Facing Rising Tuition and Fees
Just when we were beginning to wonder about the students attending schools in the California State College and University system, some of them have given us reason to believe that they actually do have the ability to analyze problems and think for themselves. Faced with mounting tuition and other fees, students had up to now been protesting everyone except those actually responsible for the problem. It seems that they may finally have put two and two together this week when they took their protest to the union-owned, Democrat-run capital in Sacramento, correctly placing the blame for this crisis on the legislators who have plundered the state’s treasury. Maybe their thinking has not yet completely evolved to this conclusion, but at least they are protesting in the right location!
Through no fault of their own, many of these students are the products of the failing education system in California. It is no small feat, then, for them to have come to this difficult conclusion. In doing so, they had to abandon the prevailing liberal view extant at most of their institutions of higher learning and they even had to make a point of distancing themselves from the Occupy Movement that was in Sacramento at the same time. We cannot hold these college students responsible for the faulty reasoning that led to their previously misplaced anger. Instead, we salute them for being able to make the tough choices, admit that they were wrong and refocus their energy in the right direction.
California…A Horrible Example the Rest of the Country Should Heed
The rest of the country should take a good, long look at what has happened to California, because it is a harbinger (see WOW) of what is in store for them unless they take immediate action to change course. The education systems in many other states are also at risk of financial collapse due to the reckless spending of their legislators. Fortunately, the tax and spend liberals were thrown out of many legislatures in the 2010 midterm elections. Courageous individuals like Governor Scott Walker of Wisconsin are making good progress in bringing their states back from the brink by getting their fiscal affairs in order. But union bosses who see a threat to their tight, controlling grip on dues paying members are fighting back like caged weasels. Consequently, Governor Walker is facing a recall election in spite of the good work he has done for the people of his state.
Unfortunately, there is no easy solution now for California. It will take years to undue the harm that has been done. The only hopeful sign is that we appear to have some students in our college system who finally see the light and are taking the fight to the real perpetrators of this fraud. What they are doing to bring this situation to the attention of the public is important, because a well funded system of higher education, available to all qualified students regardless of financial means, is in the best interest of every citizen of the State of California.
Coming Next: Where Did California’s Education Money Go?