Education Beat: Lawmakers Give Failing Grade To Paterson’s Higher Education Plan
‘Rational tuition policy’ facing strong backlash from Legislature, unions
Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:29:00
Gov. David Paterson is calling his plan to reform the way students at CUNY and SUNY pay tuition one of the most “significant public higher education reforms in a generation.”
But initial reactions in the State Legislature indicate that the governor’s plan will have a steep battle in the coming months.
In the past, legislators have balked at approving such measures, rejecting a similar proposal by then-Gov. George Pataki in 2005 to impose a “rational tuition policy” at the state and city’s universities. Paterson is banking on the fact that the state’s fiscal crisis will force some lawmakers to give his proposal a second look.
The governor’s budget cutting may undermine his efforts. In the recently released executive budget, Paterson is calling for a $1.4 billion cut to school aid, with $321 million cut from higher education, one of the deepest cuts in education funding in over a decade. Legislators are calling foul, saying the governor’s desire to reform tuition for SUNY and CUNY while simultaneously slashing university budgets is a raw deal for students at all 64 campuses across the state.
“It struck me that the governor was cutting financial support to CUNY and SUNY and calling that reform,” said State Sen. Toby Stavisky, who chairs the higher education committee. “That’s disingenuous.”
Stavisky’s fellow Higher Education chair, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, agreed, saying that Paterson was simply recycling Pataki’s plan and calling it something new.
“These are not what I would term ‘reforms,’” Glick said. “They are old proposals that originated with the Pataki administration.”
Paterson’s aides insist his reform plan is different than past proposals. The governor’s bill would remove SUNY and CUNY tuition from the budget process and provide universities with the discretion to raise tuition based on the five-year rolling average of the Higher Education Price Index, a measure of the inflation rate for the cost of higher education. Schools could also charge more for more sought-after majors and programs such as science and business. Last year, the Legislature approved a hike in state tuition to fill some of the state’s budget hole. The Paterson administration is hoping that any future tuition increase would just be to the benefit of the schools themselves, rather than as a way to fill budget holes.
“Every time we have a recession in New York State, we increase SUNY tuition by 20 percent,” said Robert Megna, the state budget director. “There’s a chart I look at that, every time I see it, drives me crazy.”
He added, “This system has failed. It’s bad for the students. And we want real flexibility.”
Paterson’s supporters believe the bill will over time make tuition increases more predictable for CUNY and SUNY students. But even more so, they say, the plan would strengthen the university systems as institutions of higher learning, resulting in an increased flow of skilled workers into the state’s job market.
“This is a much needed remedy to allow SUNY to become a viable economic force in New York State,” said H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller and a current SUNY trustee. “This bill really understands that we are in a fiscal crisis. But [the Legislature] might look at it differently.”
Indeed, Glick says she sees chaos as a result of the plan, not economic recovery. She said that the governor’s bill would create a system where different campuses were offering different rates of tuition, which would lead to a rush of enrollment in the cheaper schools.
“Which means students would be inundating the lowest-cost campuses, not necessarily based on anything but affordability,” Glick said. “It completely skews the notion of access and affordability.”
And labor leaders agree, saying Paterson’s reforms would in effect shut out poorer students from the more in-demand majors and programs.
“We are very concerned about the way such a program would deepen the existing racial and class divisions,” said Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress, a union that represents over 20,000 CUNY faculty and staff. “It could be like Hunter College costs more than your college. That means that Hunter becomes harder for a poorer family to afford.”
But what may actually motivate the Legislature to reject the governor’s higher education proposal is the prospect of relinquishing the power over tuition increases.
Steve Sanders, the former chair of the Assembly education committee and a lobbyist at Malkin Ross, said that while the Legislature has a tradition of wanting to keep CUNY and SUNY tuition as low and comparable as possible, the idea of ceding its authority over tuition to the schools themselves might be the final straw for many elected officials.
“This is about two things,” Sanders said. “One, it’s about the power: who gets to exercise the way rates ought to be. The other is about the price of education to students. The Legislature is loath to cede the sanctioning ability it has now. And because those are two big concerns, in my opinion, it’s unlikely this plan will make it to the end.”
