It was the greatest education system the world had ever seen. They built it into the eucalyptus-dotted Berkeley hills and under the bright lights of Los Angeles, down in the valley in Fresno and in the shadows of the San Bernardino Mountains. Hundreds of college campuses, large and small, two-year and four-year, stretching from California's emerald forests in the north to the heat-scorched Inland Empire in the south. Each had its own DNA, but common to all was this: they promised a “public” education, accessible and affordable, to those with means and those without, a door with a welcome mat into the ivory tower, an invitation to a better life.
Then California bled that system dry. Over three decades, voters starved their state -- and so their colleges and universities -- of cash. Politicians siphoned away what money remained and spent it more on imprisoning people, not educating them. College administrators grappled with shriveling state support by jacking up tuitions, tacking on new fees, and so asking more each year from increasingly pinched students and families. Today, many of those students stagger under a heap of debt as they linger on waiting lists to get into the over-subscribed classes they need to graduate.
I think the St. Andreas fault will take care of california soon.
ReplyDeleteBreak off and sail away into the pacific.
This article is all based on a farcical argument.
ReplyDeleteCalifornia voters didn't starve their state. California has one of the largest economies in the world...I think it's #8. They also have the highest personal income tax rate in the nation and the fourth highest sales tax rate.
California is also one of the most business-unfriendly states in the country. Anything that can be manufactured or serviced outside of the state will be.
Over time, California's propositions and lax immigration policies have allowed voters to give themselves tons of expensive entitlement and balooned the state's welfare system.
The real problem in California is a spending problem. Their politicians have no concept of finite budgets (we see it here in Maryland, too). And the proposition system enables a cause to easily exploit the flaws of direct democracy (benefits for 51% at the expense of the other 49%). Meanwhile, the highest tax burdon in the country isn't enough to fund this mess.
My wife really wants to move back there, but I don't want to walk in on the cleanup while getting none of the benefits. lol