An article on the BBC News website yesterday was titled "Graduates - the new measure of power". The main take was from an education perspective, looking at the shift from raw resources as sources of power within nations to knowledge and intellectual resources. This is not a new topic - scholars have been exploring the shift to the "knowledge economy", but perhaps I've been abnormally exposed to the school of thought since I'm getting a degree in information. Nevertheless, it is a recognized fact that measuring the "power" of a nation must calculate the innovation, information, and knowledge that is being generated within its borders and its citizens. This article emphasized the role that formal educational institutions play in this generation of value, and how all across the globe governments are heavily investing in their future through students and schools.
Maybe the numerous states in the US, such as Washington, should consider this fact before they continue to viciously slash at the state-supported education budget for schools such as the University of Washington. As the Governor's new budget presents a worst-case scenario of an additional 40% slash, it is important to understand what has come already (from a letter to the State legislative from Interim President Phyllis Wise).
The steepest decline in state funding for the UW came in 2009-2011, when the state and the nation entered the Great Recession. Over a two-year period, the University of Washington lost over $132 million in state funding, roughly 30% of its state appropriation. Even with two 14% tuition increases, over $57 million in cuts were still necessary to balance our core education budget.
Major cuts included:
• Eliminated 950 jobs
• Froze enrollment for resident undergraduates
• Closed/eliminated 12 degree programs; 14 MA programs now self-sustaining
• Increased advisor load by 180 students per advisor
• Closed 384 undergraduate lecture sections and 130 small group sections
• Decreased number of lab sections by 20%, while average lab size increased 38%
• Closed 4 writing/tutoring centers and 2 computer labs (loss of 1/3 student workstations)
• Closed 1 library, reduced library hours, and canceled subscriptions to over 1,200 journals
• Reduced hundreds of hours of student counseling services (advising, financial aid, health)
As I'm preparing to graduate in June from a program that is not state-supported at all, I'm still concerned as a citizen of Washington about the future of education systems if these huge cuts are continued. Economies recover, but it is likely going to take years and years for educational institutions to recover from the hemorrhaging of funds out of their budgets. It seems awfully short-sighted for any government to pull money from the one resource that is almost guaranteed to reward the economy handsomely in the future.
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