(HARTFORD, CONN (WTIC Radio)- Higher education advocates are pressing lawmakers to increase funding to make up for previous budget cuts, arguing reductions have increased class sizes and reduced
key personnel from counselors to janitorial staff.
“We are here because we need Governor Lamont and our elected leaders to pass $160 million in emergency funding to reverse the service cuts made this year and to stop the five percent tuition hikes planned for this fall,” said Seth Freeman, president of the 4Cs and a professor at Capital Community College.
CSU-AAUP and the 4Cs are pushing back on state underfunding of the CSCU System. The system did not receive current services funding in the 2023 legislative session, and students are already feeling the pain this has caused.
Several students spoke at the press conference about their experiences. They are seeing nursing students turned away for lack of faculty members, deferred maintenance wreaking havoc on campuses, and friends maxing out credit cards to cover tuition.
“There have been reported instances where stovetops have shorted fuses and coils blowing out as students turn them on, causing sparks,” said Sadie Boisvert, a student at WCSU. “There has been mold found in vents, causing students to get sick, myself included.”
“Some campuses over the years lost their nursing program due to years and years of budget cuts,” said Maia Dunbar, vice president of the Student Nursing Association at Gateway Community College. “Instead, what we are seeing is piecemeal, short-sighted, drop in the bucket policies that have little impact. Our community colleges and four-year universities should be beacons in providing a steady pipeline for nursing professionals to our communities.”
“Last year in his biennial budget, the governor turned his back on progress,” said Louise Williams, president of CSU-AAUP and a professor at CCSU. “It seems that the worship of abstractions, of spending caps and guardrails, is more important than our students . . . We urge Governor Lamont to move beyond what he has done in the past few years, to do something truly progressive.”
