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HIGHER ED FACING SIGNIFICANT BUDGET CHALLENGES IN 2010 |
Declining state revenues and skyrocketing health care costs have higher education in the funding crosshairs.
Recently, the Kansas Board of Regents brought this problem to light in a series of Business and Industry presentations around the state. To see their Power Point Presentation
click here.
Following the presentation, The Johnson County Sun
newspaper featured two commentaries based on the
Regents’ report. The first is by Publisher Steve Rose,
the second by Robert Sigman, Opinion Page Editor.
If you believe higher education should be more of a
priority, please contact your state legislators. |
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WE'RE GETTING IT ALL WRONG |
WRITTEN BY STEVE ROSE, PUBLISHER
THE JOHNSON COUNTY SUN
WEDNESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2009
Kansas is going in exactly the wrong direction. |
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The expert consultants who just completed their report
on the metropolitan Kansas City area told us what we
need to do to move forward.
“Time To Get It Right” – a five year update since the
first report – has made one overarching point in its
62-page analysis.
And here it is verbatim: “A more concerted and effective
strategy needs to be developed and implemented to
convince the state governments of Missouri and Kansas
about the importance of higher education as absolutely
critical to the future of their states – particularly
during the post-recession period.”
That is not only easier said than done, but in light of
the cutbacks in both states, a lofty goal might just be
to stop from slipping further backward.
Missouri is a waste of time in this discussion. It ranks
45th in the nation in the least funding per capita for
higher education.
Says the report, “Missouri has remained largely moored
in a backwater when it comes to support of higher
education.”
My, what a contrast with Kansas, ranked 17th, but we
could be slipping fast. There is a discernible drip,
drip, drip of leaking state funding for higher
education, and the trend line looks terrible.
Not long ago, Kansas provided the majority of funding
for our universities. The rest was made up of tuitions
and private contributions.
This year, for the first time, tuitions will make up the
majority of funding, while state funding has slipped to
only 25 percent.
Why is this happening?
The critical point may be the attitude in the state
Legislature that higher education is just not a high
priority. Many legislators think college is for the
elite, i.e. the rich. (There is also an attitude that,
“If I can make it without college, so can they.”). And
it has been easy to just shift the burden from all
Kansas taxpayers to just those going to college.
Since 1985, state government has grown by 54 percent,
while state university support has grown by a measly 5
percent.
So, backwater legislators in Kansas who want to mimic
Missouri have decided that the burden should be put more
and more on Kansas families to send their kids to
college.
In other words, higher education is looked at as a
luxury, not as an investment in our future.
Short-sightedness and a bad attitude are making our
universities less affordable. That, in turn, will make
the wish come true. Our public colleges really will be
only for the elite.
While “Time To Get It Right” is spot-on in its plea for
more support for higher education, Kansas is getting it
all wrong.
We need to stop the bleeding … now.
Contact Steve Rose at
srose@sunpublications.com .
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UNIVERSITIES ARE SHORT CHANGED |
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WRITTEN BY BOB SIGMAN, OPINION PAGE EDITOR
THE JOHNSON COUNTY SUN
WEDNESDAY, 18 NOVEMBER 2009
If you are the parent or the grandparent of a school
child with aspirations for attending a public university
in Kansas some day, you should be alert to destructive
state funding policies being inflicted on Kansas’ higher
education system.
Now.
Without a change in a worrisome trend, says the state
Board of Regents, the word “ration,” as in limiting
access to post-secondary education, enters the equation.
“Are Kansans prepared to deny higher education to
qualified students?” asked the board in a Power Point
presentation at a Regents-sponsored Business & Industry
Roundtable last week at Johnson County Community
College.
The issue was also raised in remarks at the meeting by
Regents Vice Chair Gary Sherrer of Overland Park and
Reginald Robinson, president and CEO of the Board of
Regents. The nine-member board governs the state’s
public higher education institutions, including seven
universities and 19 community colleges.
