More Higher Education Budget Cuts

The Board of Regents voted to cut spending by another 4% in the fiscal year 2011:

ATLANTA — The University System Board of Regents voted this afternoon to cut spending 4 percent in the current fiscal year, complying with Gov. Sonny Perdue’s orders for state agencies to trim spending even further.

Only one university — not the University of Georgia — will have to lay off employees as the result, Chancellor Erroll Davis said.

Each of the state’s 35 public colleges and universities decided how to adjust its own budget and presented a summary of the impact to the regents.

The schools also prepared budget revisions for cuts of 6 and 8 percent, according to Perdue’s government-wide directive. That will prepare them in case he orders deeper spending cuts.

At UGA, the 4 percent cuts will mean 25 faculty and 25 graduate assistants won’t be hired as had been planned. Maintenance of buildings and restoration of library materials will be delayed, and expansion at the Griffin campus will be put off.

Georgia, Perdue, and other Republicans really need to get their priorities straight. Education is the path to jobs, and jobs are the path to a sound, strong economy. Cutting education to save money is like turning off an “Open Sign” to save electricity. If anything, we should be increasing our spending on education.

Be Sociable, Share!

•