But initial reactions in the State Legislature indicate that the governor’s plan will have a steep battle in the coming months.
In the past, legislators have balked at approving such measures, rejecting a similar proposal by then-Gov. George Pataki in 2005 to impose a “rational tuition policy” at the state and city’s universities. Paterson is banking on the fact that the state’s fiscal crisis will force some lawmakers to give his proposal a second look.
The governor’s budget cutting may undermine his efforts. In the recently released executive budget, Paterson is calling for a $1.4 billion cut to school aid, with $321 million cut from higher education, one of the deepest cuts in education funding in over a decade. Legislators are calling foul, saying the governor’s desire to reform tuition for SUNY and CUNY while simultaneously slashing university budgets is a raw deal for students at all 64 campuses across the state.
“It struck me that the governor was cutting financial support to CUNY and SUNY and calling that reform,” said State Sen. Toby Stavisky, who chairs the higher education committee. “That’s disingenuous.”
Stavisky’s fellow Higher Education chair, Assembly Member Deborah Glick, agreed, saying that Paterson was simply recycling Pataki’s plan and calling it something new.
“These are not what I would term ‘reforms,’” Glick said. “They are old proposals that originated with the Pataki administration.”
Paterson’s aides insist his reform plan is different than past proposals. The governor’s bill would remove SUNY and CUNY tuition from the budget process and provide universities with the discretion to raise tuition based on the five-year rolling average of the Higher Education Price Index, a measure of the inflation rate for the cost of higher education. Schools could also charge more for more sought-after majors and programs such as science and business. Last year, the Legislature approved a hike in state tuition to fill some of the state’s budget hole. The Paterson administration is hoping that any future tuition increase would just be to the benefit of the schools themselves, rather than as a way to fill budget holes.
“Every time we have a recession in New York State, we increase SUNY tuition by 20 percent,” said Robert Megna, the state budget director. “There’s a chart I look at that, every time I see it, drives me crazy.”
He added, “This system has failed. It’s bad for the students. And we want real flexibility.”
Paterson’s supporters believe the bill will over time make tuition increases more predictable for CUNY and SUNY students. But even more so, they say, the plan would strengthen the university systems as institutions of higher learning, resulting in an increased flow of skilled workers into the state’s job market.
“This is a much needed remedy to allow SUNY to become a viable economic force in New York State,” said H. Carl McCall, the former state comptroller and a current SUNY trustee. “This bill really understands that we are in a fiscal crisis. But [the Legislature] might look at it differently.”
Indeed, Glick says she sees chaos as a result of the plan, not economic recovery. She said that the governor’s bill would create a system where different campuses were offering different rates of tuition, which would lead to a rush of enrollment in the cheaper schools.
“Which means students would be inundating the lowest-cost campuses, not necessarily based on anything but affordability,” Glick said. “It completely skews the notion of access and affordability.”
And labor leaders agree, saying Paterson’s reforms would in effect shut out poorer students from the more in-demand majors and programs.
“We are very concerned about the way such a program would deepen the existing racial and class divisions,” said Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress, a union that represents over 20,000 CUNY faculty and staff. “It could be like Hunter College costs more than your college. That means that Hunter becomes harder for a poorer family to afford.”
But what may actually motivate the Legislature to reject the governor’s higher education proposal is the prospect of relinquishing the power over tuition increases.
Steve Sanders, the former chair of the Assembly education committee and a lobbyist at Malkin Ross, said that while the Legislature has a tradition of wanting to keep CUNY and SUNY tuition as low and comparable as possible, the idea of ceding its authority over tuition to the schools themselves might be the final straw for many elected officials.
“This is about two things,” Sanders said. “One, it’s about the power: who gets to exercise the way rates ought to be. The other is about the price of education to students. The Legislature is loath to cede the sanctioning ability it has now. And because those are two big concerns, in my opinion, it’s unlikely this plan will make it to the end.”
