Legislature's education bill fails
Published May 27, 2016
Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, May 26, 2016.
A bill introduced by the state legislature with claims that it will improve access to higher education has already lost at the starting gate. The sponsors, which include Sen. Joyce Krawiec of Kernersville, need to kill this bill.
Senate Bill 873, the “Access to Affordable College Education Act,” offers several minor but two major provisions: To reduce tuition rates at five universities — three of them historically black universities, including our own Winston-Salem State — to $500 a semester and to authorize the board of governors to rename these universities if it so chooses. These may sound benign or even beneficial on the surface, but some fear their true purpose is to undermine and even shutter the state’s historically black colleges and universities.
The bill begins by noting the importance of a college education and the increased difficulty of obtaining one because of rising costs and college debt, all of which is true, before offering reduced tuition to help.
The bill also proposes to freeze tuition at other universities.
But the schools identified for lower tuition have seen their enrollment drop in recent years because, at least in part, of the legislature’s repeated cuts in education financing.
The bill’s reduced tuition for in-state students at the five schools could cost the state about $65 million annually in lost revenue, the News & Observer of Raleigh reported. If these schools can’t take in enough money, they would be unsustainable and have to close.
Legislators talk of committing money to ease the tuiton cuts, but big uncertanties remain.
As for the name changes, supporters say that’s to see if other names might make for better outreach. But critics perceive it as an attack on the identities of the state’s historic black colleges and universities.
“I am waiting on a rational explanation as to why there needs to be a name change among the ‘select’ institutions,” James Anderson, the chancellor of Fayetteville State University, wrote in an op-ed column. “Let’s be honest: Appalachian State, East Carolina, Western Carolina, and North Carolina A&T are not going to be asked to change their name. So why us or other HBU’s?”
These schools already have a draw because of their names. Changing them makes no sense. We don’t believe the bill is racist, but it’s giving that perception to many.
The current Republican-led legislature has had a bumpy relationship with the UNC system, to say the least, making severe budget cuts and controversial decisions that many think undermine the system’s mission and highly-regarded reputation. They can’t suddenly claim to be educational champions and expect the public to think they’re sincere. If they truly want to improve access to higher education, they need to meet with educators and others to make their case.
More substantially, they need to take actual steps to provide more resources to our UNC system. Otherwise, it’s going to be difficult to take bills like this seriously.
May 30, 2016 at 10:36 am
Norm Kelly says:
Amazing. Libs are the most confused, hard to please bigots in the world!
When Bernie says he wants to make education for high people absolutely free, libs are beside themselves with glee. When Republicans in our state legislature want to set tuition at $500 to encourage a favored demon group to attend college, this is a bad thing. Libs are beside themselves with unfounded claims that the only reason Republicans could possibly want to reduce the cost to become a high educated black person is so Republicans can close HBUs and thereby keep more blacks in poverty (and therefore unable to vote because they will be uneducated and unable to prove who they are to get an ID!).
Others have said that liberalism is a disease of the mind. The more we allow libs to rant their silliness, the more they prove just how much of a disease it truly is. Every single thing Republicans propose is a bad thing. Why? Because it's Republicans making the proposal and not some lib. Oh, and because conservatives are naturally racist people. Libs also like to claim that conservatives (or Republicans) are stupid. Our presidential candidates have all been labeled stupid since Bush Sr. The current Republican presidential nominee has been labeled stupid by libs and their media allies from the beginning of the campaign. It's only kindly loving 'color blind' demons who understand the trauma of being born black. And it's only demons who can truly help people of color to deal with and get past the trauma of being born black. Unless you happen to be a conservative (intelligent!) black. Then demons claim there is no hope for you.
Do any libs think there might be another way for HBUs to be forcibly closed BESIDES any plan developed by Republicans? I can think of one off the top of my head. Allow enrollment in HBUs to continue to drop. Allow management at HBUs to continue to mismanage their finances without repercussion. Allow HBUs to continue to operate as they have been, while at the same time forcing other high education institutions to appeal to the same group of blacks, and HBUs will die a slow but expensive death. This is the scheme preferred by demons, libs, media allies, editorial board members/writers, and those who fail to think logically (aka 'libs').
Can ANYTHING new be tried in education without LIBS WHINING about it? Doubtful. Whining is the default lib response to everything Republican, to every plan, to every attempt to improve something that libs believe is their right.
Libs, confused and confusing. And still supporting Billary and Crazy Bernie! And they have the audacity to whine about Trump!
