Informational rally for the proposed California Higher Education Fund was held today at San Jose State. Students joined Alberto Torrico, Silicon Valley’s 20th Assembly District Majority Leader, to learn about his AB 656 campaign. The goal of the campaign is to get 100,000 people to support the bill in 100 days. If it passes, AB 656 would create the California Higher Education Fund with funds from a new 9.9% oil and natural severance tax. According to Torrico, this tax would raise over $ 1 billion in revenue for the state’s higher education. The AB 656 Campus Kick-off week started with CSU East Bay, San Jose State, and CSU Sacramento. Torrico will visit CSU San Diego and San Marcos on Oct. 13th and CSU Dominguez Hills and CSU Los Angeles on Oct. 14th.
California remains the only major oil producing state that does not impose an oil severance tax. Other states, such as Alaska and Texas, reportedly charge anywhere from 2 to 25 per cent. If passed, the AB 656 bill would create the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation which would allocate the tax revenue to the three college systems, based on the following formula: 60% to CSU, 30% to UC, and 10% to Community Colleges.
The proposed bill is a response to student fee increases, faculty furloughs and inadequate funding as a result of the economic crisis. According to a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California, the state’s need for college educated workers is outpacing its ability to produce them, and that gap is expected to widen in the future. Torrico explained that with the decrease in college educated workers, the supply of workers with a high school diploma would exceed the economic demand which will result in lower wages and fewer job opportunities. “That’s why the goal of this campaign is to get enough people angered so they demand change from Sacramento”, he added.
Roberta Ahlquist, professor of secondary education at San José State University, said she attended a union meeting in LA where she found out that CSU San Bernardino has already closed its foreign language department and the music and arts programs in many schools are also threatened. In response to the budget cuts, Ahlquist said: “I think they are brutal and devastating, and an attack on the master plan.” The 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education established the UC and CSU system with the goal to admit and offer a place to every eligible California high school student. Under this plan, all UCs and CSUs are expected to plan adequate spaces for all eligible students. In reality, however, under the current economic conditions, there are fewer courses offered, fewer students are admitted, and many faculty members have already received a near 10% pay cut.
The AB 656 bill passed in the Assembly Higher Education Committee on July 7, 2009. It will go through a hearing with the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee in January, 2010. The bill is strongly opposed by the Western State Petroleum Association, the California Independent Petroleum Association, Cal Chamber and Cal-Tax.
California remains the only major oil producing state that does not impose an oil severance tax. Other states, such as Alaska and Texas, reportedly charge anywhere from 2 to 25 per cent. If passed, the AB 656 bill would create the California Higher Education Endowment Corporation which would allocate the tax revenue to the three college systems, based on the following formula: 60% to CSU, 30% to UC, and 10% to Community Colleges.
The proposed bill is a response to student fee increases, faculty furloughs and inadequate funding as a result of the economic crisis. According to a recent study by the Public Policy Institute of California, the state’s need for college educated workers is outpacing its ability to produce them, and that gap is expected to widen in the future. Torrico explained that with the decrease in college educated workers, the supply of workers with a high school diploma would exceed the economic demand which will result in lower wages and fewer job opportunities. “That’s why the goal of this campaign is to get enough people angered so they demand change from Sacramento”, he added.
Roberta Ahlquist, professor of secondary education at San José State University, said she attended a union meeting in LA where she found out that CSU San Bernardino has already closed its foreign language department and the music and arts programs in many schools are also threatened. In response to the budget cuts, Ahlquist said: “I think they are brutal and devastating, and an attack on the master plan.” The 1960 Master Plan for Higher Education established the UC and CSU system with the goal to admit and offer a place to every eligible California high school student. Under this plan, all UCs and CSUs are expected to plan adequate spaces for all eligible students. In reality, however, under the current economic conditions, there are fewer courses offered, fewer students are admitted, and many faculty members have already received a near 10% pay cut.
The AB 656 bill passed in the Assembly Higher Education Committee on July 7, 2009. It will go through a hearing with the Assembly Revenue and Taxation Committee in January, 2010. The bill is strongly opposed by the Western State Petroleum Association, the California Independent Petroleum Association, Cal Chamber and Cal-Tax.
This is pretty good once you get rolling, but your lead needs work.
ReplyDeleteRemember, your lead is usually one sentence and should be no more than 25-35 words long. Also, what you've given me is a "topic lead." That is, it provides the topic of the story, instead of news.
* Paragraphs are too long. Make each quote its own paragraph.
* Watch out for abbreviations. Don't assume readers will recognize it -- give the full name first (e.g., CSU).
* AP: write out percent, no "th" on dates
Good job on the additional research needed to beef up this story.
12.5/15