Protesters at the University of California, Berkeley
Protests at University of California (UC) campuses continued for a third day on Friday, as students mobilized against a massive hike in fees at the state’s institutions of public higher education.
Yesterday, the UC Board of Regents approved a 32 percent increase in fees for undergraduates attending a UC school. In total, the fee hike, which will be implemented in two stages over the course of 2010, will add about $2,500 a year to students’ bills. This will bring the price tag for enrolling in the UC system to more than $10,000 a year. This sum is in addition to the thousands of dollars that undergraduates and their families must pay in order to cover the costs for room, board, books and incidental expenses.
Thousands of students, faculty, and workers rallied throughout California Thursday in opposition to budget cuts, tuition hikes, and faculty layoffs. The demonstrations were called on the first day of the new year at several of the schools, as students returned to sharp tuition increases and higher class sizes.
The turnout exceeded the expectations of organizers, reflecting mounting anger over the economic crisis and the massive budget cuts pushed through in California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Democratic Party-controlled state legislature.
Rallies, teach-ins, and walkouts took place throughout the 10-campus UC system, which has 220,000 students and 170,000 faculty and staff.
UC campuses have laid off nearly 900 employees this year, and plan to lay off 1,000 more next year, according to a report by UC Vice President Patrick Lenz.
This statement will be distributed to California university faculty, students and staff participating in a one-day walkout on September 24 to protest layoffs, pay cuts, and tuition increases. The ISSE at San Diego State University has called a rally on the same day.
Faculty and students in the University of California system are planning a walkout on September 24 to protest the attack on California’s university education system through a series of budget cuts, layoffs, furloughs, student fee hikes, and course reductions.
There is growing anger over the destruction of the public education system in California. The International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) supports the broadest popular mobilization to defend and advance public education in California and across the country. A successful fight, however, requires a new political perspective.