Category Archives: Tom Corbett

by | March 31, 2011 · 2:46 pm

We Need YOU! For about half an hour…

Come join members of the campus community (students, faculty, staff, administrators, friends) in Sykes Ballroom C at 12:30 on Friday, April 1.

Legislators (members of the PA House and Senate) will be visiting campus to receive the hundreds of postcards students and others have filled out, explaining the impacts that Governor Corbett’s proposed budget cuts will have on us.  They will also talk to us about the situation from their points of view and help us refine our strategies as we move forward. 

It’s important that we draw a strong crowd to show our legislators that we really are committed to protecting our university at all levels and for the well-being of all campus community members. 

The event should be finished by 1 pm. 

I’d say “We hope to see you there,” but the need is bigger than that.  It’s really important we turn out in numbers.  Be there if you can. 

–Seth

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Communities, PASSHE, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | March 31, 2011 · 11:26 am

Coverage of Rallies, Links to Budget News

Folks: I’ve been a little slow getting this list of links out; fortunately, our colleague Kevin Mahoney at the KUXchange put them all together so I don’t have to.  Nothing I can say about these that he hasn’t already… 

–Seth

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Filed under APSCUF, Budget, Kutztown University, Links, Lock Haven University, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, West Chester University

by | March 30, 2011 · 1:31 am

Corbett Makes “Worst Governors” List, and PASSHE Budget Cuts Are One Reason Why

They’re not in rank order, necessarily, but Tom Corbett makes this list of the 8 worst current governors in the US.  It’s worth reading the whole piece to see how Corbett compares/contrasts with some of his brothers in crime (Reverse Robin Hood, anyone?), but if you don’t have the time or stomach, here’s the section on Corbett (with apologies for a bit of R-rated language and a very snarky tone):

The Governor: Tom Corbett (Pennsylvania)

In order to deal with the state’s $4 billion deficit, the residents of Pennsylvania want Corbett to raise taxes on the natural gas industry. Plus, they don’t want him to cut funding for education.

And because Corbett is a man of the people, he plans to do the exact opposite.

WHUCK? (That’s shorthand for “What the fuck?”)

Corbett released his budget last week and it’s a doozy. He’s proposing massive cuts to education. He wants to cut state aid to public schools by a jaw-dropping $1 billion. He wants to freeze teacher salaries. And he wants to cut $625 million from higher education. That amounts to a 50 percent cut for the 14 state-owned universities and the four state-related schools (Penn State, Temple, Pitt and Lincoln University).

If this budget passes can you imagine all the services public schools will have to cut?

And I feel bad for the college students at these state schools. A 50 percent cut in state aid is horrifying. Those schools must find a way to replace all of that money. And you know what that means? It means the cost of tuition is going, in the words of Ralph Kramden, “TO THE MOON, ALICE!”

And if that wasn’t bad enough, Governor Corbett has given a coal company CEO unilateral authority to overturn laws and pass out drilling permits as he sees fit.

WHUCK?

Here’s something I bet you didn’t know. Because of natural gas drilling, there are certain parts of the state where the water is hazardous because it’s flammable. There are videos on Youtube where people set fire to the water as it comes out of their faucets. Drinking that water is dangerous. Number one, it might kill you. Number two, when you go to the bathroom to pee, there’s a good chance you might burn your house down!

You know what, Governor Corbett? This is an excellent idea. Let’s make this a national movement. Let’s appoint people to positions they have no business being within 100 feet of.

For example, let’s make high school dropout Bristol Palin the head of the Department of Education! Or how about Amy Winehouse as head of the Department of Health and Human Services? Or what if we made Charlie Sheen the Drug Czar?

Winning!

Last week Governor Corbett said, “Let’s make Pennsylvania the Texas of the natural gas boom!”

Yes, governor, let’s do that. Let’s give some coal executive power to pollute the state’s water supply as he sees fit.

And since you want Pennsylvania to be Texas, let’s cut billions of dollars in education so that the public schools disintegrate into barren wastelands. You know, just like in Texas!

 

And, not only does PASSHE make the article, but the writer actually understands the difference between the state-owned and state-related universities–which seems to be more than we can say for the Governor.

–Seth

 

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Filed under Budget, K-12 Education, PASSHE, Penn State University, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase

by | March 28, 2011 · 5:00 pm

Of academics, politics, free speech, and fishing

[WARNING: Partisan alert!  If you don’t believe the Republican party is more avidly squelching academic political activity than the Dems are, you won’t like some of these assertions….  –Seth]

If any of you haven’t yet been following the story out of Wisconsin of Professor William Cronon, you should.  An article in this morning’s (Mon 3/28) Inside Higher Ed provides a solid account.

