Shutting the door on the most needy students at UC Irvine

Guest Blog Post from HOPE Leadership Institute Participant- Class of 2009:

One issue affecting my community in the current budget crisis is the closing of a TRIO student support services unit at UC Irvine, my alma mater. The Student Academic Advancement Services Office is funded in part by a federal grant that is awarded to meet specific proposal requirements to serve first generation and low income undergraduates. What makes this program closure problematic is that the Student Academic Advancement Services receives federal funds, and changing a program abruptly without a plan in place could jeopardize those much needed dollars. Federal TRIO programs were established in the 1960s as part of President Johnson’s War on Poverty agenda. Federal grant programs, such as Student Academic Advancement Services (SAAS), have to adhere to strict proposal requirements, and ironically this program has secured federal funds to run through the next academic year, so why is it being closed?

On July 30, 2009, the Dean of Undergraduate Education, Sharon Salinger, informed the Student Academic Advancement Office that it would be shut down on August 31 due to University budget cuts. This office has staff with approximately 100 combined years of experience providing services to this at-risk population of college students and has been referred to as a model program by independent auditors. First generation and low income undergraduates are often at risk of not completing college because they lack the familial support systems and networks to help them succeed. Undergraduates who come from families with parents who haven’t even been to college often don’t know where to begin to seek resources to support their educational experiences. This is where offices like SAAS come in.

SAAS provides key college acculturation programs such as Summer Bridge, peer counseling workshops, access to information about test preparation, research opportunities, and support to apply for graduate school. In addition to these services, the office staff is diverse. First generation and low income students can be any ethnicity, but often, in the Golden State, they are students of color. Having role models and counselors who come from similar circumstances is often a positive reminder of what these students can achieve.

Dean Sharon Salinger has repeatedly cited the state budget crisis as the reason for closing the SAAS offices, but funds from the federal government have already been secured for the upcoming school year under a proposal written by the existing staff. Why would the Dean jeopardize these funds by closing an office that has performed successfully for over 30 years on the UC Irvine campus with such vast experience? Isn’t this maneuver akin to GOP governors trying to refuse federal stimulus funds? I think so because Dean Salinger, a Professor of Humanities with expertise on colonial taverns and social drinking, does not prior have professional experience working with TRIO programs, as described on her official faculty profile. More importantly, Salinger has not offered an alternative plan to the existing successful program.

In speaking with Angelita Salas, a counselor for the soon to be closed SAAS program, about what Dean Salinger has planned for the most vulnerable of UC Irvine’s undergraduates, she offered, “The Dean keeps making reference that she is planning to have similar SAAS programs — albeit under a different administrative structure. She has shown nothing to any of us in writing or verbally to prove it or has anything in place — no staff, nothing. The students keep asking, ‘What are these plans?’ And with school starting in a month, many want to know what will be here for them when they arrive.”

First generation and low income undergraduates at UC Irvine deserve more. They have crossed many hurdles to get to the state’s premiere public higher education system. Many have been seeing SAAS counselors and mentors for a while and have built rapports with the professional and student staff. At a time of uncertainty in their private lives because of financial constraints and the general climate of insecurity, is closing down a federally funded support services program and restructuring with a month before the start of fall quarter a wise decision? Furthermore, can this kind of restructuring occur most expediently with a Dean who students feel acted unethically in shutting down the SAAS office?

Leandra Ordorica, a third year Chicano/Latino studies major at UCI, expressed her frustrations with Dean Salinger’s decision to terminate the SAAS program. She stated, “What Dean Salinger did was unethical, and it was a blind decision. Dean Salinger has not worked with students enough for her to know that TRIO programs such as SAAS do work. SAAS has been successful for the last 30years; I do not understand why Salinger decided to close down a successful and well know program such as SAAS. Dean Salinger’s position is to overlook the Department of Undergraduate Education. However, she does not work directly with our students for her to know the positive impact that SAAS provide for low income, first generation, and disabled students at UCI.”

