Romney's Education Failure

Massachusetts legislators are correct to attack Governor Mit Romney's budget proposal this past week, especially the increases to the education budget. While the $70 million increase is one of the few significant increases in the proposed budget for the next fiscal year, it masks the larger problem faced by education in Massachusetts, especially at the state's institutions of higher education.

Last year, Massachusetts gained the undesirable distinction of being the state to have made the largest budgetary cuts to secondary and higher education. In 2002, under acting-Governor Jane Swift, the UMass-Amherst campus alone had to deal with a $20 million cut in funding. Over the last three years, the legislature has cut the higher education budget by 25 percent. Last year, for the first time in four decades, the state spent more money on prisons and jails than on education.

The $70 million increase Governor Romney proposes for the 2005 fiscal year will only be a ten percent increase to spending on public higher education. For most of the state institutions, the money will immediately be spent on salary increases that were negotiated two years ago, but so far have been left unfunded. Despite the emphasis he places on the education increases in the message that accompanies his budget proposal, there are numerous reasons to doubt his true intentions. Rep. Ellen Story (D-Amherst) is fearful of the precedent set by former acting-Governor Jane Swift. In 2002 her administration negotiated a new payroll contract with University faculty, which it never followed through on.

The university system faces even graver problems than maintaining and attracting faculty with a smaller budget. A report by the state Board of Higher Education in October 2003 found that the 24 state and community colleges in Massachusetts need over $1 billion dollars in construction and renovation to be able to serve their function for the rest of the decade. The options of the UMass system are limited, and if state funding continues to drop the universities are at risk of failure.

Public education is a vital component of American society, and one that even students at private institutions such as Tufts should care about. The majority of students at Tufts have attended a public school for some period of their lives, and many will attend graduate school at a public university. Residents and students in Massachusetts should be aware of Governor Romney's failure to make a real commitment to education.

Every state faces the same problems as Massachusetts. Tuition increases have been so steep that it drew the attention of the national legislature. Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) proposed a bill in November 2003 that would have limited federal financial aid to any university that increased tuition at a percentage greater than the inflation rate. This bill simply highlights the problem, but does not offer a solution. At the state and national level, legislators need to be more creative and committed to maintaining the gift of a low-priced and high-quality public education.