Kevin Mahoney at the KUXchange does an excellent job of contextualizing the issue and explaining its relevance to our current situation here in PA.  He concludes:

Cronon’s case is important because i[t] indicates the length to which this new breed of Republican will go to ensure compliance and squash dissent.  One more reason these folks are going after tenure.  After all, the original purpose of tenure was to ensure that the government or an institution could not silence unpopular arguments.  It was a protection against the kind of tyranny we are seeing in Wisconsin.

Tom Corbett hasn’t directly named public unions or university faculty as enemies of the state in the way that the Walkerites in Wisconsin have, but his attack on our budget couldn’t be more clear evidence that he’s perfectly willing to destroy us.

Think about it this way; in the face of pretty strong response publicly against his PASSHE budget proposal, Corbett’s response has been (predictably) along the lines of, “Well, this was just an opening in what I know will be a negotiation.”

That would sound reasonable, except for one thing.  You should NEVER offer a proposal you’re not prepared to live with.  What would have happened, does the Governor think, had we not responded so quickly and strongly?  What would have happened if the citizens of PA had said, “OK, you’re right, Tom!  Let’s smash ’em up!”

Anyway, more germane to the Cronon case, what we’re seeing around the country right now is an all-out effort to squelch shared governance and academic participation in our national and state politics.  The attempts at suppression don’t just cross campus boundaries but sit squarely on both sides of the boundaries.

Therefore, as a practical matter, I very, very strongly recommend a couple of things–

1.  While the WCU policy on email/internet usage doesn’t specifically preclude using your WCU email for political purposes, it seems like a good idea not to–especially given that President Weisenstein made a point of saying so (and saying not to use WCU letterhead for correspondence with government officials) on his Budget Update page.

2.  Start an account with a commercial service; APSCUF will need you to have one anyway if you don’t already.  Otherwise, as we move into preparations for our contract expiration, you’ll be uninformed.  We simply won’t send out organizational messages or updates on negotiations to campus email addresses; this shouldn’t be news to anybody on either side :).  I recommend Gmail, for a bunch of reasons I can explain if you care.

In the end, I think the law is on Professor Cronon’s side, as it would be on ours should somebody come (metaphorically, I hope) knocking at my door to complain about this blog or my personal one.

But why tempt fate?  Or, as I wrote in an email exchange about Cronon with a colleague the other day, who the hell has time to fool with that kind of challenge when we’ve got actual work to do?

 

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Collective Bargaining, free speech, Inside Higher Education, Kutztown University, PASSHE, Tom Corbett, University of Wisconsin, West Chester University, William Cronon

by | March 27, 2011 · 12:34 pm

NEA voices support for restoring PASSHE budget

From the State APSCUF blog, this resolution of support from the NEA Council on Higher Education:

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania’s students contribute thousands of dollars a year to the state and local economies, and approximately 70 percent of graduates of Pennsylvania’s colleges and universities remain in the state. They provide the workforce that sustains the state economy.

WHEREAS, On March 8, 2011, Gov. Tom Corbett introduced his first state budget proposal, which would cut state funding to Pennsylvania’s community colleges, public colleges and universities, and state-related universities by more than 50%. When combined with the reduction in federal funding, community colleges will see a 10% decrease in funding, the State System of Higher Education’s budget will be reduced by 54%, and state-related universities’ budgets will be decreased 51%. Additionally, the governor’s budget proposal included a 1.9% cut to Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency grants.

WHEREAS, Pennsylvania already has some of the highest tuition rates for public colleges and universities of any state in the country, while state funding rates for higher education are among the lowest in the country. If the final state budget includes the governor’s proposed cuts to higher education, students across Pennsylvania can expect:

• Major increases in tuition and fees

• Larger class sizes

• Fewer course offerings

• Greater student loan debt

• Fewer loan and grant opportunities

• Fewer institutions due to the closing of campuses

WHEREAS, large tuition increases and increasing loan debts will make it even more difficult for these students to continue to afford college and could discourage interested students from applying in the future. Larger class sizes and program cuts will make it difficult for students to obtain a quality education in a timely manner.

Therefore, we resolve to support the students of Pennsylvania and call on members of the Pennsylvania Senate and House of Representatives to reject these cuts to higher education. We urge them to continue to fund at prior levels community colleges, state colleges and universities, and the state-related universities in order to continue to provide a quality education for all of Pennsylvania’s students.

Thanks, NEA, for the support and for the smart articulation of the issues.

 

 

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Collective Bargaining, National Education Association, Tom Corbett

by | March 25, 2011 · 9:22 pm

When did Tom Corbett lose faith in *public* education?

Thanks and kudos to WCU student Kevin Mann for this catch:

As a candidate, Tom Corbett wrote a position paper about education policy posted at the very useful site Vote Smart.  There’s not really anything in it you wouldn’t expect from a Republican gubernatorial candidate–lots of talk about accountability, making sure money is spent wisely, rewarding quality teaching and ousting bad teachers, all the usual suspects.

