Opinion: A recipe for ruining California’s public university system
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
‘The proposals for the University of California now being considered in Sacramento -- limiting tuition and fees, freezing executive and faculty salaries and increasing legislative control over the UCs -- are well intentioned,’ writes Erwin Chemerinsky, dean of the UC Irvine School of Law, in an Op-Ed from today’s pages. ‘But they are a recipe for ruining a great public university system.’
During his exit interview with The Times editorial board, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger concurred. ‘I can tell you, it will be the biggest mistake when the Legislature gets involved in running our universities,’ he said. ‘They cannot find themselves out of a paper bag.’
And a recent editorial also expressed concern and pointed to the Legislature’s failure with California community colleges.
Chemerinsky argues that the best solution is to raise tuition fees so that our public universities can remain independent from the Legislature while still affording its top-notch faculty. The alternative, he says, would be a mediocre university system, one that throws its notable reputation down the drain.
RELATED:
Fees or tuition, it’s too much
The political, emotional and financial state of college students
California’s Legislature should keep its hands off the UC and Cal State systems
--Alexandra Le Tellier
