Thursday, December 3, 2009
Though the most recent round of state budget cuts largely spares the Board of Regents, state officials must recognize that quality schools are one of the wellsprings of economic recovery. Ambitious goals for the state’s institutions must be accompanied with funding in the future.
The budget situation looks gloomy in the foreseeable future. Gov. Mark Parkinson recently cut an additional $260 million from the state budget, bringing cuts this fiscal year to $1 billion. Included in the most recent cuts was a $2 million reduction in higher education spending, adding to $106 million in previous cuts in the past fiscal year.
At the same time, the economic situation leading to these budget cuts makes continued high quality instruction at the state’s universities even more important. The country’s economy has retreated from the edge of disaster it flirted with a little over a year ago, and it has gradually started to grow. Any recovery that has taken place has been jobless. Unemployment continues to grow and is expected to peak above 10 percent nationally.
With this job market, graduates will have an even harder time finding work if their recently completed education is impaired by budget cuts. The University has already had to cut course selections and lay off 200 people because of previous cuts this year.
State and university leaders have also expressed a desire to truly increase the academic standards of Kansas schools. Gov. Parkinson expressed a desire to see a Kansas university among the top 50 universities ranked in the U.S. News and World Report within the next 10 years.
Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little has also laid out plans to increase graduation rates, attract high quality researchers and generally improve the University’s reputation.
These efforts to increase the quality of education in the state and at the University specifically should be applauded. Gov. Parkinson and Chancellor Gray-Little recognize the value of high quality education to the state’s reputation and economy. Some of these changes and improvement might even be possible with little additional expenditure, such as implementing more rigorous admissions standards. Eventually, though, higher quality education will require a return to previous levels of funding.
Leaders throughout the state need to recognize the value of higher education, and its need for increased funding to achieve many of the goals they have laid out. If Kansas wants to emerge strongly from previous difficulties and make a place for itself in a changing economic landscape, it will need a well-educated workforce. Though current and pending budgetary situations might make increased funding difficult, further cuts must be avoided. Once possible, leaders should move quickly to restore the state’s higher education budget so that Kansas universities and their graduates can reap the rewards of a quality education.
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