 "Photo: Grettel Cortes, Chief Photographer | Valley Star")
"The students united will never be divided!" A small group of Valley College Students chanted slogans like this to bring attention to proposed public education cuts. The group that stood on the corner of Burbank and Fulton was never larger than 9 or 10 and featured members of Art club, La Raza, and PAC (political action committee).
Samuel Tecpatl of La Raza (formerly MEChA) said this group was planning on going to the larger protest march at CSUN later in the day for the "Statewide Day of Action," which would protest a 33 percent increase in fees, coupled with an end to the BOG (board of governors) fee waiver, reductions in grants, and EOPS. Similar protests sprung up all over the state, and country, with thousands participating. The CSUN protests were mostly peaceful, but did result in some arrests, and left one faculty member with a broken arm when she was trampled by advancing police.
"Some people say ‘What's the point? You're not gonna solve anything,'" said Tecpatl. "Well, some people don't know about the issues we're facing. We gotta create awareness … you create awareness first, then take action."
The students did this by chanting their slogans, and speaking directly to people passing by; some people inquired curiously about the event, motorists honked their horns in support, others simply ignored the protestors.
In May of 2009 Governor Schwarzenegger proposed to cut $680 million from public education in the 2009-2010 budget year to try and balance the states $26 billion deficit.
These proposals were met with stiff opposition from faculty and students.
California missed out on at least $700 million from the Obama administration's $4.6 billion "Race to the Top" competition this year, despite making education reforms.
According to The Washington Post, $520 million was cut from community colleges in 2009-2010.
"The Cal-state system lost one-fifth of its state funding in the past two years, and students have absorbed a 32 percent tuition increase this year. The system's 48,000 employees took a 10 percent pay cut through furloughs," which require employees to take two unpaid days off per month. This year a record number of students registered for college despite reductions in class sizes, overcrowding, and climbing tuition costs. Thousands of prospective students will be turned away this year.
Now an additional 33 percent will be added to tuition, which would bring the cost to around $35 per unit. According to the California Community Colleges Chancellor's Office (cccco.edu) the revenue generated by fee increases is not distributed to the college districts, and instead mostly goes to the state. Community College was free until 1984-85 when a $5 per unit fee was applied, and has increased to its current level of $26 per unit.
In the January 2010 "State of the State Address," Governor Schwarzenegger suggested privatization of state prisons as a way to avoid cuts to education. He also wants an increase in the sales tax, and a 5 percent reduction in state employee salaries.
"Priorities have become out of whack over the years." The governor said, "…30 years ago, 10 percent of the general fun went to higher education, and only three percent went to prisons. Today almost 11 percent goes to prisons, and only seven and a half percent goes to higher education. Spending 45 percent more on prison than universities is no way to proceed into the future."
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