Column refutes governor's thinking about PA. State university budget cuts

[charlieschm]

<p>The</a> Miseducation of Mr. Corbett: APSCUF President Offers Facts on Public Higher Education in Pennsylvania APSCUF's Blog </p>

<p>Excerpt: </p>

<p>State-owned universities (PASSHE) have "cut 900 jobs since 2010. Does the governor know? Does he care? </p>

<p>In the same statement, Chancellor Cavanaugh and Chairman Pichini also note the system has saved $230 million in cost savings over the last decade — does the governor know? PASSHE has retrofitted heating plants, consolidated purchasing and centralized data collection. Does the governor care about such details? When Corbett says, “It’s incumbent upon the people of Pennsylvania to call on to control the cost of education,” does he know the facts? Does he care? </p>

<p>Last year, the governor approved an 18 percent cut in state funding; this year there are 150 fewer faculty in the classroom. If the General Assembly authorizes his 20 percent cut, is he willing to live with the loss of another 150? How concerned is he really for the students at the universities that the commonwealth owns? </p>

<p>Further, Corbett’s math seems to be a bit off. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Corbett stated his cuts would amount to 3.8 percent of the system’s operating budget. Since his cuts are $82 million and the system’s budget is $1.5 billion, his math simply doesn’t work. When he asked the Siemens executives if they could live with an 1.8 percent cut (the percent cited for Temple University), did he not realize that, even with his math, that’s half of what PASSHE would have to cope with? Since my calculator comes up with 5.5 percent cut of PASSHE’s budget, does he know the ramifications? Does he care?"</p>

[charlieschm]

<p>[PA</a>. to cut public college funding by $257 million to pay for $247 million corporate tax cut - Democratic Underground](<a href=“http://www.democraticunderground.com/10741147]PA”>http://www.democraticunderground.com/10741147)</p>