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MISSION STATEMENT

We believe that higher education is an essential public good. As such, we implore the State of New Jersey to provide full and equitable access to higher education. We believe that full and equitable access is indispensable to the progress and prosperity of all citizens. Higher education should be a right of all citizens who possess the ability and willingness to attend. We have come together to ensure that the State of New Jersey prioritizes affordable college tuition and the expansion of the university system in order to make higher education available to all members of our society.

Every year, politicians, business leaders, academics, community leaders, and journalists laud higher education as crucial to a prosperous society. Yet, every year, higher education in New Jersey contends with inadequate funding. Inadequate funding has led to continually rising tuition and subsequent rising student debt, increased class sizes, hiring freezes, cut services and delays for necessary infrastructure improvements.

State revenue increases are an obvious solution. We, however, do not intend to demand money without consideration of the complex issues regarding the state budget. Still, we believe that too often state budget issues are oversimplified. Many politicians and media pundits help propagate the notion that there are only two options when it comes to taxes - increasing or decreasing. While research shows that Americans support more spending for higher education and social services, the public is led to believe that only a blanket tax increase can restore cuts or increase funding - an increase many believe they cannot afford given the rising costs of housing, health care, and higher education. On the other hand, most Americans support a tax-system that ensures that those who receive the greatest share of society's resources contribute a greater share of those resources to maintain a strong public infrastructure that fulfills the promise of equal opportunity for all.

Still, we hear about ‘tough choices:' between child care, homeless shelters, pre-school, pensions, property tax rebates, and higher education. The actual choice for New Jersey is not between higher education and property tax rebates or between higher education and pensions, but, rather, the choice should be raising taxes on the wealthy and taxing lawyer and accountant fees vs. higher education, pre-school, health care, and other vital social services that sustain a strong public infrastructure. This decision is hardly a ‘tough choice'.

We support the use of progressive taxation to maintain and expand a strong public infrastructure - which includes full funding for higher education, and other popular public programs. We support the closing of tax loopholes and shelters, an increase in corporate business and/or high-end taxes. Furthermore, we support the modernization of the sales tax so that it applies to services as well as goods. If we extend the sales tax to cover professional services, such as consulting, legal fees, and accounting fees etc., the state could raise an additional $2.2 billion. We support this tax and a constitutional change to make this a dedicated tax for higher education.

2. Problem: Democratic Participation

One of the obstacles to the preceding proposals is the lack of democratic participation in our society. Less than half of the adult population votes in state elections. Even fewer do so with more than a superficial understanding of the issues at stake or where the candidates stand on such issues. Part of the reason is that many residents feel powerless in the face of government power. When citizens feel alienated from sources of government power, they tend to distrust government and the decisions they make with tax money. As a result, residents who agree with increased spending will vote against increases in revenue. Perhaps those who wish to tear down the public infrastructure see this scenario as a way to starve government of resources - thereby unwittingly forcing cuts to popular programs. However, the majority of citizens do not share these goals and we will assume that most of our elected representatives did not run for office in order to destroy the public infrastructure.

Young people are often a frequent target of those who wish to increase voter participation or, conversely, chastise non-voters. Young people do vote less than the general population. This fact is important for our democracy since young people who vote are likely to remain voters later in life. The lack of voter participation by young people is not the result of physiological factors associated with their age. Rather, several institutional factors coincide to depress voter turnout among young people. First, young people, especially college students, are a mobile population - not just physically but also socially and economically. One of the key factors to voter mobilization is the sense that one is part of a larger group or organization. Voting is not an individual but rather a collective expression. After all, some of the excuses of non-voters hold some merit - one vote does not matter. When state law limits the ability of students to participate in our democracy as a group, these limits will serve as an impediment to voting among young people - which will carry over into adulthood.