Interestingly, however, there’s a passage in his statement that jumped out at Kevin, and me:

Tom Corbett believes in Pennsylvania’s public school system and will make funding our schools a top priority. Putting students first means ensuring the resources intended to support their education make it to the schools and classrooms they attend.

The second half of that is standard issue conservative education-reform-speak.  But notice in the first sentence the commitment to public education.

At the bottom of the page is a link to then-candidate Corbett’s own campaign website, on which you’d find a somewhat shorter, lightly edited version of the same statement.  I’ll point you specifically to the most interesting, uh, edit.

Tom Corbett believes in Pennsylvania’s education system and will make funding our schools a top priority. Putting students first means ensuring the resources intended to support their education make it to the schools and classrooms they attend.

See what’s missing?  Tom Corbett doesn’t care about public education anymore!

And I can’t even begin to prove what I’m about to posit, but I’m going to posit it anyway.  Sue me.

According to Follow the Money, one of the largest individual contributors to the Corbett for Governor campaign is a fella named Vahan Gureghian, CEO of Charter School Management Corporation.  I’ve written about this relationship elsewhere and won’t (don’t need to?) rehash it here; the short version is that it’s awfully difficult to believe that Corbett’s, um, turn away from support for public education isn’t connected, at least in some way, with huge amounts of money appearing in his campaign coffers from somebody who stands to profit massively from cuts to the public education system.

Gee.  What a surprise.  The Governor supported public education, until he didn’t.  He supported publication, more likely, until a rich charter-school “entrepeneur” persuaded (!) him not to.  And here we are today.

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Filed under Follow the Money, K-12 Education, Tom Corbett, VoteSmart.org

by | March 25, 2011 · 8:42 pm

Information on Monday’s Protest in H’burg

A couple of links, and then info on joining the WCU contingent–

From the State APSCUF blog, announcing the rally and the line-up of speakers

One of the coolest actions I’ve seen anybody undertake yet as part of this campaign: members of Lock Haven’t track team are running to the rally.  From Lock Haven.  To Harrisburg.

I know I’m cajoling you, but for goodness sakes, people.  If 30 track team members from Lock Haven can put together a 100-mile relay run, we can find 20 people to ride a bus to Harrisburg.

Go!  If you want to be on the bus, be in the parking lot behind Swope @ 8:15 Monday morning.  You’ll be back in town by 5 pm at the latest.  Lunch provided, no expense.  Go join fellow students from across PA to let the Legislature know they can’t do this!

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Links, Lock Haven University, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett, West Chester University

by | March 25, 2011 · 1:24 pm

Reason to hope, but we MUST KEEP WORKING

As coverage of the Chancellor’s testimony to the Senate Budget Committee continues to roll in, the picture sounds pretty clear.  Very few legislators are on board with the Governor’s proposal to slash PASSHE’s budget by 50%.

However…

A couple of reminders before we all get swept in the rush towards finals, our looming summer plans, and so on–

1.  If you’ve followed events in Wisconsin and Ohio, in particular, throughout February and into March, then you know how often the public employee unions there thought that they were making real progress in getting Governors Scott Walker and John Kasich to back off their preposterous proposals.  We all thought, in Wisconsin especially, that the Republican state senators were realizing how absurd the whole situation was and that they’d do the right thing.

They didn’t.  Not a damn one of ’em.  Acting (maybe even believing themselves) *today* as if they’re on our side doesn’t mean they will be when the votes actually count.

2.  One reason the PA Senate Budget Committee can afford to be so vocally supportive of our system is our work.  They know we’re out here.  They know we’re watching.  They know we’ll support people who support us, and we’re doggedly oppose people who don’t.  They know thousands of students, faculty, staff, and administrators/managers are actively protesting the cuts, and our work both demands their efforts and emboldens them.

So, take the first round of good news for what it’s worth–a validation that what we’re doing to fight the cuts is right.  But don’t take it for more than it’s worth–we haven’t won anything yet.

Next step:

Monday, in Harrisburg–a rally at the Capitol @ 11:30 am.

If you’re a WCU student interested in going, contact Seth <herecomestrouble1208@gmail.com> and let me know.

