One of the slogans of the faculty union is "Top 10 university on a shoestring budget?" It simply is not possible.
Like Student Body President Kevin Reilly, I agree that UF's tuition needs to be raised.
The cost of attending UF is among the lowest in the nation, and it is preventing us from becoming one of the nation's top universities. That said, UF students and administrators should not be so quick to embrace Gov. Charlie Crist's plan.
Given more recent news about the impending $2 billion budget gap the state will need to close, Crist's plan may not be anything more than a bait and switch. An old saying comes to mind: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."
The Florida Lottery was created in 1987 to fund the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. At the time, lawmakers told Floridians the additional revenue would be used to enhance education in Florida.
Educational spending, however, has decreased from 61 percent of the state's general budget in 1987 to only 53 percent in 2002. Lottery funds now pay for basic operating expenses, which they were never intended to cover. The state Legislature simply shifted the burden of funding public schools to the lottery.
More recently, the differential tuition program was proposed as a way to bring in extra funds to hire faculty and advisers for undergraduates.
By having students pay additional tuition above what Bright Futures covers, UF could get the money it needs, and the Legislature would not have to find more funds from some other program.
Differential tuition is projected to bring in $24 million per year for new faculty and advisers. Over the summer, the Legislature cut $47 million from our budget, and UF laid off faculty as a result.
All of these plans to increase the quality of education seem to turn to the Legislature, shifting the costs of education from the state to a different source.
Bob Graham, former U.S. senator, wants the plan to include a binding commitment from the Legislature not to turn around and cut our state funding after we raise our tuition.
The Legislature has already fooled us once in the past on higher education funding.
Who is to blame if we allow them to do so once again?
Mark McShera is an Orange & Blue Party member and College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Senator.
