SACRAMENTO /California Newswire/ — Following up on his State of the State proposal to make higher education a priority, yesterday, the Governor has submitted draft legislative language to Legislative Counsel, taking the first step to asking the legislature to reshape California’s priorities and ensure the University of California and California State University systems are always funded at higher levels than prisons. The office of the Legislative Counsel prepares a legislative draftfor all proposals to be considered by the legislature, including bills, constitutional amendments, resolutions and amendments to those measures.
“Spending 45 percent more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future. What does it say about a state that focuses more on prison uniforms than caps and gowns? It simply is not healthy. I will submit to you a constitutional amendment so that never again do we spend a greater percentage of our money on prisons than on higher education,” said Governor Schwarzenegger in his final State of the State address yesterday.
California universities are known around the world as the crown jewel of California’s education system. Until recent years, California’s priorities were clear: the state dedicated approximately 10 percent of its General Fund to higher education and just three percent on prisons. Today, California spends more than 10 percent on prisons and seven percent on higher education.
The Governor is proposing to change our state’s constitution to permanently ensure this never happens again. Currently, California taxpayers spend $18,000 more per prisoner than the next 10 largest states. Under the Governor’s initiative, no less than 10 percent of taxpayer money would be allocated to fund public institutions of higher education; and no more than seven percent of Californians money would be allocated to support of the state prison system. These mandatory limits would begin in the 2014-15 fiscal year.
To begin reaching the Governor’s goal, the amendment will require the state to begin shifting all taxpayer money deducted from the costs of operating state prisons to the budget to operate higher education beginning in the 2011-12 fiscal year, culminating with the final deadline to implement the initiative in fiscal year 2014-15. Under the proposal, the amount to shift to higher education will be determined by computing the difference between the current year’s General Fund budget and the prior year’s General Fund budget for the state prison system.
Beginning in 2014, the legislature would be able to apply other available resources to ensure that public institutions of higher education are fully funded at no less than 10 percent of the General Fund expenditures.
To realize cost savings in corrections, the amendment expands the authority of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation to lower costs by contracting with entities outside state government for prison operations and services. In line with the Governor’s commitment to public safety, the measure prohibits releasing prisoners early as a means of reducing costs.
The amendment also provides flexibility by allowing the Governor or legislature to suspend the mandate or modify funding levels during a fiscal emergency or other declared emergency or by a two-thirds vote of the legislature. Unlike measures that create future debt, if a suspension is ordered by the Governor or legislature no debt would be created.
Furor over UC Berkeley Chancellor’s leadership of budget deficits. UC Berkeley’s recent elimination of popular sports programs highlighted endemic problems in the university’s management. Chancellor Robert Birgeneau’s eight-year fiscal track record is dismal indeed. He would like to blame the politicians in Sacramento, since they stopped giving him every dollar he has asked for, and the state legislators do share some responsibility for the financial crisis. But not in the sense he means.
A competent chancellor would have been on top of identifying inefficiencies in the system and then crafting a plan to fix them. Compentent oversight by the Board of Regents and the legislature would have required him to provide data on problems and on what steps he was taking to solve them. Instead, every year Birgeneau would request a budget increase, the regents would agree to it, and the legislature would provide. The hard questions were avoided by all concerned, and the problems just piled up….until there was no money left.
It’s not that Birgeneau was unaware that there were, in fact, waste and inefficiencies in the system. Faculty and staff have raised issues with senior management, but when they failed to see relevant action taken, they stopped. Finally, Birgeneau engaged some expensive ($3 million) consultants, Bain & Company, to tell him what he should have been able to find out from the bright, engaged people in his own organization.
From time to time, a whistleblower would bring some glaring problem to light, but the chancellor’s response was to dig in and defend rather than listen and act. Since UC has been exempted from most whistleblower lawsuits, there are ultimately no negative consequences for maintaining inefficiencies.
In short, there is plenty of blame to go around. But you never want a serious crisis to go to waste. An opportunity now exists for the UC president, Board of Regents, and California legislators to jolt UC Berkeley back to life, applying some simple check-and-balance management principles. Increasing the budget is not enough; transforming senior management is necessary. The faculty, students, staff, academic senate, Cal. alumni, and taxpayers await the transformation