UC Tuition Fees Could Double

Parents Forum
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<p>lateparty, Brown is doing nothing but rein in spending. The budget proposal at this point consists of 100% cuts. Taxes are off the table. And BTW, you can’t pin this disaster on Brown; this is his first budget. The last 8 budgets were passed under the Governator.</p>

<p>Our school district has already cut librarians and music and art programs. At my D’s former high school, there are now 3.5 GCs to serve 1800 students; a further cut would mean reducing even that meager staffing level. If the all-cuts budget goes through, the state is looking at reducing the length of the school year. Is that enough “fat” for you?</p>

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<p>If I knew ACG, National SMART Grant would be cut and Federal Pell Grant would be reduced and UC fees would increase, I would have gone to SJSU. :(</p>

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<p>chaospaladin, don’t panic yet. Nothing has been officially proposed or decided. </p>

<p>Some version of this happens every year as the governor and the legislators talk publicly about their positions. They hope to drum up support for whatever they’re trying to do. It’s basically negotiating in public. Personally, I can’t believe that after all the dust has settled, they would actually double UC tuition. The blowback would be horrendous, and they know it. In other words, they’d be punished in the next election cycle, and bottom line, that’s what matters most to them.</p>

<p>In the meantime, if you want to do something, find out who your state senator is, as well as your state assemblyman, and fire off an email. [Your</a> Legislature](<a href=“http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html]Your”>Your Legislature)</p>

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<p>LaMas: You do have to concede that there IS a lot of waste (fat) in public education- from K-12, right through the University system. It is everywhere. UC Admin salary pay scale is what attracts attention after every fee increase. K-12 turning out such a huge % of students who do not qualify for University level work in Math/English and the re-do of high school is dragging the BA degree down to a high school degree. A BA/BS degree is essentially becoming worthless, and does not assure a higher income in the future, nor a better educated population, as the system functions now. </p>

<p>Remember the California Exit exam? If deficient in basic high school skill in 10th grade, 2 years to bring up skills and pass the test. What happened first cycle? First senior class to graduate under this benchmark, had something like 300,000 students who could not pass the exam and so a lawsuit was filed to get their HS diploma anyhow- unfair was the reasoning. I’m not sure what the final out come was, but the degrees were granted and I’m sure may went on to CSU for remediation. Just think how much that costs the taxpayer every year. </p>

<p>I want to add that I do think K-12 is largely the parents job to make sure each child does the homework and reads daily at home, plus do math drills. Not that hard for any parent to do. Parents still have to parent, or the kid will suffer, and that is the way it is everywhere.</p>

<p>Not to attack just education, I personally know 5 firefighter’s who are retiring this year with full benefits and are starting their next career. The firefighters need to work at least 10 years longer - 60 does not seem too old these days- they just don’t have to be on the front line after maybe 55. But I digress.</p>

<p>The point is, there is a lot of obvious fat in the system, a university education is a privilege not a right, which should not be treated as an extension of high school- all access, no matter skill level. If remediation of any kind is required the first and only step should be CC, kept affordable, but paid for by the student. If that means a student has to work and go to school- thus taking 3-4 years to qualify for CSU/UC transfer than that is what it takes. </p>

<p>It’s not that I am jumping on you LasMA, I understand your passion, but the system needs to be corrected at the very basic level before the general tax payer is going to vote for tax increases, or in this case, extensions (completely different) for education or to float bonds. If the middle class is not able to educate their children in the CSU/UC system and have to pay out of state tuition and go else where (they see this as taxing them in addition to the taxes they pay), well, you can see where that is going to go- totally counter productive, got to keep the middle class engaged our else…</p>

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<p>"we don’t want to make USA a communist country. So we would prefer if people pay their share for the services being used. "
Lets see now- so even though the UC General plan has been in place for much longer [ 50+ years] than you have lived in Calif, and was a big reason that Calif became a major technology center in the first place, attracting thousands of immigrants like you, to the the US for Graduate study, you now think Calif is becoming a communist country because of it? That is the ultimate “have your cake and eat it to, while others can starve” justification of selfish, blind republicans. Tell you what POIH, instead, lets have your property taxes raised each year to reflect the actual price of your home, instead of you sitting there, protected by Prop 13, telling us you don’t want to contribute to the welfare of the state you now call home. That would solve all of Calif $$ problems. Or you could move to Mass and pay thousands of $$ more in property taxes for essentially the same house. You, and others who want it all, can’t have it all, while others , who have less opportunity than you were given when you were first allowed into this country, see their chances for higher education in Calif disappear.</p>

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<p>Couple of corrections:

  1. I’ve not gone to any US University for any of my BS/MS degree.
  2. I’ve no problem with repealing prop 13 which I think inflate the home prices to begin with.
  3. I’m an independent and not Republican. I’ve voted for both Arnold and Jerry.
  4. Something that was applicable 40 years ago might not be appropriate for current time.</p>
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<p>The General plan is not the problem. Prop 13 and the handcuffs it put on Califs ability to pass legislation and pay its bills is the problem. And If it hadn’t been for the General plan, Calif would not have become a technology magnet, creating thousands of jobs for smart educated people, including immigrants such as yourself. Because of those opportunities, Calif is in no danger of becoming a “communist” country. What a silly thing to say, let alone think.</p>

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<p>Correction:
I’m not an immigrant but a settler in US, understand the difference and don’t paint all people coming and settling in US as immigrant.</p>

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<p>If Prop 13 is repealed, most seniors, as well as the middle class, will be priced out of their own homes. I am talking about homes that we have paid off, knowing what our budgets would be in retirement. I am tired of carrying California on my working class back, but the repeal of Prop 13 will break that hardworking back. Our property values will plunge as no one will be able to afford their property taxes. Cut the FAT in California: aka: PUBLIC SERVANTS (what an oxymoron!) wages, retirement and benefits. When firemen make more than the principal at your high school, you know there is a big problem!</p>

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<p>Aren’t property taxes frozen to what you pay when you buy the house or is that for the Bay Area only?</p>

<p>Do cities and towns vote on the budgets there (and therefore set the property tax rates) or do elected officials set the budgets?</p>

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<p>Interesting factoid in the local paper yesterday about K12 educators. Teacher retirees in California earn more than the average salaries of working teachers in ~30 other states.</p>

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<p>California does have a very high cost of living.</p>

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<p>“immigrant but a settler”</p>

<p>??? there is no net difference. you “immigrated” to this country, did you not? That is the correct terminology for one who is born in one country and moves to another to live.
aren’t we touchy?</p>

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<p>what needs to be repealed is the part of Prop 13 that requires a 65% approval on any legislation that the state needs to pass. That part of Prop 13 is what has “hogtied” the legislature and the state and has kept it at the mercy of a small minority of legislators.</p>

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<p>Property taxes aren’t frozen, they’re limited to annual increases of the inflation rate, as measured by the California Consumer Price Index, or 2%, whichever is less. Properties are reappraised when the property is sold or when new construction is completed. </p>

<p>The property tax rate is set by the state and collected by the counties. Under Proposition 13, the property tax rate is fixed at 1% of assessed value.</p>

<p>Prop 13 has caused a number of unintended consequences, the loss of local control of K-12 school funding being just one of them. Local school districts are for the most part dependent on what they get from Sacramento and have to budget accordingly. There are exceptions in the “Basic Aid” districts where the district’s per pupil property tax revenue exceeds its per pupil revenue limit. For these districts, the state does not provide any general purpose funding, instead they receive all of their general purpose funding from the local property tax.</p>

<p>Schools are now turning to parcel taxes which are levied at the school district level in order to replace funding pulled by the state. Obviously parcel taxes in wealthier school districts have an easier sell to their voters than those in poorer areas. A second parcel tax is on my local ballot right now, adding approx $200/year to the original tax of $600/year. Polls of voters indicated that $200 was the most that would be amenable to voters in my district.</p>

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<p>It could be worse; you folks could live in PA and I don’t just mean the weather. Our state-supported flagships (Penn State, Pitt) already cost $14k in state, and will go up faster because the governor proposes to cut funding by 50%. This also affects our K-12 schools; the poorest districts being hurt the most because they get the most state funding. It’s the same everywhere.</p>

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<p>The term “immigrant” is often considered to be rather disparaging. </p>

<p>An immigrant means some one who escape hardship in his/her home country and come for a better future to some other country.</p>

<p>A settler means someone who’s status doesn’t change depending on the country he/she choose to settle in. </p>

<p>If tomorrow you decide to retire in coastal France or Switzerland or Cancun, you won’t become an immigrant but a settler. </p>

<p>So choose your words responsibly.</p>

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<p>You also should choose your words responsibly. Implying that funding public universities through tax dollars is somehow communist is far more absurd and erroneous than someone calling a “settler” an immigrant or vice versa.</p>

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<p>^^^: I use my words cautiously what I said</p>

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<p>The way democratic leadership is bent upon not cutting expenses give me the indication that we are trying to move toward communisom. If the only way to fix all problems is to tax more and more than what else we are gearing the country towards, captilism …</p>

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When I make a word do a lot of work like that, I always pay it extra.</p>