The trend, as outlined by Robinson: Between 1988 and
2008, the state reduced its share of higher education
funding from 47 percent to 27 percent. This lack of
public support – while enrollment increased – has thrown
more of the burden on students and their families. In
the 20-year period, tuition has risen from 16 percent of
the funding pie to 26 percent.
If the pattern continues, tuition will soon outstrip
state financing.
Without adequate state appropriations, courses could be
limited, faculty reduced and other measures taken that
would restrict enrollment in the years ahead.
This year was a funding disaster, adding to the decline.
Robinson pointed out that allocations were cut four
times as the state budget tightened. The system lost
$100 million, or a 12 percent drop to $753 million. That
is slightly more than the system received in 2006,
Robinson said.
The eroding state support could not come at a worse
time. Sherrer said that 22 of the nation’s fastest
growing occupations require some level of post-secondary
education; seven of the 22 require a two-year degree or
certificate.
Although neither Sherrer nor Robinson mentioned the
Legislature, I will. It is the Legislature that
appropriates money for higher education. It is the
Legislature that has shortchanged higher education in
the past, continues it now and threatens the education
of Kansas youth of the future.
The Regents are appealing to, as the name of the meeting
indicates, business and industry. Of course the private
sector is dependent on education for qualified
employees. Without them, the Kansas economy could be
stunted.
The attendees were invited to join a Regents-sponsored
Business and Advisory Council that would advocate a
higher priority on adequate funding.
The Regents cite surveys that show the Legislature’s
funding policies are out of step with public sentiment:
91 percent of Kansans believe higher education should be
maintained at the current level. Only 6 percent favor
reduced funding.
Many legislators claim the state’s revenue shortfall,
now in the hundreds of millions of dollars, is the
result of the recession. That is not the only
significant factor.
The Legislature has badly managed fiscal affairs,
bringing on the ongoing financial crisis. Bottom line,
legislators have allowed revenues to fall way below
expenses. No citizen can do that with personal finances
and survive.
Legislators have cut taxes in recent years, leading to
less state income and forcing reduced funding for higher
education. Many rule out a tax increase, but surely
responsible legislators do not want to be part of such
detrimental funding policies.
The private business/industry sector should let
legislators know of their need for qualified employees.
All Kansans should urge legislators to provide
sufficient funding of the universities.
Denying young Kansans an opportunity for higher
education is not an acceptable option.
Contact Bob Sigman at 385-6034 or e-mail
bsigman@sunpublications.com . |
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About Kansas Citizens For Higher Education |
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Thank you for visiting Citizens
for Higher Education.
Public education is under attack nationwide as state
budgets are strained to the breaking point. Nowhere
is this crisis more evident than in Kansas.
That’s why Citizens for Higher Education is fighting
back. |
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Kansas ranks in the Top 10 of states sending its young people
to college, but we are near the bottom of the
Big 12 in terms of per student state
funding. |
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State funding for higher education, adjusted for inflation,
keeps falling while enrollment today is higher
than it has ever been. |
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Average salaries for Kansas higher ed teachers and professors
are average or below Big 12 standards, making
our best and brightest educators ripe for the
picking by rival states? |
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Kansans have always placed a high priority on quality
education. That’s why these, and other facts are
so troubling. CHE appreciates the fiscal challenges our state
government faces, but we also believe it is time for Kansas to
take a leadership role.
Please take time to review our
website, then get involved. Register with CHE online. There
are a number of ways you can help us preserve and improve the
quality of higher education in Kansas. Thank you for your
time and support. |
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| Ross Beach
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| Gene Bicknell |
| Jeff Crippen |
| John C Dicus |
| William Docking |
| Terrence P Dunn |
| James R Grier, III |
| Bill Hall |
| Kenneth Havner |
| Drue Jennings |
| Jim Lowther |
| Honorable Cordell Meeks |
| Fred Merrill |
| Joe C Morris |
| Bill E Musgrave |
| Robert D Regnier |
| E S Riss |
| Honorable Richard Rogers |
| Julie Davis Richey |
| John T Stewart |
| Bill Taylor |
| Robert Taylor |
| Kurt D Watson |
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