Norm say is why should his taxes (if they do) pay for FA when he can't get FA because he works? (doesn't the system sorta imply an incentive is to go on unemployment and become a student when viewed from this perspective, no?
I think that Norm should not be taxed at all...I'd even argue students don't pay sales tax when enrolled =)...I'm downright reformist when it comes to taxes.
FAFSA should be based on need, and continued on proven merit (get good grades get more cash). Plain and simple. No teams, no sports, no extra stuff; just education (period).Oh, and money. Lots of money to be brilliant. That is the tide that lifts all boats, and it is called Knowledge, and Knowledge is very, very valuable. I expect to and often do get paid when I share my ideas. FA should start in pre-school, the year before 1st grade in the public school model.
The system has way too much f'n money, and that is the problem! It doesn't get where it should or needs to be, right?
Anyways, I'm gonna toss this in here < nod to the room >...this is a bit from my own trip that started in 1986 with a pitch from PHS staff for FAFSA as my 1989 graduation was looming:
My FA counselor at TESC & UW pretty much said the same thing:
the FED money for FA comes through a group of managed funds.
I'm no expert, and I'm sure some income or sales tax cash does play as well (maybe more so at the State level & K-12, not higher or continuing Ed level), but my impression after being told by my loan counselors is that the bulk and majority of the FED portion of FA funds are derived from patents rights that the US owns as a nation and are derived from publicly funded research & investment, and are mostly associated with military/defense, industry, and AG sectors.
I'm not sure to what extent individual taxes of any kind contribute to FAFSA.
aside mention: death & taxes
And this comes from someone
who studied at both the UW and TESC
AND expects to and often does get paid when he shares his ideas.
Wow.
you bet!
Hey olyearl! What do you mean?
<I'm not sure what your comment means>
Sorry, I wasn't being nice.
As Berd would say, my comment was "hurtful."
I was poking fun at what seemed to me to be a fairly disorganized screed.
train of thought derailled
As my Dad would say, "Son"...'my thought train was derailed long ago', so yes, that was a stream of consciousness comment for sure->rambling<
~glad I asked, could have took it wrong~
peace
You're a good sport, Chad.
Thanks
I think this systems has become useless and obviously contentious. The stress that Norm has and we all pick-up on is a real issue. Stay informed and don't ask for breaks got me where I'm at, but I'm lucky.
Hopefully when it falls apart we can put it together better than before, with a nod to all who have to struggle uphill until then. Considering interpersonal loans and such is also helpful, following the UN's Local Agenda 21 guidelines for micro-lending.
Post catastrophe utopias are a fantasy
It will be a...
It will be a revolution/catastrophe, "system-decay reaction" to value-loss, like "open-source" vs "road warrior" (or not, it could get nasty rite quik =(
(I'm very Jared Diamond on this one)
Have you read Michio Kaku? Like "Hyperspace"? The real failure is to never even get to a chance as a species to try for new levels...bogged down in nationalism or whatever...is that what you mean by "muddle through" Gug? Or just "left-over" winners of Darwinian chance, ie "the fittest" among survivors?
And btw, just ask the Neanderthals if this is paradise or not, cuz they lost-out on this utopia that you call a fantasy, and if that is not a catastrophe, I don't know what is~
Oh, and PS Gug, are you taking a side shot at my optimism with your comment by calling my optimistically professed post-catastrophic belief: "Hopefully when it falls apart we can put it together better than before" a "fantasy"?
--I'm not sure, because I was not implying or talking about utopia, just renewal and change...didn't know how to read your comment--
The idea that things need to fall apart
before they can be improved is a way to redirect responsibility for instituting improvements now. Sure, there are institutional impediments to some changes, like central banks , government monopolies on currency, and an undemocratic distribution of capital and power. But what is stopping us from creating micro-credit enterprises for college students...today? What is stopping us from creating the cooperative housing you write about...today? Will we better able to undertake these kinds of initiatives when confronted with economic collapse or some other catastrophe? I don't think so. As some Sufi poet said, and I paraphrase, “how can we expect our ghosts to break chains that we could not break when we were alive?”