 

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Communities, PASSHE, Rally, Student activism, Tom Corbett

by | March 24, 2011 · 2:47 pm

A Guide to the Governor’s Proposed Budget Cuts

Reposted from our friends at the KUXchange, APSCUF-KU’s chapter blog:

The library folks at KU’s Rohrback Library have put together this site, the Guide to the Governor’s Proposed Budget Cuts.  I’ve only poked around with it for a couple of minutes, but at a glance it’s both detailed and navigator-friendly!  As the contributor who wrote the KUXchange entry, Christina Steffy, says–

Also remember that, in a time when there is an information overload and everyone wants to “just Google it,” there are information professionals you can turn to who are better than  Google and who know where to find information that Google can’t find (yes, it’s true! Google can’t find everything). The information professionals at KU are proof of this (and let’s give credit to Tim Ballingall, the grad assistant who got this out there), so please don’t forget that as we fight for education we must also fight for libraries. Where else will you get free access to knowledge and people who are more than happy to help you on your quest for knowledge?

And just as importantly:

The Governor may not care about having an educated populace, but the Rohrbach Library does.

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Filed under Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, Kutztown University, PASSHE, Tom Corbett

by | March 23, 2011 · 2:14 pm

An Open Letter to PA University Students

[Professor Amy Walters from Slippery Rock U shared this letter with me this morning, with an invitation to distribute it far and wide.  The letter is an Open Letter from the PA chapter of the AAUP (American Association of University Professors).  Feel free to distribute it farther and wider!  –Seth]

********************

To Pennsylvania Students:

Last week, your Governor, Tom Corbett, proposed his first budget. Despite the fact that Governor Corbett pledged to place a high priority on jobs and the economy, his budget assures that Pennsylvania will be a competitive disadvantage economically.  He warned that his budget would be painful, and it was.  If passed, this budget will likely ensure that yours will be the first generation to have a lower standard of living than that of your parents.  You will confront massive challenges in your lifetime. There will be increased competition from within the US and abroad, where men and women are better educated than ever before. The best educated will develop the most significant advances in technology.  Opportunities will still exist; and education will remain critical to your surviving and thriving.  Unfortunately, you will have less help from the state government than any generation since World War II.

As a society, we face tough choices.  We are facing a deep recession; many people are hurting. Although there is wealth in our society, this budget does not ask the appropriate sacrifice from those who are more fortunate, nor from those in the financial sector who have brought this calamity upon us. Rather, this budget asks you and your families to sacrifice.

As the representatives of tens of thousands of college and university faculty throughout the Commonwealth, we wanted to write our objections to this proposal and to encourage the Governor and legislature to reconsider the drastic and devastating cuts proposed last week.  The proposed budget will result in higher costs and fewer loans for students; it will result in fewer faculty and more crowded classrooms; as a consequence, it will result in a less educated and less competitive Pennsylvania.

Just to summarize, the budget proposed last week cut state funding to the state owned institutions 54%, down to 1983 levels.  It is hard to see how PSSHE (Millersville, Slippery Rock, etc) will cope with those cuts without cutting faculty and staff (secretaries, maintenance workers, etc.), without cancelling classes and important programs.  Instead of your finishing your education in four years, it will likely take you five or six.

The state-related institutions (Pitt, Penn State, Temple and Lincoln) took similar cuts in the proposed budgets.  Penn State’s President, Graham Spanier, is predicting tuition increases of 10-20%, at what is already the most expensive public institution in the country.  In addition to firing faculty, he predicts closing some branch campuses.

PHEAA, which funds loans for both public and private college students, was cut by almost 3% and, for private schools, the cuts may reach 7 %.  Thus student aid will go down as tuition goes up.  Likewise,  community colleges will cut classes and faculty, making it harder for citizens to start or restart their education.

Pennsylvania faces a large budget deficit of approximately $4 billion; there are no easy fixes. However, you all know that no economy thrives for long without a middle class. Cutting higher education means cutting the opportunity for many to move into or remain in the middle class. So, cutting money spent on education is akin to eating your seed corn.

Students did not cause this economic crisis; neither did their parents.  Faculty did not. University staff did not.  The middle class did not; but now we are being asked to pay for it.

As leaders of the Commonwealth, the governor and legislature have an opportunity to make a positive difference in the lives of millions of Pennsylvanians.  The budget proposed last week was only a first step, and you should take the opportunity not only to get justification of funding from the universities cut, but to think about your priorities and those of the state.  In the end, we think you will realize the wise thing to do is to restore the funding for higher education. We think that, eventually, they   will recognize the need to plant the seeds of education, so the Commonwealth will reap the benefits.

This is not a time for silence. As educators and as citizens we need to step up and be heard on this matter. Clicking on this http://www.legis.state.pa.us/ will take you to the Pennsylvania legislature’s website, which contains contact information for the state House of Representatives and Senate. We encourage you to use this resource to contact your local representative and or state senator to voice your opinion on this proposal.  Let them know that that the budget proposal is a bad deal for all Pennsylvanians.

 

 

Executive Board of the PA-AAUP.

 

 

 

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Filed under AAUP, Advocacy, APSCUF, Budget, PASSHE, Penn State University, Student activism, Tom Corbett, Tuition increase, University of Pittsburgh