By Megan Perry
Life for students gets tougher and rougher as the semesters stack up. The fight for courses gets more vicious, the need for supplies deepens and staying in school gets harder by the day.
Last month, the Board of Governors approved new Title 5 regulations, which puts a 100-unit cap on priority registration. In addition to that, the East Los Angeles College Academic Senate just recently approved a policy that would place another cap on the number of units a student may register for intersession semesters. To top it all off, students may only attempt a class a total of three times.
Those passing and approving the new policies and regulations say it’s meant to help student success. They say it’s to make college life fair for all students, but students can see past that.
It’s about money.
They are trying to weed out the students who collect a large number of units by the semester, like the students who explore different departments looking for the right program. The school needs to save money, since the district tapped into and took the reserve money ELAC was saving.
The district needs to save money because the state keeps reducing the budget it allocates for schools instead of assisting each school district equally. The state won’t stop cutting the budget until the nation pulls itself out of this deep recession and has enough money to efficiently provide for its schools.
Right now, the situation in America is not looking good for the future. But we as constituents can make the difference. Elections are weeks away, and the Los Angeles County Registrar mailed out sample ballots last week. It’s time to crack open the seal and the booklet and take a look on what’s inside. It’s time to study up on the state measures and think about the effects they will have on the nation.
All of the state measures are important, but there are some that students need to pay close attention to. One proposition crucial to the future of education is Proposition 30, temporary taxes to fund education.
Don’t be afraid of the language. This proposition will increase taxes on earnings more than $250,000 for seven years and sales tax by a quarter percent. This is a tax on the elite one percent. This is a way for those in the 99 percent to make the wealthy pay.
If you’re one who doesn’t want to see reductions in the 2012-13 school year to educational programs, then yes is the vote to cast on voting day for state measure (Proposition) 30. The failure of the governor’s tax initiative would lead to dire situations for the educational system in California. Getting the courses needed in a student’s educational plan would be as hard as getting through a mosh pit at a rock concert.
Most Cal State Universities are not accepting applications for the spring 2013 semester, and will hold applications for the fall 2013 semester until the end of the filing period, Nov. 30. If Proposition 30 does not pass on election day, November 6, the CSU system will suffer an additional $250 million cut.
Since CSU enrollment capacity relies on the budget funds, the failure of Proposition 30 would result in fewer students being admitted for the fall semester. This measure is important for the educational system.
Students need to get to the polls and make their voices heard in numbers. We need to make sure this measure makes its way through the ballot to the pockets of our schools.
It’s time to tell the government that enough is enough. It is time to stop cutting the budgets for education. The passing of Proposition 30 is going to help fund education, but it’s not the only state measure on the ballot that would allocate funds into the accounts of schools statewide.
There are a number of state measures that will assist schools. Everyone should take a look at their sample ballot mailer.
If you didn’t receive one, then you may not be registered to vote. If that’s the case, then you should head to your local post office, library or city hall and make a difference. Don’t be afraid of words like “tax,” “initiative” or “increase.”
These measures are placed before the public for the public to decide. The only way students can see a change at their schools is to make the change themselves. We should take in mind that there is money for schools but it is just a matter of distributing the fair share that all districts deserve.
Let’s get ourselves to the polls and get our fair share of money.