Familiar bad news, broadly cast

California Cuts Threaten the Status of Universities (New York Times)

...For generations, the University of California system — home to such globally renowned institutions as Berkeley and U.C.L.A. — has been widely recognized as perhaps the best example of what public universities could be. Along with the California State University system and the state’s vast number of community colleges, higher education options here have long been the envy of other states.
     But after years, and even decades, of budget cutbacks from the state, that reputation is under increasing threat.
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     Jon Coupal, the president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, which strongly opposes the proposed tax increase, said the colleges should do more to show they are cutting spending, like reducing pay for top administrators or closing programs that do not directly benefit the state.
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     [UCR] Chancellor White and others say the concerns about the budget cuts are beyond academic. For generations, the universities have been economic engines for the state, graduating hundreds of thousands of students each year. At every level, the universities are receiving more applicants than ever. But without more state money, colleges are struggling to find room for eligible students.
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Jack Scott

     The financial picture will grow even more dire if the tax increase backed by Governor Brown does not pass in November. The president of the University of California and the chancellor of California State University are both urging voters to approve the increase, saying that any more cuts would mean irreparable harm.
     As it stands, community colleges will not receive the same level of financing as they did in 2007 until 2014. If voters approve the governor’s tax proposal, they stand to receive $300 million more this year, but they will lose another $300 million if the tax increase is rejected.
     “We just have to get behind this initiative,” Jack Scott, the community colleges chancellor who is retiring this year, urged his colleagues in a conference call last month. “This is no time to quibble about whether the governor’s initiative is exactly what it ought to be or that you would change it here and there.”
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     “We’re not replacing library books, we’re not providing the kinds of student services that we need to, we’re not providing the kind of health care that we need to,” said Charles B. Reed, the chancellor of the Cal State system who recently announced his retirement. “This is supposed to be our work force for the state. We go down this road and we’re looking at an ugly Russian winter for the economy.”