Our View: Higher education is the budget crisis that Idaho fails to notice | Editorial | Idaho Statesman
The 2010 Legislature cut $48.2 million from Idaho's college and university system. Higher education will get 9.1 percent of this year's general fund budget; 20 years ago, the share was 14.7 percent.
This is a crisis - representing a continued dismantling of the college system. But have Idahoans noticed? Or do they even care?
According to a recent poll, conducted by the Statesman and six other newspapers, 42 percent of Idahoans believe the state's higher education budget is about right. Another 14 percent believe it is too high. Only 35 percent say the budget is too low.
These are startling, sobering responses. Some 56 percent of Idahoans believe the state's systematic disinvestment in higher education is appropriate - or, if anything, it just hasn't gone far enough.
No wonder lawmakers can cut higher education with impunity, even if their decision forces the universities to eliminate classes, increase student fees or take other desperate actions that make a college education a little less affordable and a little less attainable.
It isn't that Idahoans are anti-education. When they are asked about public schools, the survey results are reversed: 56 percent of respondents believe the state isn't spending enough on K-12, while 35 percent believe the budget is about right, or too high.
Idahoans are rightfully incensed at the Legislature's decision to cut K-12 by $128.5 million. Those cuts have a quantifiable impact, coming to about $460 per student. And more importantly, those cuts have a face: the child or grandchild attending a public school, the relative or neighbor teaching a larger class and ponying up a few extra dollars to cover supplies.
This education crisis is unfolding in every community in our state. It touches us all. Unless you live in a college town - or you know a student or staffer with ties to an Idaho university - it is easier to overlook the plight of higher education.
Easier, maybe, but fundamentally shortsighted. Idaho's colleges do not belong to Boise or Pocatello, Moscow or Lewiston. They are our shared assets. If they fail, our economy will not flourish.
A college education - a must in an ever-changing job market - demands a commitment from students and their parents. Unfortunately, we're not convinced taxpayers share that sense of commitment.
"Our View" is the editorial position of the Idaho Statesman. It is an unsigned opinion expressing the consensus of the Statesman's editorial board. To comment on an editorial or suggest a topic, e-mail editorial@idahostatesman.com.
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