The students and alumni of the SAAS program have created a facebook group to address their plight. In addition, the students have produced this youtube video to express their appreciation and desire for the program to continue. While the closing date of the office is next week, it isn’t too late to express to the UC administration and the US Department of Education Federal TRIO Office Director the dissatisfaction of abruptly changing course one month out before the start of the academic school year. You can reach the Office of Federal TRIO Programs Director Linda Byrd-Johnson at (202) 502-7600 or e-mail at linda.byrd-johnson@ed.gov. And you can e-mail the administration at UC Irvine at chancellor@uci.edu and president@ucop.edu (UC Office of the President).

Finally, I know many successful alumni who have utilized the support services offered by Student Academic Advancement Services at UC Irvine. Many of those SAAS Anteater alumni are still in contact with the current program staff and have come back to campus to share their experiences. It saddens me, as an anteater alum, to know that current students will pay more for tuition and receive less, not having the benefits of a program with a proven track record.

How will your city be affected by the state budget?

The new state budget will borrow $2 billion dollars from local governments to cover  the deficit. The Sacramento Bee released a database tool today that allows you to see how your city will be affected by cuts. For example, California will borrow $28 per resident of the City of Los Angeles. The numbers are drawn from estimates given by local government associations who are planning for the cuts.

Example: City of Los Angeles

Government entity	County	Type of government	Estimated amount state will borrow or take this fiscal year	borrowed per resident
Los Angeles	Los Angeles	City Government	$112,913,264	$28

Click Here to See How Your City Is Affected

A Deal — at last

kyamamura@sacbee.com

Published Tuesday, Jul. 21, 2009

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders agreed Monday to erase California’s $26 billion deficit by cutting broadly across state government, shifting costs into the future and taking funds from cities and counties.

State leaders believe their budget plan is good enough to end the state’s issuance of IOUs, a practice California is using for only the second time since the Great Depression.

Standing with legislative leaders in front of his Capitol office Monday evening, Schwarzenegger called the deal “a really great, great accomplishment,” and heralded the fact that the $88 billion general fund budget includes no tax increases.

Legislative leaders spoke in sober tones about producing a plan with $15.5 billion in cuts they know will face scorn from millions of Californians who depend on state government for services, education or employment, as well as from local officials whose budgets were already teetering. Both Democrats and Republicans blamed the ongoing recession for the choices they made.

“This is, of course, one of the most difficult economic times to face our state since the Great Depression,” said Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee, R-San Luis Obispo. “So none of these were easy choices. All of them entailed difficult options for the state.”

Read More…

Support for Sotomayor Holds Steady at 53%

As the Senate begins its confirmation hearings of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor Monday, a new Gallup Poll finds Americans in favor of her winning Senate approval, by 53% to 33%. Since late May, shortly after her nomination was announced, the percentage in favor of her confirmation has changed little, but the percentage opposed has increased as the percentage with no opinion has gone down.

Read More…

Schwarzenegger orders third furlough day

The governor calls lawmakers’ inaction on the budget ‘inexecusable’ and orders a special emergency session of the Legislature to deal with the deficit, which he says has now swelled to $26.3 billion.

By Shane Goldmacher and Michael Rothfeld
12:32 PM PDT, July 1, 2009

Reporting from Sacramento — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning ordered state workers to take a third day off without pay each month after Republican lawmakers acting with his support blocked a Democratic proposal to ease the state’s deficit and allow the government to keep paying bills.

The Republican governor unveiled billions of dollars in additional proposed cuts to schools and public universities to deal with a deficit that he says is now $26.3 billion, an increase of $2 billion. He also announced an emergency special session of the Legislature that would allow lawmakers to act on them immediately.

Read More…

Every Student Deserves the Choice to Go to College

HOPE responds to State Senator Wright’s comments regarding SB 381

Hispanas Organized for Political Equality (HOPE) strongly believes that all students should be prepared to be successful in college and/or a career when they graduate from high school. Aligning graduation requirements with college admission standards ensures that students will be eligible for secondary education and better prepared to enter the job market.

