NY Guv Pataki deepens cuts in education

George Pataki, the governor of New York, is making plans to run for U.S. president, hoping to replace George W. Bush. Pataki can’t point to more executions than Bush since the state of New York hasn’t executed anyone for over 40 years.

But Pataki wants to cut social services, like education and health, that poor and working people rely on. Since New York state is currently running a budget surplus, his cuts will make the budget bigger and give his candidacy a boasting point among his corporate supporters.

He applied 202 vetoes to the state budget passed by the legislature in April and told the legislature if they overrode his vetoes he would impound the money; that is, he would not let the state spend it.

Pataki cut $500 million from the SUNY (State University of New York) budget and $414.4 million in aid to CUNY (City University of New York), which is primarily supported by the state, despite its name. The city of New York only gives money to CUNY’s junior colleges.

Pataki also vetoed $119.5 million for the Tuition Assistance Program. He is seeking to require TAP recipients to take at least 15 credits to maintain their grants, instead of the current 12. This doesn’t sound like much, but according to student and faculty groups at CUNY, it will make it much more difficult for working students—a majority of CUNY’s undergraduates have a full-time job—to get the aid they need to survive and continue their education.

The Professional Staff Congress (PSC), an American Federation of Teachers local that represents 20,000 faculty and staff members at CUNY, released a statement immediately after Pataki’s vetoes and is urging the state legislature to override them and defend their overrides in court.

The PSC pointed out, “The governor’s vetoes to higher education compound a 15-year history of under-funding. While the overall state budget rose by more than 50 percent between 1990 and 2004, state funding for CUNY during the same period fell by 31 percent (in inflation-adjusted dollars).” CUNY responded by slashing programs, turning full-time teachers into part-time, contingent teachers and raising tuition and fees by 98 percent.

CUNY students are the sons and daughters and members of the working class, who cannot afford the $40,000 to $50,000 tuition that private universities like NYU and Columbia charge. A majority of them were born outside the United States and two-thirds are people of color.

This latest attack of Pataki on public higher education is just a continuation of a decades-long program to make public higher education more and more expensive. Workers have a right to a job and they have the right to an education that will let them get a better one.