CUNY Professors, Staff, Students Hold Emergency Mobilization, 55,000 New Yorkers Voice Their Support

Don’t cut CUNY, raise tuition – NY needs
CUNY to get out of recession, they say.

Picture credit: Gary Schoichet.

Tuesday, December 16th – Hours after Governor Paterson released his 2010 budget proposal, five hundred of CUNY faculty, staff and students were outside his NYC office protesting the proposed cuts in the budget of the City University of New York and the State’s reliance on increased tuition.  Their chants were amplified by the voices of 55,000 New Yorkers who had sent postcards to the governor demanding that the State “invest in CUNY with public dollars – not tuition hikes.”

“Governor Paterson’s budget assumes that New York has to choose between cutting vital public institutions like CUNY and allowing New York to run out of money.  But that’s a false choice,” said Dr. Barbara Bowen, president of the Professional Staff Congress/CUNY.  “There is an alternative, and we’re here to demand that Albany adopt it.  New York would have $17 billion in increased revenue this year alone if it simply restored the tax cuts enacted between 1994 and 2005.  The State should use that money right now to invest in CUNY; public higher education is the key to revitalizing the State’s economy.” 

Faculty, staff and students waved red placards calling on the state to “invest in CUNY,” and chanted “invest now!” before sending in a delegation of about a dozen into the Governor’s office building to deliver the 50,000 postcards.

“These postcards show the breadth and depth of New Yorkers’ support for CUNY,” said PSC First Vice President Steven London, who is also the union’s legislative director. “The governor needs to hear what his constituents are saying: don’t cut our way out of this recession.”

Students noted that they and their families are the most vulnerable in the downturn. BMCC student Margaret McDermott holds a full-time job and an additional part-time job to cover the tuition for her college courses. “Raising CUNY tuition,” she said, “will make it impossible for me to continue my studies and obtain a college degree.”

There is an alternative to budget cuts and tuition hikes. “The State has revenue options that students do not. Simply restoring a more progressive income tax structure could bring billions of dollars to the state. The State shouldn’t ask the poorest students to close the revenue gap that’s a result of Wall Street’s meltdown,” PSC Secretary Arthurine DeSola said.

 PSC officers pointed out that during the Great Depression, New York State established two colleges (Brooklyn and Queens College) and built another (Lehman College, in the Bronx) – all while tuition remained free. Now, 80% of CUNY graduates stay in New York State and contribute $15 billion a year to the economy here. Investing in public higher education – especially CUNY – is the best path out of the current recession.