Proposed Solution: Remove Institutional Barrier to Democratic Participation

In March of 1995, the so-called ‘Kill PIRG' Bill passed and thereby made it illegal for any student group collecting student fees to lobby on the state level. This bill took away much of the students' ability to voice their opinions and lobby for their interests. We demand the repeal of this bill in recognition of importance of PIRG, and other such groups, in helping to inform students and work to lobby the state legislature in their interests.

We also support funding for programs that encourage civic engagement - courses that involve civic participation.

Additionally, we support the creation of polling place designated specifically for students on a location that is central and easily accessible to most students; the students of Rutgers represent a large voting constituency that, in the promotion of democracy, should be provided with a convenient method of voting.

3. Problem: Accountability at Universities and Colleges

Like every large organization form corporations to non-profits, there is waste at most public colleges and universities. Cuts, however, do not solve the problem, as they primarily affect faculty, students, and staff. Managerial positions, however, proliferate as managerial salaries climb ever higher. With cuts, tuition rises, classes are cut, facilities remain inadequate, - we are already teaching students in glorified trailers at our flagship university in New Brunswick - yet waste soldiers on.

The problem at our universities is not too much money, but rather too little democracy.

To combat waste we propose that the budgets of public universities and college be made more transparent. We also propose that students, faculty, and staff have a greater influence in the day-to-day governance of institutions of higher learning. Since democracy refers to the consent of the governed - those with the greatest stake in the university should help determine its direction. We believe that the State legislature can play a role in providing the tools for members of the university community to ensure the efficient running of the university.

Proposed Solutions: Democratizing Higher Education and Eliminating Waste

We propose that two student representatives and two employee representatives be added to the governing boards of universities and colleges. These representatives should be chosen by employees and students.

Furthermore, since one of the primary functions of a public university is to educate the public, we support the hiring of more full time faculty and pro-rate salaries and health benefits for part-time and adjunct faculty in order to ensure that New Jersey universities and colleges are staffed with fairly paid and well qualified individuals.

Finally, State colleges/universities should be subject to a State plan to ensure coordination of services.

4. Problem: Lack of Accessibility and Diversity

Accessibility and diversity is necessary for higher education to fulfill its role to society. Education is supposed to be the primary means to achieving the ideal of equal opportunity. However, when one set of students must sink themselves into debt in order to obtain an education, while another can receive an education and start her or his career debt-free, equal access and opportunity remain little more than deceptive rhetoric.

We seek greater diversity in terms of race and class at all institutions of higher learning. We believe and studies show that diversity both enhances the cultural and intellectual experience for all students. Diversity is also an important measure of a society's commitment to equal opportunity.

Proposed Solutions: Increase Funding for Aid Programs

We support the passage of the In-state Tuition Bill (A245/S2550) in NJ, which would allow for hard-working, young undocumented immigrants that were raised and educated in New Jersey to qualify for the same in-state tuition that is available to their peers in the state they are from.

We also propose that New Jersey increase funding for the Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) program and include part-time students in the TAG program.

Furthermore, we propose that the State maintains the same number of students in EOF grants and campus programs - which would require an increase in funding.

CONCLUSION

Today, Americans are working longer hours and putting more workers in the workforce per household. Even though we are more educated and more productive, most of us face stagnant or declining wages and unprecedented levels of debt as the cost of education, housing and healthcare skyrocket. Now we are told we can no longer afford public education, a secure retirement or even consider universal health care. What we are witnessing is not simply happenstance or the result of impersonal forces; it is the culmination of 25 years of deregulation, privatization, and tax cuts.

We are a diverse set of groups, organizations, and individuals, working on a variety of issues. We have come together on the issue because we all understand that higher education is not a special interest issue. Rather, the specific issues that each of our different organizations works with are all related to larger issues in our society. We seek to alter the misplaced priorities of both state government and the federal government. We are not students concerned solely with our own personal finances but rather those who view higher education as essential to our diverse set of goals which are aimed at improving the quality of life in contemporary America. We seek to reverse the trends of recent years and ensure a more progressive future for all Americans.