As a Latina serving organization, HOPE supports the Multiple Pathways approach that integrates a college prep curriculum with career technical education to expose students to both the rigor and relevance of the subject matter. This approach helps to keep student interest by providing real world examples but also holds students to high standards.

Latinas make up a quarter, 1.5 million, of public school students in California. According to the California Department of Education, in the 2006-07 school year, only twenty-nine percent of Latina graduates completed the required courses for admission to a CSU or UC, there by limiting their choices to a community college or entry level work.

Legislation like SB 381 co- authored by Sen. Rod Wright (D-Los Angeles) and Sen. Mark Wyland (R-Carlsbad) would create two tracks of study in high school and for too long minority and low-income students have been steered away from college. In these difficult economic times and changing job market, we must give our students as many options to success as possible.

CA To Issue IOU’s

This story is taken from Sacbee / Capitol and California

 

Without a budget, California could issue IOUs

swiegand@sacbee.com

Published Sunday, Jun. 14, 2009

June 15 is usually recognized around the Capitol as the day on which the Legislature thumbs its collective nose at a constitutional deadline that a state budget be passed.

That’s how it’s been celebrated on 29 of the past 33 June 15ths.

This year, however, there’s a twist: Lawmakers have already approved a budget for the fiscal year that starts July 1 – in fact, they did it in February.

But they’ve been unable to mend a $24 billion rip that has appeared in it since then – and that could cause as much trouble as if they were still squabbling over the budget itself.

That’s because without a budget patch in place by the end of this month, state finance officials say there’s a chance state government might have to do what it hasn’t done in 17 years: issue IOUs instead of paying its bills.

“This week I sat down with the controller and also with the treasurer,” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger told a Southern California audience on Friday, “and we all agreed that after June 15, every day of inaction jeopardizes our state’s solvency, and our ability to pay schools and teachers, and to keep hospitals and ERs open.”

The actual fiscal jeopardy is neither that dire nor that simple, but it’s still serious.

Read More

Latina Action Day Advocacy Poll Raffle

CA Voters Prefer Spending Cuts to Tax Increases

With the May 19th Special Election rapidly approaching, Governor Schwarzeneggar is campaigning across the state to gain support for the propositions.

A California Field Poll commissioned for the Sacramento Bee’s Capitol Alert revealed that voters overwhelmingly support solving the state budget crisis by reducing spending as opposed to increasing taxes. Although the voters support spending cuts, they do not support cuts of funding towards public schools, health care and higher education.
Click here to see the entire results of the field poll.

Are you ready for the Statewide Special Election? If not, learn more about the proprositions and the state budget process by downloading HOPE’s 2009 Budget Analysis.

Special Election Trivia:

*Only 6 statewide special elections have been called since 1973-half of them since 2003.
*Governors may call special elections to expedite voting on a qualified initiative or to keep an initiative off the general election ballot.
*In the last special election (2005), there was a 50.1% voter turnout.
(Courtesy of the Public Policy Institute of California)

Voters have an ugly choice

From the Los Angeles Times:

Voters’ choice: bad policy or deeper debt
Proposition 1C, the lottery measure, is an ugly measure for an ugly time
George Skelton
Capitol Journal

From Sacramento — Californians will face a dreadful choice next month. They can vote for horrible public policy. Or they can plunge the state deeper into the deficit hole.

If their decision is more red ink, they should be prepared to accept additional painful cuts in government services or yet higher taxes. Or both.

The decision will be about Proposition 1C on the May 19 special election ballot.

Prop. 1C — the “Lottery Modernization Act” — is one of six budget-related measures proposed by the Legislature and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. It is by far the measure with the biggest immediate money impact.

It would authorize significant tweaking and expansion of the state lottery, creating more winners. And it also would allow the state to borrow $5 billion immediately against future lottery revenue.

