insight

C&D needed for our future

In a decade not so long ago, a decade commonly known as "The '90s," the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights was imposed in the state of Colorado. This constitutional amendment restricted state funding and government expansion.

This seemingly good gesture ended up being the arch-nemesis of public higher education. Major cutbacks were initiated. In the years 2001 through 2005 alone, state spending on higher education decreased a suffocating 21.3 percent. Now, as our class sizes swell, schools have not been able to hire enough full-time professors to accommodate. As schools struggle to earn money, corporations of all faces lurk in the shadows ready to pounce on any opportunity to slap their logos on diplomas and send their CEOs to the president's office.

Now, to fight the ratchet TABOR imposed on our state and to remove the lead weights from our beloved institutions, the strangest coalition to date has formed. To the right, we have Republican heavyweight and chair of Metro's Board of Trustees Bruce Benson and Governor Bill Owens ready for battle. From the left, Senator Andrew Romanoff and former gubernatorial candidate Rutt Bridges are advancing with smooth Ninja action spreading the good word of Referendums C and D on the ballot Nov. 1.

Dramatic introductions aside, the upcoming vote on Referendums C and D holds some serious weight here at Metro. While not generally one to get excited about electoral politics, I, Zo‰ T. Williams, beg you, for the sake of your school, to vote for Referendums C and D.

Referendum C will allow the state to spend the money it collects in taxes for five years. Taxpayers who have received deductions from pay beyond the requirements will still get their refunds. However, every Colorado taxpayer would give up a $50 to $150 refund to the state to use for K-12 education, health care, and public community and state colleges and universities.

Referendum D will only pass with its homeboy Referendum C. A "yes" vote on Referendum D will allow money collected to go to, among other things, repairs to state university and college buildings through the formation of $1.56 billion in bonds.

Remember that tuition increase of 2.1 percent last year? That increase was to compensate for money the state did not provide Metro. If Referendums C and D pass, such an increase would not be necessary in the future. Hear that? Tuition might not have to go up. Can I get a "hallelujah?"

The board of directors for Metro's Alumni Association released an endorsement for the referendums based on the grounds that our schools are now receiving less than 10 percent of their funding from the state. Because of this, the College Opportunity Fund vouchers that began this year, which in-state students receive annually, may decrease from a $2,400 annual allotment per student to $800. The Bell Policy Center estimates that, unless allocated more finances, the COF stipends may tap out by the year 2015. COF is the way the state funds higher education now. Rather than signing a check over to the school, Colorado allocates a stipend, which is tacked on to tuition payments each year. If the COF stipends suddenly dry up, our colleges will not be receiving state funding. Welcome to the world of privatized higher education, where instead of Metro we can all do our matriculating at Coors Community College.

Many opponents of the referendums will state that higher education has demonstrated no need for an increase in funding. In reality, they could not be more wrong. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reports that in the 15-year span of time from 2000-2015, the amount of high school graduates is to increase 37 percent. Surely not all of these students will go to the schools receiving benefits from C and D, but many will. More students will mean there is a need for more professors, more classes and more employees to staff service offices and more accommodations (such as computers in labs), not to mention basic technology and resource updates to classrooms, the library and offices. Metro needs funds not only to serve current students, but also to expand for incoming students.

The future of higher education is questionable at its current standing. You have the opportunity to, with one little vote, preserve the affordability and diversity of Metro. We can stop tuition increases and privatization while watching this place flourish if TABOR's death grip is pried off tax dollars.

Please, do the right thing. Save your school. Join me and give a big fat "yes" to Referendums C and D.