I'm not taking a shot at you for being optimistic. I hope no matter what happens that people will rise to the occasion. I just don't think an apocalypse is a recipe for success.
right
Never said it did, but looking at past blow-outs, the track record has been improvement after improvement following blow-out after blow-out, but I guess that is just me.
I don't think they are linked in any real way, one circumstance to another, but our perception drives our destiny.;
In seeking peace we pursue war, etc...I agree Gug and also do hope that folks rise to the occasion, or we may just slaughter ourselves and ruin the planet to-boot, and that is saying alot looking at what has happended here in the past.
+100
The post-apocalyptic utopia is an artifact of the Marxian worldview (though I don't believe that Marx ever advocated total societal breakdown as a revolutionary method).
It stems from the epochal "end of history" language that Marx and Engels used: history is a progress of phases of production that shape societal structure; capitalism is the last phase and the resolution of tensions inherent to capitalism will transform society into an everlasting utopia - an end to history.
I don't recall major disasters/depressions being discussed as part of this process. But Marx's teleology is almost identical to Christian millenialism. Given the prevalence of "End of Days" pseudo-religion in our society, it is easy to view Marx's "theology" through the filter of a worldview that has striking similarities.
Post-apocalyptic utopian ideologies are more religion than politics. Personally, I don't find them to be a particularly appealing religion.
Bread & Roses
...but what I think I'm
...but what I think I'm hearing Norm say is why should his taxes (if they do) pay for FA when he can't get FA because he works? (doesn't the system sorta imply an incentive is to go on unemployment and become a student when viewed from this perspective, no?
That sums it up. Helping someone in need doesn't get me heated. Being forced to help someone in need (I have no idea where my taxes all go, to be fair, but it has to come from somewhere right?), when I am one stepping stone above them (I don't make much more than Listening's post suggested a minimum wage earner makes) why can't I get aid as well? Where is the incentive?
I have a friend, that 2 years ago had her first child. She did this by herself, she did this with a job that barely paid enough for her to get by. She made TOO MUCH to get any kind of state assistance.
Doesn't that infuriate anyone else? That you can luck out, and get a job that is a small cut above minimum wage, but as soon as you do you are now locked in. She has no chance for advancement in her position (nor do I) but both of us would like to live a better life than what we have now.
It seems to me there are two options. Quit our job and lose that sense of security, in order to get financial aid. Of course we would have to live without the job for a year in order to qualify, I'm sure. Or stick with the job, and drudge through working and going to school with a loan. The term "falling through the cracks" comes to mind.
And again, don't get me wrong, I'm not angry at poor people that want an education, I'm frustrated about attitudes behind it. And the fact that, although I'm struggling, I don't qualify for FA. That's all, no anger, just frustration.
Norm
I think my argument could be looked at that way
I spelled it out pretty well. I don't go "all or none", but I think certain areas we need to take better care of our own people. Healthcare and education are two of the BIG ones in my opinion.
Don't tell some of my friends that though, I have a big enough bulls-eye on my back.
"Too much money"
Norm's resentment of people poorer than himself is misplaced, but completely predictable.
A person can be financially strapped and still not qualify for college grants. The income limits for these grants are always way too low, and like many "means tested" programs they inevitably pit economically oppressed people who do not qualify for such programs against those who do.
Our national priorities are out of order. Education and other important programs are grossly underfunded while we throw trillions of dollars away on pointless wars and bank bailouts. Not to mention the billions handed to pharmaceutical and health insurance companies.
I would like to join this discussion
in real time like everyone else. I've had this account for over a year. But apparently I'm still in a probationary period or something, and my posts take hours to appear. Who do I talk to about fixing this?
UPDATE: Someone seems to have fixed the problem. Thanks!
"TESC faces a $1.6 million cut"