Those should be separate questions: 1) Should the state expand its gambling operation? 2) Should Sacramento take out a loan for, say, 30 years just to help pay one year’s worth of daily expenses?

Ordinarily, you might think a bit about growing the lottery. And, ordinarily, you’d probably instantly respond that the borrowing is a really bad idea. But these are hardly ordinary times.

The governor and Legislature, who in February thought they had finally closed a $41-billion hole with a combination of program cuts, tax increases and the lottery borrowing, recently learned that an $8-billion gap has reappeared. Widen it to $13 billion if Prop. 1C is rejected.

That supposed budget fix for the current and next fiscal years also relied on seizing $608 million from early childhood programs and $230 million from mental health care. Those two proposals are on the ballot as Props. 1D and 1E, respectively.

It’s all very ugly because it’s an ugly time. The recession is mostly to blame. But Sacramento also is at fault for putting off tough decisions about spending and taxes.

Now Schwarzenegger and the Legislature are trying to make them. Prop. 1A would create a spending cap and rainy-day reserve while extending the recently passed tax hikes for up to two years. A blue ribbon commission is studying how to restructure the tax code to make it more reliable and less dependent on the rich.

Meanwhile, Capitol officials are holding their breath awaiting the fate of the $5-billion lottery loan.

The proposal’s originator is David Crane, who made a bundle in investments before becoming Schwarzenegger’s economic advisor.

He acknowledges that taking out a multiyear loan to make ends meet for merely one year normally would be bad policy. “It’s terrible,” he says. “But it’s better than a tax increase. And it’s better than the state cutting back in a recession.”

Crane maintains that both tax increases and government spending cuts slow economic recovery. Government programs are “a way of keeping more people employed,” he says. “In a recession, you want government to be counter-cyclical — the teeter-totter” to a falling private sector.

“The overriding principle is that, at a minimum, you want government to be retaining the same level of expenditures, if not expanding.”

Crane points to President Obama’s economic stimulus package, which is heavy on new spending.

Of course, the feds can run up huge deficits and print money. States can’t. And many California conservatives would rather see state government go belly-up than pay higher taxes.

Part of the distasteful remedy may be the lottery borrowing. Only don’t call it “borrowing” in front of Crane. It’s “securitization,” he insists. Future lottery revenue would “securitize” the state’s repayment of $5 billion in bonds.

This is a semantics game with political consequences. When the “borrow” word is used to describe the lottery proposal, I’m told, voter support for it drops by 25 percentage points.

Indeed, Prop. 1C was the least popular of the six ballot measures in a recent poll by the Public Policy Institute of California. It was supported by only 37% of likely voters; 50% were opposed.

Nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Mac Taylor calls it “borrowing” in the official Voter Information Guide.

You could also call it a payday loan. That’s how far Sacramento has fallen.

This is probably the easiest $5 billion the state can pocket, even if it would have to pay back double, including interest.

The lottery was sold to voters in 1984 as a savior for education. But lottery funds account for less than 2% — roughly $1 billion this year — of state and local money spent on K-12 schools.

Under Prop. 1C, the lottery’s responsibility for helping to support schools would shift to the debt-ridden state general fund. And that worries Sen. Bob Huff (R-Diamond Bar), who signed the argument against 1C in the Voter Information Guide. “It puts more strain on the general fund,” he says.

Taylor expresses the same concern.

But there isn’t likely to be any money raised to oppose 1C.

Rich Indian casinos don’t fear competition from a beefed-up lottery. “We don’t see any problems with this,” says Alison Harvey, executive director of the California Tribal Business Alliance.

That’s not true, however, of the low-budget California Coalition Against Gambling Expansion.

“When gambling increases, crime goes up, unemployment goes up, bankruptcies go up, divorces go up. Even suicides increase,” says James Butler, executive director of the coalition, which includes 9,000 churches.

But on election day, Prop. 1C may be the lesser of evils.

george.skelton@latimes.com