Less-lofty ivory towers

Re “Less to bank on at state universities,” Oct. 7

Following the passage of Proposition 13, California’s schools quickly went from among the best in the nation to among the worst. The tax scheme did protect homeowners from outrageous tax hikes, but it shifted the tax burden away from the wealthy to working-class people. That increased economic and social inequality; schools became more segregated by class and race. The de-funding of the university systems must be part of the mix, and it is.

The collapse of the college systems is the core truth that faculties want to deny, perhaps just to retain bragging rights. But their opportunistic denial just lends to the racism and ignorance that becomes systematic inside the public universities.

If a just tax system remains the third rail of California politics, we will wind up with racism, ignorance and opportunism guiding our colleges.

Rich Gibson

San Diego

The writer is an emeritus professor of education at San Diego State University.

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The University of California’s lament that the state has failed to generate sufficient funding to retain its status as a first-class institution raises the question: Is the university itself doing enough to promote excellence and budget management?

Take program redundancies as one example. Why does it replicate doctoral programs across campuses in the humanities and social sciences that churn out graduates who cannot find full-time employment in their fields? Wouldn’t it make far more sense to end the weaker programs? The university could use the savings to make other programs even better and cut needless graduate faculty in the less-prestigious departments. This would mark only one of many efficiencies the university should examine to make it a better institution.

Bennett Ramberg

Los Angeles