I wrote this for the college newspaper and it was printed yesterday.
Legislators cut education unfairly
By Ross Kressel
The South Carolina Assembly sent Govenor Mark Sanford a plan to cut close $500 million from the state budget to ensure that as prescribed by the South Carolina state Constitution, the budget at the end of the year is balanced. Article X, Section 7a of the South Carolina Constitution states this very clearly. “The General Assembly shall provide by law for a budget process to insure that annual expenditures of state government may not exceed annual state revenue,” states the South Carolina Constitution.
The College of Charleston loses a lot in this, $4,965,883 of funding for the year to be exact from it’s general fund. This number means nothing until put into context where it is a 14.8% reduction of the general fund that is allocated per year to the college. Only Clemson, University of South Carolina-Columbia, and the Medical University of South Carolina lose more in budget cuts.
There are certainly questions as to where exactly budget cuts will hit the College first. There is little relief in sight with the certain economic downturn. The effects of the Guy E. Beatty’s contributions won’t help now as they are to be released as part of his estate as specifically stated by his will.
America as a whole has seen that education is something that must be a priority of the government to ensure the success of future generations, but the South Carolina Assembly seems to be showing their actions louder than words. Public education was the first thing to see cuts.
The legislature according to its Mid-Year Agency Base Reduction Report has some of the lowest cuts occur in the General Fund towards the Legislative Council, Legislative Printing, and Legislative Audit Council. Notice a word in common in all of these things? The state assembly is willing to cut the general fund of education for all institutions by about 15% each, but is unwilling to cut the budgets for these three legislative funds by anymore than 13%.
The book exchange program PASCAL will be under serious stress as the state has cut its funding by 90%. A large number of the services that libraries at institutions of higher education will continue to disappear with budget cuts, bringing students back to the stone age in many senses.
As a resident of the state of South Carolina, I am appalled by the actions of the state and will ensure to register to vote in South Carolina in the next election. If only I had known of the clear mismanagement of funds that has occurred in the state I will be spending most of the next four years in, I would surely not vote for the incumbents. How is it that the representatives care more about what happens to them, and not about the people they represent? Politicians are elected to public office to serve their constituencies. A vote is a mandate to rule from the people, but it comes with strings attached asking for representation of the interests of the people, not in the interests of the legislators themselves.
