Just Asking: Where Is the Proposition on Higher Ed vs. Prisons?

Byuclafaculty


Yesterday I posted the LAO’s guide to various November ballot propositions. Perhaps it might be of interest to ask about a proposition that is not on the ballot in November – and which was not on the ballot last June, either. Remember the governor’s State of the State speech in early January? If not, you can read it at: http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/speech/14118/

You might recall that the governor proposed a constitutional amendment that was supposed to guarantee that spending on higher ed would exceed spending on prisons. His accompanying press release http://gov.ca.gov/index.php?/press-release/14124/ summarized the plan as follows:

Constitutional Amendment to Increase Higher Education Funding
While this budget year will pose many challenges, the Governor drew the line at education and called for a historic realignment of California’s priorities. He announced that he would work to protect California’s schools and to shield higher education from further cuts. The Governor called on the legislature to help him make California’s education system a higher priority than prisons. Specifically, he proposed:
A constitutional amendment to ensure California cannot spend a greater percentage of General Fund (GF) dollars on its prisons than on higher education.

Still more details on the amendment were provided by the governor at:
http://images.emaildirect.com/clients/govpressoffice847/SOTSReshapingPrioritiesforHigherEducation.pdf

The proposal was praised by UC leaders at the time. Whatever happened to it? Just asking.

Similar Posts

  • Faculty call for pause on budget & network security changes at UCLA

    Byhigbie

    Over 250 UCLA faculty, including a large number of department chairs and center directors, have written Chancellor Block with a detailed critique of plans for administrative centralization. The letter follows earlier exchanges between department chairs and Executive Vice Chancellor/Provost Emily Carter and other top administrators. “Although we appreciated the fora that EVC/P Carter recently organized in response to an earlier letter requesting more time to evaluate the re-organization plans she is proposing, we continue to feel that there has been insufficient time or detail to evaluate their consequences and that we have not been adequately involved in the consultation process,”…

  • | | | | | | | | |

    Tradition!

    Byuclafaculty

    The Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO) has issued a report on UC and CSU funding.  LAO is usually viewed as a neutral agency.  But it is a component of the legislature.  So it tends to favor approaches that add to legislative control as opposed to, say, gubernatorial control.  This report is no exception. LAO seems to want to return to what it terms the “traditional” approach to funding, but with bells and whistles added to monitor legislative goals.  The traditional approach seems to be one focused on undergraduate enrollment.  But in fact the tradition – such as it is – has…

  • | |

    Contemplating Tuition, Motherhood, and Apple Pie

    Byuclafaculty

    Tuition is being studied up in Oakland by the UC prez, according to yesterday’s Daily Bruin: …“I want tuition to be as low as possible, and I want it to be as predictable as possible,” Napolitano said at a UC Board of Regents meeting in November.   In a recent Google Hangout with students from various UC campuses, students asked Napolitano to talk about her current work in reforming the UC’s tuition policy.  They also asked Napolitano how she plans to include student ideas in the reorganization of the tuition plan. Napolitano did not specify how student input would be…

  • | |

    Travel Focus Misses the Money Train

    Byuclafaculty

    You may have seen the article in yesterday’s Daily Bruin about UCLA tightening up its rules on travel reimbursements.  Why the tightening up? …Public records documenting the travel expenses of the university’s top brass, obtained and published by the Center for Investigative Reporting in August, drew national scrutiny last summer for the luxurious travel accommodations of UCLA’s leadership, sometimes in violation of University policy. The accommodations and pricy travel arrangements bloated the university’s travel budget by hundreds of thousands of dollars… Full story at http://dailybruin.com/2014/02/04/months-after-controversy-ucla-clarifies-travel-guidelines/ The problem with the original story is that it focuses on budget dust compared to…

  • | | | |

    She Sure Didn’t Bumble Her Meeting with the Bee

    Byuclafaculty

    UC prez Napolitano had a meeting with the editorial board of the Sacramento Bee recently and, evidently, said the right things:  Editorial: Janet Napolitano is showing a clear-eyed view of UC mission By the Editorial Board Published: Thursday, Jan. 16, 2014  UC President Janet Napolitano has her priorities for the university system in correct alignment; the question will be in the execution.  In a visit to The Sacramento Bee’s editorial board on Wednesday, Napolitano showed she is a quick study… Importantly, Napolitano was clear-eyed on the basic point that UC was “designed to build California,” and that its role in…